Lexus has brought an end to the career of the UX 300e, an SUV measuring 4.495 m in length and 2.640 m in wheelbase, introduced in 2019, and, most importantly, the brand’s first 100% electric model from the luxury division of the Toyota Group. It arrived in Portugal in 2021, and in its fully electric variant, it was equipped with a 54.3 kWh battery, allowing it to claim a range of 315 km in the combined WLTP cycle – later, the adoption of a 72.8 kWh battery allowed it to claim a range of 450 km.
Confirming this exit from the market, the model has disappeared from the configurator available on the site of Lexus in Portugal, and the end of the line extends to other European markets, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. However, it remains available in some countries of the Old Continent, but only in the hybrid version, with Norway, unsurprisingly, being an exception to the rule: as electric vehicles account for nearly 100% of sales there, the UX 300e remains on sale in the Nordic country.
The reduced demand for the UX 300e explains Lexus’s decision. And the model had another “Achilles’ heel”: fast charging at DC stations was only possible with the ChadeMo plug, which is very poorly compatible with the European charging network that has adopted the CCS2 connection.
Thus, without the UX, Lexus’s compact offering consists only of the LBX, a crossover offered with hybrid powertrains. In terms of 100% electric vehicles, the Japanese brand offers the RZ and the new generation of the ES.
