Three years ago, TheCars test-drove the Lexus UX 260h Explore Edition, and when this exquisite luxury urban SUV stopped in front of the TC Jun, the first reaction was why it cost so much money to buy such a car.
Now, another UX 300e pure edition has stopped in front of TC Jun, which is a model tailored for the Chinese and European markets. The same question is asked again: Why spend $385,000 on it?
In fact, such doubts are more focused on bystanders, if you personally drive this exquisite SUV, you will find that it exudes the kind of vitality suitable for young people. Just like TC Jun's final evaluation of UX 260h three years ago, its existence is to let more young users understand the efforts and pursuits of Lexus, and these young users also hope to contact and taste Lexus through a product that they can afford to consume. Lexus is sensitive to the market's sense of smell, and before the UX was released, the SUV product line lacked a more suitable for young people and more fashionable grounded products.
Now that it's replaced by UX 300e, can it still continue to feel this way?
The vitality of UX is first displayed in the body color, UX 300e has a total of 5 colors including supersonic quartz white, supersonic titanium silver, flaming agate, Dai Qingyunmu, turquoise blue, etc., while the interior has 3 kinds of black, ochre crystal brown, glazed blue and white two-color. The UX fuel version model has as many as 11 body colors and 7 interior colors, and the body and interior colors of the UX 300e are optimized from the fuel version of the model, retaining the more preferred color system of young users.
TC Jun test drive UX 300e pure edition is a blue body and glass blue and white two-tone interior matching, blue represents freshness, calmness and tranquility, and pure electricity is more in line with the combination. Coupled with the exclusive green license of new energy, it can be said that "a glance call".
The UX 300e is consistent with the fuel version of the UX, with a dynamic and three-dimensional body design, the front face adopts the brand's family-style spindle-shaped front grille shape, matrix LED headlights and L-shaped daytime running lights.
The UX 300e features newly designed 17-inch aerodynamic wheels that reduce wind resistance and is complemented by the 215/60R17 Dunlop Green Tire ENASAVE EC300+ for added tranquility and ride comfort.
The entire UX series uses LED through-taillights derived from the design of the rear of the racing car, so in addition to the front face shape, it is almost impossible to find commonalities with other models of the Lexus brand, which may be rigorous and innovative, more appropriately it should be "Cross-Create".
The UX's unique and natural body proportions achieve a harmonious unity of low center of gravity and a sense of security. The feeling given to the user is that it is not visually mighty, but it must be full of personality and independence.
The interior style of the UX 300e is derived from the traditional oriental architectural concept of "Edge Side (Engawa)", which integrates this human-centered design into the cockpit, starting with the driver's line of sight, extending directly from the instrument panel to the windshield, in addition to having a seamless visual perception, it can also present a more open and transparent view.
Like the UX 260h, the UX 300e uses a 7-inch LCD meter, a 7-inch central control LCD display, and a touch-sensitive Remote Touch information operating system. TC Jun's favorite is the multimedia control area similar to the mouse feeling located in the front of the central armrest box, which has functional buttons on the left, front and right sides, and the starting speed is very fast, and the blind exercise is not difficult.
What surprised TC Jun was the trunk space of the UX 300e, which was nearly 50L larger than the previous test drive UX 260h trunk, and the volume reached 314L.
The UX 300e is equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous motor with a maximum power of 150kW and a maximum torque of 300 Nm, and the official display is 0-100km/h acceleration in 7.5 seconds. Compared with other pure electric vehicles that accelerate for 4 seconds, the power output performance of the UX 300e is basically equal to that of a 2.0T gasoline engine, but its smooth output performance suitable for urban driving does not make itself hungry for speed, but instead places the UX 300e firmly in the role of daily commuting.
The feeling of UX 300e opening up is expected, and its youthful personality and stylish positioning determine the chassis suspension tuning style. Coupled with the characteristics of the pure electric model, the overall feeling is strong, and the chassis is tight and solid.
It is also because of the small size of the car, flexible and brisk, as a simple family commuter car is more suitable, of course, this commuting must also be the pursuit of vehicle quality and yearning.
The HUD head-up display function was not equipped on the UX 260h that TC Jun tested before, and this UX 300e Pure Enjoy Edition is very friendly to add this highly practical configuration, which allows TC Jun to focus more attention on the front.
As for the endurance, the UX 300e is equipped with a 54.35kW ternary lithium battery pack, the comprehensive working mileage can reach 400km, and the power consumption of 100 km is 13.1kWh/100km. Some people may think that the larger the mileage, the better, but the UX 300e can provide a very limited space for installing the battery pack, and it can reasonably arrange the layout in the body with a length of 4495mm and a wheelbase of 2640mm, and bring a comprehensive mileage of 400km is enough to surprise people.
The UX 300e is equipped with four levels of kinetic energy recovery, which can be set up using paddles on the back of the steering wheel. The first three levels of kinetic energy recovery basically make people feel the sense of dragging, as if driving a fuel vehicle, only the fourth level can achieve maximum efficiency of kinetic energy recovery, but the drag feeling is still not obvious, such an advantage is not to let the driver and occupant have too much discomfort.
The charging process slightly makes TC Jun somewhat uncomfortable, mainly because in the case of USING DC electric fast charging, the UX 300e can only be fully charged at most 75%, and the remaining 25% must be completed with AC slow charging. In order to meet the needs of daily test drives, but also in order to alleviate the mileage anxiety, TC Jun often goes back and forth between fast charging and slow charging, and only after seeing the full mileage of 400km shown by the meter can it be assured.
The listing of the UX 300e has allowed Lexus to officially open the era of pure electric power in China. The biggest significance of this car, in addition to meeting the growing demand for pure electric vehicles and bringing users more diversified travel options, is to further promote the electrification process of Lexus.