2022-2025 Lexus NX450h+ - EV / Auto EV/HV and HV, EV, HOLD CHG buttons

[@gharrop1]

Very helpful advice that I have not found anywhere else, had my NX450 plug in for a month now..had 3 RX’s previously, so used to Hybrid but not a plug in. Very pleased so far but still getting used to all the different small settings one can adjust….Am finding your videos the best and most helpful on youTube. Many thanks for taking the time and care to make them 👍(Am based in UK.)

[@lsft]

Glad you like the NX450 and you enjoy my videos. Thank you! Keep on supporting my channel!

[@ncds834]

Helpful explanation of hold button.

[@gaspode7]

Thank you for helping explain the different modes on the buttons. I still need your help to better understand how to use the mode buttons if you don’t mind. Do you use one button more than the other? My commute to and from work is far greater than the 40 miles max on the electric battery so on the drive home it goes into the hybrid mode. When I get home I plug in the car. It seems that the hold charge button would use a lot of gas. So if I push the top Hold Charge button, the car will drive EV until the charge is used up then will it try to use gas to keep the engine charged and not go into hybrid mode? Or will it go into hybrid mode after the electrical charge is used and in the background use gas to start recharging the battery? If I push the Auto EV/HV button will the car start in EV then switch to HV when I drive over 40 miles and the car will not use gas to recharge the battery? I think my car is set to Hold charge as that is what is on the screen when I go beyond the max miles. The dealer set up the mode or some how I set it up for that. I recently got the 450h+ and there is still so much I have to learn. Your videos are so helpful. I want to get the most efficient use of the car. Gas is so expensive Thank you

[@lsft]

I guess I'll need to create another video to explain it. I am not sure what is the best way about it. But if you do know that you will use up all the EV range, then you should consider using HV mode on highway and EV mode on local roads. The EV range depletes much faster when you drive on the highway so to maximize the EV range you would drive it on local roads more. Charge mode is not as efficient as just driving in HV mode. Unless you really need more EV range.

[@gaspode7]

If you have time that would be a very instructional video. Sorry if these seem to be such elementary questions. I did not intend to buy a plug in hybrid but was intending to get a regular hybrid. The dealer had one plug in hybrid with most of the features and the colors I wanted and technically got what could be considered a good deal. My spouse said it would be a better car to get. The manuals are not very easy to understand on a practical level. I find videos like yours way more helpful. Thank you for making videos like these that help people understand how to better understand their car.

[@BrentonStringer]

Love your detailed videos. It's great to see the content while I wait for my 450h+ delivery. I went for a test drive and I could hardly tell the difference in performance in EV mode vs HV when accelerating to city speeds (60km/h). Any chance you could do a test in EV only vs hybrid mode when accelerating to 60km/h?

[@lsft]

Thank you! I've seen a lot of videos talking about the features of the NX, but never really demoing how it works and all that. Hopefully these videos are helpful to others and I could only do it when my car arrives. I don't have the tools to count 0-60km/h by time, but I could record how it drives when I get a chance. I haven't floored the car yet, as it's new but you are right, the acceleration on EV seems to be quite good. All I can say in HV mode, it will be more noise cos of the engine.

[@jrperez9512]

So around town, maybe the best to put it on would be the electric mode and maybe on freeways auto mode would that be better?

[@lsft]

I think the answer is a bit more complex. EV mode when you are driving around town. If you are going to go to a place where you cannot charge, then I would use HV mode on freeways and switch back to EV mode on local roads. If I know I can charge at destination, then I would just go full EV and then charge at destination.

[@crispygoule]

How many miles do you need to drive for you to get 80% battery when you press hold chg button

[@lsft]

It is not recommended to use the gas to recharge the battery as it is not efficient to do so. I've seen someone stating that it recharged 10 to 11 miles of EV range when driving 140 miles of Hybrid mode.

[@Bonjurro]

Any idea what the fuel efficiency penalty is when using the charge mode?

[@lsft]

I personally have not tried the charge mode during highway/freeway driving. I have read articles talking about a 10mpg hit using charge mode. But when you account for the EV range you gained, it is less than the 10mpg penalty.

[@Bonjurro]

@@lsft wow so that would be like getting 30l/100km instead of the 7.0L/100km, if you were using on the highway? That just seems insane.

[@lsft]

@Jon Burrows, you misunderstood. The NX450h+ is rated at 38mpg (6.2L/100km) on highway.. so with the charge it will be come 28mpg (8.4L/100km) so roughly 2.2L/100km penalty. But again, I haven't tried it, but it's just reading from forums.

[@AnthonyFrancella]

​@@lsft In your other post, you gave an example of someone going 120km/h with cruise control in charge mode and got 23km in EV range. The fuel economy went from 6L/100km to 8L/100km... So without charge mode they drove 120km and got 6L/100km and used 7.2L of fuel. WIth charge mode, they drove 120km and got 8L/100km, using 9.6L of fuel, but also got 23km of EV range. Therefore they got 120km+23km with 9.6L of fuel resulting in 6.7L/100km. Still worse than staying in HV mode, but not as bad when you consider the EV kms driven...

[@mperloe]

@@lsft But is that including the miles from the additional EV charge?

[@WEKS87]

Great, thanks for the clear explenation!

[@lsft]

Glad it was helpful!

[@QueenC1111-cn7mh]

You're awesome! Thank you. 😊

[@lsft]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@mlwitte]

really helpful ! I have put 7,000 miles on the 450h+ and the dealers - both in CA and MN where I have driven don't have a clue about this feature! Huge.. The manual is poorly done... I figured out how to get the charge function working but that is it... What about using the paddle shifter for recharging?

[@lsft]

I am not sure about the paddle shifters for recharging. I know there is talk about in "S" mode you can use it to do more regenerative braking.

[@felixvazquez360]

Thank you for your video. Help a lot!!!!!!

[@lsft]

Glad it helped!!

[@jagaro]

Thanks for posting. I am picking my 450H+ next week. Can Auto EV/HV and Hold Charge be activated together?

[@lsft]

Auto EV/HV allows the car decide what nice to use EV or HV. When in charge mode the gas engine will start which means it will be in HV mode, and consuming more gas to charge the battery. So you won't be in EV mode.

[@swag_moh4273]

Hey! what’s the button infront of the parking brake button?

[@lsft]

It's the park hold function This video explains it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nHWzaYN-jaZpptU

[@hanshensen8660]

Hi, so when the battery reaches 80% and the charge mode is still activated will it then hold the 80% level?

[@lsft]

My understanding is when the battery reaches 80%, the hybrid battery charge mode will automatically cancel and change to HV mode. It will not remain active and hold at 80%. Again, this is not the most efficient way to charge the battery, but is a tool to use some gas if you are worried about stale gas and/or you need to enter an EV only area.

[@hanshensen8660]

@@lsft Thanks! Great video........cannot wait for my 450h+ F-sport.........in September/October😏

[@marcelpaesmans]

In my ignorance; when I switched the AUTO off, and continued to drive in EV mode , allways charging by plugging in, and never driving in HV, the car couldn`t initiate the settings starting the car. I suppose the start battery goes flat this way. Is this correct ?

[@lsft]

That's not true. If you drive in EV mode, it will also charge the 12V battery as well. You don't need the ICE to charge the vehicle. In fact this vehicle does not have an alternator.

[@marcelpaesmans]

@@lsft I used the AUTO-off mode for 6 months, always EV mode. When I started the car, the engine never started with fuel.. Progressively the settings had more and more difficulties to load when starting, demanding for manual renewal of the settings, which I did several times. Now I have set AUTO-on for 2 weeks, and the installing of the settings is OK now, no problems any more, and the engine starts for soms minutes on fuel; as mentioned in the manual.. Driving the 450+ is a pleasure now ! Maybe the AUTO-off obstructs the engine to start on fuel when starting the car, Unfortunately I dit not check the voltage of the 12V battery. Any explanation ?

[@lsft]

@@marcelpaesmans i don't think the that's related to the engine starting or not. The 450h+ also starts with EV as priority. The gas engine will not start as default.

[@AnthonyFrancella]

I was very surprised that HV mode started the engine since you were stationary and had some charge... I would have thought it operates similar to a self-charging hybrid in HV mode. There are a few videos where people show these buttons while stationary but nobody does any videos about driving in these modes. Is my understanding correct? Auto EV/HV -> Prioritize EV mode unless the accelerator is pressed down so more power is required from the Engine or the battery runs out of charge. Question: Does HV mode automatically kick in at highway speeds? EV Mode -> Stay in EV mode until the battery is flat, then go into HV mode HV Mode -> Keeps the engine on, uses electrical power in tandem with gas power. Question: Does battery level go up, down or stay the same? Charge mode -> Only use the engine, don't use any electrical power. Regen breaking and excess engine power goes towards charging the battery.

[@lsft]

Auto EV/HV - Prioritizes EV mode; however, I do not know how it does it. There are cases where even on local roads, HV would turn on and turn off quickly. They have an algorithm that tries to maximize efficiency. Will need more details from Lexus/Toyota on the algorithm behind this. Even in this mode, HV mode does not always kick in on highway speeds. EV Mode - It will stay on EV as much as it can - there are times where front defogger or it is cold the engine will still fire. HV Mode - when you turn it on to HV, the engine will run and I think it's like a check and to warm the engine up a bit so it is prepared to operate when needed. After a certain time (depending on condition of the engine), the engine will turn off. In HV mode, the EV range may increase and decrease as you drive. HV mode also allows EV only driving so the battery will deplete as well. Charge mode - It is essentially HV mode with the engine running to charge the battery. I have hear it will use about 2L/100km to charge the battery.

[@AnthonyFrancella]

@@lsft Thank you!!! I am waiting for my NX to arrive and your videos were among some of them that I watched when deciding on this purchase.

[@lsft]

Hope my videos are helping you decide and learn how it all works while you are waiting. Please continue to support my channel!

[@mperloe]

I want to thank you for this video and the definitions of the various modes. Most of my driving is around town and have used about 4 gallons in the first four months. I've noticed that EV miles has gone up to indicate 46 miles per charge in EV mode. It would be helpful to suggest strategies for different trips. 1. 50-100 miles mostly highway. 2. 50 miles city driving. 3. 30 miles mixed 4. You start the day noticing the PHEV was plugged into the level charger which was not turned on. 30 REC400 APure panels with Enphase IQ8+ microinverters and 10.3 kwh battery. As LADWP Time of Use rates optimize solar it allows me to drive for free. 😂 (if you don't take into account the PHEV cost as well as the solar PV system.)

[@brigittevandecasteele9077]

Hoe zet ik PCS af bij deze auto? Help

[@lsft]

You can only turn off every time you start the car. You can go to the 6 dots beside the climate to turn off safety features

[@lancesod]

thank you

[@lsft]

🙏

[@peterwilkes7785]

Hi LSFT when would you use hold charge or is it just for emergency ,as it will use a lot more petrol ?purchased 450h f sport in March still learning (great videos) from uk

[@lsft]

It fact it's called Charge Mode. You hold the button to activate the mode and that is why it's says Hold Charge and that is where the confusion is. Charge Mode is to use the petrol engine to charge the traction (Hybrid) battery while you are driving. From what I have learnt from another subscriber saying that his trip was: "I went from about 2km left to 25km EV range on an hour-ish highway drive. My fuel economy went from 6~ish L/100km up to 8~ish L/100km with with cruise set at 120km/h both times." So my observation on this is: He drove 120km/h, means you had hold charge on for 120km and you used about 2L/100km which equals to 2.4L of extra gas used to charge 23km range. Which means it's 10.44L/100km use to charge. It's definitely not worth it unless you need to use up the gas in your tank. You rather drive HV mode as it is more efficient. Hope this helps and you understand my calculations.

[@peterwilkes7785]

@@lsft Thankyou very much that answers my query(will keep on watching your videos)

[@kenleylam]

@@lsft what is the purpose of CHG mode then? What situations would you want to engage it?

[@lsft]

@@kenleylam there are some places where you can only drive EV. The charge mode will allow you to use gas to charge the battery up to 80%. Another scenario is if you have gas that is old and you want to use it up, you can use it to charge while driving.

[@AnthonyFrancella]

@@lsft I wanted to compare using charge mode with public chargers in Ontario which often charge $2-$3/hour for 6kW changers. In your example, 2.4L of gas was used to charge 23km of range. If I understand correctly, the NX450h+ has 18.1kWh battery and 66% of it can be used for EV-only driving with a range of 60km. Therefore the amount charged is (23km/60km) * (18.1kWh*66%) = 4.58kW 2.4L of premium gas currently costs around $1.50 so that is $0.32/kWh Public chargers which are cost $2/hour would cost $0.33/kWh Public chargers which are cost $3/hour would cost $0.50/kWh So if charge mode isn't worth it, public chargers aren't worth it either.... If you are away from your home charger and yet want some electric power, using charge mode is better than sitting at a public charger for 2.5 hours. Same price, less time.

[@PabloTheThinker]

Weird, that it is worse than the regular NX 350h hybrid which does around 40 MPG.

[@lsft]

The NX450h+ is heavier and does less than the MPG of the 350h. Keep in mind the car is faster to 60 as well. But the 37 miles of pure EV using 0 gas will end up being better if you drive up to a certain. Driving 100 miles, the NX450h+ overall will still use less gas.

[@PabloTheThinker]

@@lsft That is true mathematically. However, with the $10-15k higher price in the plug-in, it will take many years to break out even.

[@lsft]

@@PabloTheThinker buying the 450h+ is not just to save on gas. If you are looking to save on gas and lower the cost of ownership, then definitely 350h is better. The 450h+ experience is different between the two models.