Lexus is adding a new hybrid drivetrain to the UX, its subcompact SUV, for 2025. You can get the 2025 UX300h with either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. It has 196 horsepower. Lexus also improved the safety features and made a few small changes to how the inside is laid out. From 2023 on, the Lexus UX luxury subcompact SUV was only available as a hybrid. The UX250h, which only ran on gas, came after the UX200. The UX, Lexus’s smallest SUV, will get a more powerful hybrid engine starting in 2025. With 196 horsepower, the UX300h is the most powerful UX model to date. It is also the first Lexus to use the company’s newest fifth-generation hybrid technology. Sometime next year, sales will start. The UX300h will come with either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. A 150-horsepower 2.0-liter inline-four engine is paired with a continuously variable transmission and a front-mounted permanent synchronous electric motor in both types. AWD cars have an extra fixed synchronous motor added to the back axle. When you look at the specs, Lexus only says that the hybrid system has 196 horsepower, but the front and rear motors can each give you 111 and 40 horsepower, respectively. Lexus says that the higher horsepower number is because of the new hybrid system and the lighter lithium-ion battery that was used instead of the nickel-metal hydride battery in the old model. The 60-cell power pack is hidden under the back seat, so the hybrid system doesn’t normally make it harder to load things. Lexus says that the total gas mileage for the FWD and AWD models will be 43 mpg and 41 mpg, respectively. This is one more mile per gallon for the FWD model and two more miles per gallon for the AWD model than what the EPA says for the 2024 UX250h. The UX now has shift-by-wire, which Lexus says makes shifting smoother and faster by getting rid of mechanical links. Lexus says the time from 0 to 60 mph has gone down from 8.4 seconds for a 2023 FWD UX250h to 7.9 seconds for all-wheel drive cars and 8.0 seconds for front-wheel drive cars. In our most recent test, it took the 2019 UX250h crossover 8.6 seconds to reach 60 mph. A new color called Copper Crest is one of the few other small changes that have been made for 2025. On F Sport Handling cars, the metal trim has been refinished, and the door panels’ button layout has been changed. The base trim still comes with the 7.0-inch display, but the Premium and F Sport models now come with the 12.3-inch digital gauge panel. The normal touchscreen size for the F Sport Handling is 12.3 inches. The base, Premium, and F Sport Design models all have an 8.0-inch touchscreen in the middle. In 2025, the F Sport Handling model will come with a standard automatic back door that opens with a kick sensor. Before 2025, Lexus will also come with the Safety System+ 3.0. It comes with adaptive cruise control, which can now control speed through curves, lane keep assist and lane departure warnings, the ability to read road signs and show the right icon on the dashboard, and the ability to detect and stop an oncoming vehicle in a left turn. Lexus says that the 2025 UX300h will go on sale in 2024. The prices will be shown in 2024. The UX250h wasn’t named in the press materials, so the UX300h is taking the place of the less powerful model. We are still waiting to hear from Lexus. We will make changes to this story as soon as we know what will happen with the UX250h.
