New Lexus ES300h Facelift Review: Know What This Hybrid Sedan Offers In Quality And Looks

The ES300h is all about comfort and silence which it does very well. Refinement is brilliant and the smooth power delivery makes for a comfortable driving experience.

New Lexus ES300h Facelift

New Delhi: Hybrids are a combination of electric power and petrol engines along with the fact that you do not have to run around looking for a charging station as it is a 'self-charging vehicle'. What this also means is that the petrol/electric hybrid powertrain brings huge rewards in terms of efficiency.

We drove the car in the city and with various sport modes plus regular driving. The mileage figure that we got was just below 17kmpl! In a massive luxury sedan! That shows the benefits of hybrid cars but there are more too.

The ES300h starts off silently in electric power and at a higher speed, the petrol engine comes on. It is so smooth that you have no idea when the change happens. The ES300h is all about comfort and silence which it does very well. Refinement is brilliant and the smooth power delivery makes for a comfortable driving experience.

You get various modes while Sport is for more performance-oriented driving while eco or normal/comfort is best for everyday driving with greater mileage. In eco mode, it switches to EV only mode a lot so this setting might make more sense when used as a chauffeur-driven luxury car.

The ES is not a performance sedan but is quick enough while the suspension also performed well over some of the bad roads which we drove it on. Crucially, while the ES looks very low, it did not scrape over any speed breakers or bad roads - that said, you do need to be a bit careful. Lexus also says that the brake pedal has a bigger surface area with a greater pedal feel.

Incredible mileage aside, the ES is a luxury car and new to the updated model is a sharper-looking front-end with a bigger grille plus slimmer LED headlamps by the looks of things. There is also a new design to the 18-inch wheels while two new colour options are added-Sonic Iridium, and Sonic Chrome.

The ES in its current form has always been a good-looking car and these updates just make it even better. It gets a lot of looks for its aggressive styling.

Quality is also really good as you would expect from a luxury car with high-quality materials all over. New to ES here is a choice between two upholstery colours while a darker wood trim is now being offered. The biggest update is the bigger 12.3-inch screen which is also a touchscreen now and that makes using it much easier.

You get all the usual luxury features including a three-zone climate control system, sunshades, powered seats with heating/cooling, a 17-speaker audio system (which sounds very good) plus a power recline rear seat along with a button to push forward the front passenger seat automatically.

The ES300h starts from 57 lakh while the top-end version is Rs 62 lakh- that is still less than rivals while the biggest plus point of this Lexus continues to be its comfort, silence, and quality-laden interior.

Crucially, the new touchscreen makes life easier and the looks are as attractive as ever which makes the ES stand out amongst its rivals. As a luxury sedan along with being more 'green' than its rivals, the ES does make a good statement.

What we like- Looks, quality, value for money, features, comfort, fuel efficiency

What we do not- Not as engaging to drive as rivals