We are half way though the week with LEXUS’ first EV and ahead of the full review, we can share our first impressions:

1: UX 300e is a luxurious, wafting, regal experience. It is all about the senses, and just talking just the specs is going to sound like bad news.

2: The claimed range of 360km is more like 300km, and the charging is slower than a wet weekend. 50kw outlets charge the 54.35Kwh battery in 80 minutes, making UX300e totally unsuitable for long distance driving. Not only that, the useless user guide says, “No,” to constantly using the fast charging. However in this case, for fast, read slow DC charging. The fastest she can fill is 50kw, and even then it will probably chuck a hissy and go even slower. FFS!

So, one might well ask, why would you buy one?

3: Firstly, most people do not drive long distance, they just don’t. Claims of taking the preferred peeps thousands of kilometres for a tasty treat, translates to, “I’m on my own most of the time, and am a sad and pathetic disappointment to my parents”.

Next, most people have home charging capability and will always be standing at full attention.

In a horses-for-courses type statement, UX 300e is LEXUS’  first go at tossing the electric spitball at the wall. The battery is the expensive bit, and most folk go no more than 100km a day, max.

4: Our Sport Luxury did everything we asked of it, but I’d be lying if I said I would have minded a bit more pork on my fork. More than once, I wanted to go somewhere but had to think about getting a plug in me, so to speak.

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ABOVE: 2022 LEXUS UX 300e

5: For those of us sans home charging, a plug in public is our lot, and while some folk have nothing better to do, the smart money is on the clever shoppers who connect at Coles while filling the trolly.

6: Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and I think UX 300e is gorgeous, inside and out. Set the climate concierge and forget the rest. LEXUS will keep your life humming along in perfect harmony as it manipulates heating and cooling in the seats, and in the air, and on the steering wheel.

So, what is my very bestest best favourite thing about UX 300e?

7: The Gloria Swanson ride of course. You waft along in golden age glamour, and in almost complete silence. How often have I said that I love being in a lounge room on wheels, and in this case it is more like a classy gent’s club, even at 110.

8: I don’t mind driver aids that work, but the lane centering seems a bit dim-witted so it was off most of the time. Besides, I prefer to do the steering myself.

9: Atmosphere, and tons of it. LEXUS just gets on with things. Prissy Euro snobs are all about the badge, poncing about like powder-wigged fops, with reliability susceptible to some debate. Even when you’re not moving, UX 300e is curating the perfect ambience, with temperature and touch, filling in the parts of the picture not already painted by sound and smell. Moreover, you know when you want a LEXUS to move, it will. Well, it will if you’ve managed a moment to bolster your battery, a point i’ve thrashed to within an inch of its life.

10: Finally, the killer sound system is deeply rich, transmuting humble DAB radio into a concert performance. Mark Levinson sound is up there with the very best in automotive audio, in a way that James Webb is to deep-space perving.