Drive Notes: 2024 Lexus RX 450h+ Luxury AWD

The answer, which I will expand upon below, is: Quite smoothly.

This PHEV mates a 2.5-liter four-cylinder to front and rear electric motors for all-wheel drive, and it has a continually-variable automatic transmission.

This is the first PHEV RX and it comes standard in the Luxury trim. Traffic-jam assist is available. The base price for this test ride was $68,730.

Standard features included multi-zone climate control, SafetySense+ 3.0 advanced driver-assist (lane-tracing assist, road-sign recognition, smart cruise control, and more), blind-spot monitor with rear cross-traffic alert, digital door latch, satellite radio, navigation, infotainment, heated and cooled front/rear outboard seats, panoramic glass roof, heated steering wheel, 21-inch wheels, wireless cell-phone charging, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a head-up display.

Options included a Convenience Package (traffic-jam assist, panoramic monitor, LED headlamps, Mark Levinson audio, power tailgate, remote parking, digital key, rearview-mirror camera, puddle lamps, and more. Total price with destination? $76,505.

Here are my pros and cons.

The RX is put together well, easy to live with, sips fuel, and has an upscale cabin. All of those are nice attributes. But the driving dynamics are sleepy, the cost is high, and the styling anonymous.

That's been the RX story forever — this time, it's just electrifed.

[Images: Lexus]

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