Lexus here is sending its first battery car into a territory that’s historically been its parent brand’s preserve.

WHAT might turn out to be the most important version of Toyota’s first fully-electric car here, a small Lexus, will initially be off-limits to the luxury marque’s traditional clientele.

 Strategy for selling the Lexus UX 300e compact crossover includes a surprise direct push into a sales patch Toyota New Zealand has exploited to the point of total domination for years, the fleet sector.

 In addition to the highly-plush $79,900 Limited edition the brand announced on September 20 and launched today, Lexus NZ has revealed it will have a less affluent derivative, called simply the UX 300e, whose sole job is to join the workforce as a lease proposition.

 A new pitch for the brand launches with high hopes. The entry car is expected to be just as important, in respect to registrations’ count, as the Limited, yet it will largely toil outside the publicity limelight being meted the top model, for simple reason that it’s off-limits as a private buyer choice.

 The variant is so purely dedicated to fleet it won’t be seen in a showroom and the process for ‘selling’ it also differs from the norm; the leasing deal means it cannot be bought outright, so lacks a recommended retail. In probability, it also perhaps means it’ll be ineligible for the Government’s Clean Car discount.

 Selling to fleets has been a Toyota 101 for ages, but it’s a largely unexplored territory for Lexus.

 National general manager Andrew Davis agrees the idea of his brand now occupying more than the managing director’s spot in a company carpark is an opportunity too good to ignore given the high national interest in electric cars.

 “It is an area that is new to us in trying to get more fleet business but we think there is demand there.”

 There’s hope this entry model might account for least half the 250 examples of the type it expects to sell next year – an equivalent count to that envisaged for the hybrid editions. Ninety UX 300e pre-orders have already been lodged, but it’s unclear what the base/Limited split is.

 Says Davis: “We made the decision to make that model exclusive to that channel and our intention in 2022 is to offer it via an operating lease structure … that’s the only way to access that vehicle.

 “There is not an RRP price we can announce and we are still working out our lease structure; it is quite a unique approach … to be able to provide a solution for some of those fleets that are really keen to get more EVs into their larger fleets.”

 Once the cars are finished with they could become public property; in that they will return to Lexus NZ then probably fed back into the second hand market via the company’s approved used car programme.

 The UX 300e could conceivably be markedly cheaper than the UX 300e Limited, pictured today, giving the trimming it undergoes.

 It has smaller wheels, down from 18 to 17 inch, and loses the private sector-aimed derivative’s triple LED headlights with adaptive high-beam and hands-free power back door.

 The Limited also has a host of extras such as roof rails, rear privacy glass, sunroof, rain sensing wipers, cornering lights, rear stabiliser bar and a head-up display.

 Go to the ‘rep’s special’ and the seats are covered in a synthetic leather rather than actual cow hide, as per the Limited. And whereas the car you’ll see in private driveways have three choices of seat covering colour – including a hero blue hue - accented with quilting on the front seats, the fleet car has two.

 For all that, the UX 300e is hardly Corolla class.

 Like the Limited, it has front and rear seat heaters and front seat ventilation, a complex air conditioning system and it keeps the brand’s trademark Mark Levinson sound system, presented – as in the top version – with 13 speakers and coupled with a 10.3-inch display. The system runs Apple Car Play and Android Auto.

 Other standard safety features include the complete Lexus Safety System Plus, blind spot monitor, parking support brake and a tyre pressure warning system.

 Lexus ran today’s launch event for the UX 300e models as an online event, so there’s been no opportunity to achieve any physical contact with the type.

 As previously reported, the model is a development of a car that entered sales life several years ago as a purely fossil-fuelled product, which subsequently developed into a hybrid electric product that now only offers here. The UX will continue to sell in those formats.

 Lexus says it took full advantage of using the UX as the base for the 300e, but the local arm admits it is not certain if the car was designed from the start as an electric.

 It contends the re-engineering is good; like the donor, the electric is designed to be a Lexus first, so there have been no shortcuts.

 As well as maintaining its driving experience and stability, removing the hybrid electric powertrain and fuel tanks has given the 300e more usable space. On that side of things, though, it still has a modest luggage capacity, of just 310 litres against the hybrid electric’s more miniscule 268 litres.

 As electric fare goes, in performance, rechargeability and range expectation goes, the UX 300e might stand to be considered more mid-field than class-leading.

 It has a 54kWh lithium-ion battery under the cabin floor, a single electric motor generating 150kW and 300Nm, 0-100kmh takes 7.5 seconds - which makes it the fastest UX - but is also the slowest overall, with top speed capped at 160kmh.

 The driving range is approximated at 360km, but that’s through measuring with the NEDC scale car makers have moved on from, due its perceived inaccuracy.

 Independent analysis published overseas that cites realistic range being more like 235km was disputed by Lexus NZ today. A spokesman said the car has achieved more in local testing. However, the brand’s media pack also cites the model as being built “for the urban motorist in mind”.

 Though it is configured for DC fast charging as well as AC replenishment, the first is capped at 50kW and runs with an older-style Chademo plug rather than the CCS type more commonly found on new electric cars. This impacts on the recharging time; 80 minutes is cited.

 The AC charging option can take almost six hours even with a wallbox, with is a single phase item suited to the car’s 6.6kW onboard charger (also lower than the norm). Trickle charging off a three-point plug with what Lexus calls a slow-charge cable is a 24 hour endurance. That portable cable, which usually comes with electric cars, is a cost-extra with the NX 300e, though will be included free for the first 100 cars sold. Lexus is also offering an alternate $250 ChargeNet rebate for early birds. 

 In premium circles, the car might be most closely compared to the MINI EV, Mercedes EQA and the Tesla Model 3; Lexus NZ rates the American disrupter maker as a premium sector player even though Davis says his experience of the Model 3 suggests Tesla quality is not to the same level.

 Regardless how it is perceived, the UX 300e at least answers critics who have been lambasting Toyota for being slow to involve in the fully electric game and also argue that the hybrid technology with which the Japanese giant has established global dominance is no longer enough.

 For its part, Lexus describes the car as representing “a crucial step on our journey as we continue to deliberately focus on lower emissions for Lexus as a brand.” Presently the brand’s average here suggests a 141 grams outlook for this year, but it is heading to 110 and ultimately aims to achieve 86g by 2024.

 Says Davis: “Lexus is aiming to decarbonise its portfolio as part of an overall commitment to reduce our impact on climate change.

 “The UX 300e is the first model of many new and exciting electric vehicles we will see from Lexus over the next few years.”

 The next could well be the production version of a larger sister ship already presented as a design study. The Lexus RZ concept is a spin from the Toyota BZ4X full electric that is still at least a year away and seems set to be much more advanced in its battery and drivetrain technology.

The UX 300e, meantime, unsurprisingly differs little in look to the hybrid versions and has the same eco, normal and sport modes.

Davis says the UX 300e offers another electrified option to the existing Lexus SUV range of hybrid-electric, petrol, petrol-turbo, and diesel engines. All options to meet the needs of its customers who, like typical Kiwi drivers, use their vehicles in a variety of ways and locations.

The car’s warranty covers the battery for eight years or 160,000km and covers failure or abnormal capacity degradation above 30 percent.

 Meantime, Davis is confident Lexus NZ will achieve 1000 registrations this year – a new annual high – but concedes it could have done better, if not for supply constraints. It holds 1400 orders. The hybrid models achieve more than 90 percent of volume but there’s belief the addition of more hybrid, plug-in and fully electric models will double that count to 2000 units.