Range Rover Evoque vs Lexus RX450H

What's the difference?

The Range Rover Evoque is more highly specified and more luxurious than ever, and this plug-in hybrid version makes the most of what’s on offer with its slick but familiar feel from behind the wheel. 

Unfortunately, it does have an eye-watering price tag to go with its classy design and the options list is a bit rude, all things considered, but the core offering is a solid luxury buy for city-slickers, nonetheless. 

What makes the Evoque P300e stand out for me is its impressive EV driving range and excellent charging specs which make it as convenient as possible to make the most of its electrified features.

It’s up to the buyer whether these conveniences and the Range Rover badge are worth swapping into a car a full size down from its luxury plug-in rivals for the same money.

The RX is a little frustrating - it's going after Mercedes and BMW and Audi in a hotly-contested space and falls over in a couple of key areas. The media/sat nav system is hopelessly outdated and the drivetrain fails to deliver a significant performance or fuel benefit (although, given its 2.2 tonnes, perhaps it delivers a miracle).

It does come with a rock-solid, scandal-free reputation, a reputation for spectacular customer service, it has a lovely cabin and it's certainly an individual looker. For plenty of people, that's quite enough.

The Evoque has always been a car all about its sleek, city-slicking design, an iconic piece of modern SUV art from Jaguar Land Rover head of design, Gerry McGovern.

With its shapely proportions, clever descending roofline, and a silhouette which successfully reflects a miniaturised version of the Range Rover, the Evoque is at once classy with a faint suggestion of toughness under the skin.

The blacked-out grille, slimline headlights, and contemporary strip across the tailgate all serve to add intrigue to this SUV, and the extra detailing in the front bumper, shapeliness of the bonnet, and contrast black trims (with extra contrast panels on our test car matching the gloss black wheels) serving to add to its premium appeal.

It’s important to remember, while the Evoque slides into a busy small SUV landscape now, it was one of the first to make a premium car so successfully appealing in this small SUV space way back in 2011 with the first Evoque, following Land Rover’s historic trend of being in front of the SUV curve.

Rival small SUV designs may have caught up in the minds of many with the likes of the Audi Q3, BMW X2, and Volvo XC40 shining in recent years, but few have won as many design accolades as the Evoque.

Range Rover seems to be leaning into a more upper luxury trend, not just with the pricing, but with the vibe of the car’s interiors, too.

The new generation Evoque, for example, took a big jump in the look and feel of its interior appointments when it launched in 2019, and over time has only consolidated its market positioning.

The HSE grade which our P300e hybrid arrives in is lavish on the inside, with lovely suede-like seats, intricate contrasting grey cloth trims in the doors (do I detect an influence from Volvo here?) and a plush-looking dash, all finished in soft-to-the touch materials.

Attention to detail, like the silver bezels which adorn the centre console and media screen, add to the premium flair which lifts the Range Rover badge above the Land Rover one, and I do like the way the additional function screen seamlessly melts into the piano finish and integrated dials. While it’s always a nightmare to keep gloss piano finishes clean, it looks oh-so primo.

It’s a little odd the P300e has analogue dials, which seems to miss the premium edge which a fully digital dash might provide although the 7.0-inch centre dash screen has a great resolution and speed, as well as a mostly well laid out operating system.

I found the R-Dynamic modes, which can sharpen up the accelerator response and steering buried two menus deep, unnecessarily hard to find, as were various EV information screens and other less important functions.

There's a lot of RX and there's a lot going on in that creased, folded and teased sheetmetal. It's a unique design, with a huge 'spindle grille', big lights and the fast glass both front and rear.

It positively screeches Lexus DNA and was a polarising force on our driveway for the week. Most weren't sure, but knew for certain it was a Lexus.

Aggressively flared wheelarches like this aren't common on SUVs (although the squared-off ones are). It's right up on stilts, but the 20s you find it rolling on help to reduce its visual bulk.

That wacky rear quarter glass reminds me of the BMW i3's but it's a Lexus SUV signature. It's quite striking. Do I like it? Not really, but that's completely subjective. You can tell, though, it's built tight as a drum.

Inside is a bit calmer, beautifully laid-out and built to last. The materials are almost all top notch, with lovely switchgear and the real leather is really nice.

There is absolutely nothing avant-garde in there (apart from maybe the pinstripe effect on the centre console), it's all terribly comfortable and easy on the eye. But not exciting, though not all Lexuses are.

This particular car is very US-centric and, if I may, a particularly sunny and humid part, so it can't be too wacky.

While it still plays the role of Range Rover’s smallest SUV, the current Evoque is much bigger than the car it replaced in 2019. I would go so far as to say it’s deceptively large on the inside.

Front occupants are treated to a cabin which now feels almost as wide as an actual Range Rover, with plenty of room for elbows on either side, which are, of course, met by lovely soft-touch surfaces.

The raised console helps with the upmarket feel, as does the plush dash. The standard 14-way adjust front seats help to accommodate most passengers, with my only criticism being the large A-pillars and height of the dash can make it feel a little bit claustrophobic compared to some rival luxury SUVs.

Storage is offered through a set of large door pockets, a centre console box, dual bottle holders behind the shift lever, and a healthy nook underneath the climate controls, which also hosts a wireless charging bay.

The rear seats share the same comfortable rim as the front ones, and also have large pockets in the doors. Despite the descending roofline, I had just enough room for my head at 182cm tall although it is notable the space in the PHEV feels smaller with the raised floor needed to accommodate the batteries.

I had a little airspace for my knees behind my own driving position, too. The main drawback for rear passengers is the large transmission tunnel, making it difficult to accommodate an adult in the centre position.

There are adjustable air vents for rear passengers, but it is frustrating Land Rover has chosen to make rear USB-C charging ports an arbitrary $270 option.

The boot is also deceptively large for such a small SUV, measuring in at 472 litres (VDA), it’s above average for the small SUV class and fits the full CarsGuide luggage set, provided you remove the parcel shelf as it's just a smidge too high.

You'll also need to keep your charging cables in the boot, as there's no underfloor storage, the entire space being taken up by a space-saver spare wheel.

There is plenty of room inside this big unit, which is very welcome. Front seat passengers have lots of storage, such as a deep central bin under the armrest, dual cupholders and big door pockets with bottle holders.

Step into the rear and there is a ton of leg and headroom although the transmission tunnel intrudes slightly for the middle passenger. Chuck them out, drop the armrest and you have two more cupholders and each door has pockets and bottle holders.

The boot is pretty big considering the angle of the rear glass. You start with 453 litres (but an expanse of flat floor), which rises to 924 litres with the split-fold seats down. That seems conservative given just how much space you appear to have.

The RX450h F Sport lightens your bank account of $102,460 before on-road costs, the only hybrid SUV within cooee of this price.

That nets you 20-inch alloys, a 15-speaker stereo, dual-zone climate control, heated and cooled electric front seats, reversing camera, that ever rare CD player, keyless entry and start, a solid safety package, reversing sensors, active cruise control, sat nav, a massive sunroof, auto LED headlights, head-up display, partial leather interior, power tailgate, auto wipers and a space-saver spare.

The Lexus media system is run from the gigantic dash-mounted screen that is shamed only by those massive Tesla units.

Sadly, the joystick-style control remains as does the very confusing software system that is less than delightful to use. It's such a shame that a tech-laden machine is let down by the world's most baffling entertainment system.

Once you get it working and understand it, it's okay, I guess, but several years into this job I still can't easily fathom how it works. And that naff analogue clock...

F Sport cars also pick up adaptive suspension and a several driving modes to liven things up.

The Evoque now sports Jaguar Land Rover’s hybridised ‘Ingenium’ engine family across the range, and the set-up which appears in the plug-in hybrid model might be the most interesting.

It consists of a 1.5-litre three-cylinder combustion engine which is said to produce 147kW/280Nm, and an electric motor powering the rear axle producing 80kW, the two of which combine for an impressive quoted total output of 227kW/540Nm, driving all four wheels.

The motor sources its power from a 15kWh lithium-ion battery pack under the floor of the car, which provides a claimed 62km of fully-electric driving range.

Land Rover also replaced the mechanical brake pedal with a drive-by-wire one to allow for improved ‘blended’ regenerative braking.

You can choose three different powertrains in the RX - a 3.5-litre V6, a 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder, or this one, the 3.5-litre V6 with hybrid.

As a series hybrid it can run for short distances on electric only before firing up the V6 to supply charging and motivation.

The 3.5 produces 193kW/335Nm along with the electric motor. That torque figure seems low and it probably is, but that's a function of the weird way of measuring torque from a hybrid unit. The combined power figure, however, is 230kW.

The hybrid system is hooked up to Lexus' CVT auto and sends power to all four wheels. Lexus says the 450h will complete the sprint from 0-100km/h in 7.7 seconds, which isn't bad for a 2210kg SUV.

Claimed energy consumption on the combined WLTP cycle for the Range Rover Evoque P300e is 2.0L/100km. As with all plug-in hybrids though, this will heavily depend on how it is driven.

The 15kWh battery is said to provide a 62km driving range (again, on the WLTP cycle), which seems healthy for a PHEV, and I was pleased to find that my car was reporting about 56km on a full charge, not far off the claim.

Importantly, the Evoque has stellar charging specifications, which make it ideal for a city-slicker with minimal time to conveniently charge.

I was shocked to find a DC charging port when I flipped open the panel, which is capable of charging the tiny battery up in just 20 minutes (at a peak rate of 35kW), while on a slower but easier-to-find AC charger, it can extract 7kW allowing a charge time of around two hours.

This is well above par for a plug-in hybrid, and makes charging quick, painless and convenient, even for those who can’t charge at home.

As a result of this ease-of-charging and therefore minimal time spent in the hold or hybrid modes, my car reported an astounding 1.0/100km of fuel consumption during my week, covering mostly urban kilometres.

The only drawback is the need to fill this small turbo engine with mid-shelf 95RON fuel.

The official combined cycle figure is listed as 5.7L/100km. And, uh, yeah, we didn't get that. I did manage 8.9L/100km over the week, which included a long motorway run from Sydney up to the Blue Mountains (a roughly 160km round trip).

The second-gen Evoque is still the lovely, luxury, small SUV it was when it launched in 2019, and this plug-in hybrid version only serves to improve the formula, adding sleek electric driving characteristics to the already-smooth turbo engine and torque converter automatic.

Interestingly, and like its Volvo XC60 rival, the electric motor is located on the rear axle, giving this car the odd characteristic of being rear-wheel drive when driven electrically, or predominantly front-wheel drive when driven in combustion mode.

Speaking of modes, this car does the bulk of the management, with only three driving modes available to the pilot. These include the default ‘hybrid’ mode, which as the name suggests, blends the two power sources with more of an emphasis on electric driving when the battery is charged.

There's also an electric mode, which will only use the rear axle motor until the battery runs out, and a ‘Hold’ mode which will still blend the two sources but predominantly rely on the combustion engine to maintain the car’s state of charge.

You might want to use the last mode if you're travelling long-distance, to maintain the electric range for where it is most efficient - in low-speed stop-start driving.

The regenerative braking is not adjustable, having just a single mild level. It’s far from the single-pedal driving you can experience in a fully electric car, but Land Rover has made the brake pedal fly-by-wire so it can blend increased regen with the mechanical brakes.

It makes for a familiar experience from behind the wheel for those coming straight out of a purely combustion vehicle.

The electrified brake pedal does have the consequence of removing a bit of feel for a keen driver, and the same can be said for the rather slow steering tune in the default settings which makes the Evoque feel more luxurious and less sporty or reactive than it could be.

It’s a shame, because the two power sources combine to make for a thumping amount of power when you stick your boot in, and the all-wheel drive system and nicely balanced suspension keep this little SUV well under control in the corners.

As with my original Evoque range review in 2019, though, it is notable how heavy this SUV feels, particularly compared to some rivals like the Audi Q3.

The heftiness suits the Evoque's expanded dimensions and even more upmarket feel, but despite the power on offer it’s not an agile SUV to be carving corners in.

At least the ride quality and quietness is superb, making the Evoque an ideal SUV for driving around the centre of pothole-stricken Sydney, with a notable amount of poise. At the end of the day, isn’t that what this Range Rover was built for?

Right. So this is a salutary lesson about tyre pressures. The first few days the tyres were only pumped up to 200kpa (29psi). That's an easy 100kpa (14psi) short of the required 300 (43psi).

Every time I, or my wife, went around a corner, the big Dunlop Sport Maxx SPs would squeal and squirm and it was most unsatisfactory.

So check your tyres, because the extra 100kpa makes all the difference. Also, the number of service stations it took to find a working pump was unacceptable. Pull your socks up, Sydney.

Anyway.

Correct tyre pressures enacted, the big Lexus turned into a comfortable, competent cruiser. Its motorway performance is super-impressive, purring along the M4 and it's ridiculously poor surface like it was born to it. Which it sort of was.

The hybrid drivetrain allied to the CVT is mostly whisper quiet. It's not the most responsive combination, the initial step-off of the electric motor's torque soon giving way to the rubber band effect of the transmission.

It doesn't feel as swift as the claimed 7.7 seconds and it would be nice if the drive select dial made a genuine difference to the throttle and transmission's response.

In the city, it's a proper wafter, moving about the broken down city streets of Sydney without fuss and a plush ride that's a bit of a surprise given the huge wheels and substantial weight of RX.

It's all very easy and pleasant but the wild looks do not match the experience. Which is not a criticism, just an observation.

The RX ships with eight airbags (including knee airbags for both front seats), ABS, stability and traction controls, blind spot sensor, reversing camera, forward collision warning, forward AEB and reverse cross traffic alert.

There are three top tether restraints and two ISOFIX points. 

The RX scored a maximum five ANCAP stars in January 2016.

As of April, 2021 all Land Rover products are finally covered by an industry-standard five-year and unlimited kilometre warranty, matching its key rivals, and beating out BMW which persists with an old three-year warranty promise. Five years of roadside assist is also included for the duration.

When it comes to servicing, the P300e is available to be purchased with a five-year plan ($2650 - $530 annually) which covers 102,000km of visits.

This pack is well worthwhile as Land Rover servicing is generally quite expensive when purchased a-la-carte.

Lexus offers a fence-sitting four year/100,000km warranty with roadside assist thrown into the bargain for the same period. 

Service intervals arrive at 12 month/15,000km and there is, sadly, no capped-price servicing.

Lexus will, however, promise you a car for the day or come and get your car from you and drop it back when the service is done. And it will be washed and vacuumed. The website makes a big deal about that.