2022 Lexus NX Official Thread

And this morning at 9:00 AM CST: Toyota new product showcase: Crossovers, sports cars, trucks, special editions, electrified powertrains.

Toyota New Product Showcase on Livestream

 

First important piece of news: Corolla Cross will be built at the new Toyota/Mazda plant in Alabama and will be available this Fall but will not be available as a hybrid initially with earliest possible hybrid introduction sometime next year.

 

I just read that the '22 NX 450h+ will only be offered in "certain regions". So, like the Rav4 Prime? If so that REALLY sucks

 

The official specs are out.
plug-in: 2022 Lexus NX 450H+ - Lexus USA Newsroom
hybrid: 2022 Lexus NX 350H - Lexus USA Newsroom

Filling in the blanks from the European Site: ALL-NEW LEXUS NX DPL PRESS KIT

Both the NX 350h and NX 450h+ have the same motors.
Front motor (MG2): 134 kW (180 hp), 270 Nm (199 ft/lb)
Rear motor (MGR): 40 kW (54 hp), 121 Nm (89 ft/lb)

They stole the front motor from the NX 450h+ and put it in the NX 350h and put a different ECU in the 2.5L ICE to get a total 239 hp - 20 hp more than the RAV4 Hybrid. For reference, the RAV4 Hybrid's front motor (MG2) is 118 hp. The NX 450h+ and RAV4 Prime electrically are the same, but they put a different ECU in the NX 450h+ to get 181 hp from the 2.5L while the RAV4 Prime's 2.5L is 176 hp. They both have the same total HP at 302 but obviously have tuned the NX 450h+ to respond differently.

Starting Price:
NX 450h+: $55,560
NX 350h: $41,050

 

That would be grossly inaccurate information. True the HiHy was the first example of AWDi systems, but that was 2 generations ago and before it was re-designed for the 2nd generation Rav4 HV.

 

Odd I had heard they used the same motors from the RX 450h. Both the NX 450h+ and NX 350h have the same motors as the HiHy. The 2021 HiHy AWD, 2021 Sienna AWD, NX 450h+, RAV4 Prime, and NX 350h all have the same motors for MG2 (front) and MGR (rear), 134 kW and 40 kW, respectively. It is unusual, well maybe not for Lexus, that they decided to put that same system in the NX 350h which is much smaller than the HiHy and Sienna. Before the specs were out I assumed they had used the Venza system in the RX 350h. Not so, the front motor (MG2) on the Venza is 88 kW and even the battery is different. The Venza uses a Lithium-ion battery of .93 kWh and the NX 350h is a 1.68 kWh Lithium-ion battery.

For the 2.5L engine in all of the above they just put in different ECUs to get different horsepower ratings. For instance:
Hybrids
HiHy: 186 hp
Sienna: 189 hp
RAV4 Hybrid: 176 hp
Venza: 176 hp
NX 350h: 189 hp

PHEV
RAV4 Prime: 176 hp
NX 450h+: 181 hp

I guess they don’t want you to think the NX 350h is nothing more than a luxury name plate swap of the RAV4 Hybrid.


iPad ? Pro

 

The larger battery in the NX 350h means it can actually make use of the more powerful motors, and help pump up the total system power over the Toyota siblings. Another reason for having the same motors as the 450h+ could do with production costs. The NX sells in numbers 4 to 5 times fewer than the Rav4 in the US. Sticking with the same hybrid system for the plug in and hybrid could ease logistics issues. A Lexus also won't be looking to chase the lowest price.

What trade offs do the higher output engines make? Just lower efficiency?

 

Thanks, I’ve implemented a spreadsheet a few years ago to keep track of the changes between the different models of hybrids and PHEVs during the years. It’s actually easier to keep track of all electrics from other manufacturers than it is to keep track of Toyota different hybrids and PHEVs. Getting information from Toyota specs, especially Lexus, is hard. Have to use other info including Japanese, Canadian and European Toyota/Lexus sites as well as third party.

Watching some of the videos, I’m surprised they didn’t talk about the e-FOUR on the NX 450h+ which is suppose to provide a variability in torque between the rear and front. Maybe it just wasn’t noticable or they were just more interested in the 0 to 60. Of course they were in the desert and didn’t really look like a lot of curvy hill roads to compare the NX 350h, NX 350, and NX 450h+.


iPad ? Pro

 

All the hybrids with AWD (AWDi) work more or less the same way. Minor differences in the rear gearboxes, motors and software, but all the Toyota systems work that way. Adding a pretty display screen to demonstrate what's going on is what changed.

 

I’d also reckon that since they moved manufacturing of the NX to Canada (Cambridge, Ontario), it’s helps with production costs and logistics issues as you said.

I would have guessed towing as the HiHy and Sienna can tow 3,500 lbs while the RAV4 Hybrid and Prime is limited to 2,500 lbs and the Venza has no recommended towing. The puzzling thing though is both the NX hybrid and PHEV is limited to 2,000 lbs, but then again they are heavier than their Toyota counterparts and are centered around performance, aka Lexus Driving Signature. Again I’ll assume towing is not high on an NX customer want as it would be for the RAV4 counterparts.


iPad ? Pro

 

Guess I had been misremembering the Rav4 Prime's tow rating. On Toyota's site, the Rav4h is 1750# tow rating. There is a is power difference between the two. The Venza is at least a 100# heavier than the Rav4h with same gross weight; Toyota may not want to offer tow ratings below 1500#. A chosen 500# increment to tow ratings would also explain the NX's 2000# ones. The Venza is also longer than the Rav. That and the bumper cover shape could be problematic for a hitch. They also probably figure the target buyer doesn't tow.

Frame size is also a factor for tow ratings. One of the reasons for the 4 door Wrangler's existence is that 2 door owners wanted to tow more than 2000#. Thus the likely reason why the the Highlander and Sienna are rated higher.

Now the TRD and Adventure Rav4's have a 3500# rating for examples of how many variables go into tow ratings. The traditional transmission seems to be more robust than that of a power-split hybrid. They have the same engine as the other ICE trims, except they have an oil cooler, and don't have auto stop. Their AWD is fancier with torque vectoring, plus a downhill assist mode. Then there is the unknown variable of what marketing's input was.