Styling
Viewed in profile, the latest Lexus ES looks less like a three-box saloon and more like one of those four-door 'coupes' marketing types are always wanging on about. There's a continuous swoop to the roof that's quite elegant, even if the rather angular lower detailing could potentially split the opinion of bystanders who are viewing the aesthetics. We can't bring ourselves to say the ES 350e is beautiful, but nor will we denounce it as ugly either.
There are some nice, bold colours available for it, though, including Glacier Blue and Sonic Copper, so at least you're not restricted to a boring palette of monochromatic finishes, all in the name of somehow 'being premium'. Anyway, the two lower specs of the ES 350e come with 19-inch aerodynamically optimised alloy wheels wrapped in 235/55 tyres as standard, with a set of 21s on 235/45 rubber as an option for £1,600. Those 21-inch rims are the OE fitment for the flagship Takumi, though, and you can't even no-cost-opt-out of them for the 19s, either.
Interior
Beautifully put-together and with some nice colour and texture combinations to pick from, the cabin of the Lexus ES 350e is one of its clear highlights. Various wood trims and light leathers can be specified, and you can't really go wrong with any of the options Lexus serves up to you. One particular highlight can be found on the Premium Plus mid-grade car, which comes with an illuminated and layered bamboo trim on the door cards. This can be made to pulse through various different colours or stay glowing a fixed hue, and while it might sound overly chintzy, it turns out it's a classy touch that works wonderfully well in practice.
Technology is managed by a 12.3-inch digital combimeter and a 14-inch touchscreen infotainment screen dominating the dash. The former of these two items is somewhat oddly presented, the angular-framed instrument cluster sort of housed in a giant crater of the fascia - but one without a cowl. It almost looks like Lexus is doing its own homage to Botticelli's
The Birth of Venus, only with a digital panel and a dashboard standing in for a Roman goddess and a gigantic scallop shell respectively.
But we digress. In the main, this technological interface is reasonably intuitive to operate, even though there aren't many physical controls in the Lexus ES. Indeed, if you don't fire the car up, you won't think there are any buttons on the centre stack at all. But they're an example of 'hidden' technology and when you power the EV's systems on, the relevant 'switchgear' becomes visible. It's a likeable conceit and adds to the technological air of the ES' cabin.
Practicality
The Lexus ES 350e is a bit of a monster, dimensionally speaking. Measuring in at 5,140mm long, it's a huge machine for an E-segment four-door like this, and sitting between the axles is a goliath wheelbase of 2,950mm.
This, you would feel, should lead to the sort of interior to which one might append the adjective 'cavernous'. And, in terms of rear-passenger legroom, that would be a fair assessment. In fact, on the Takumi model, there's something called an 'ottoman' arrangement that equips some lavishly opulent reclining back seats to make the most of the space on offer for lower limbs; something of a USP in this segment, we feel.
But the ES' mixed-powertrains nature makes itself felt with a notable lack of headroom... in both rows of the car. Up front, even if you drop the electrically adjustable seats right down as low as they will go, those of you who are bizarre 'sitting giants' (long torso, short legs - see this correspondent for details) will think your head is way too close to the rooflining for comfort. And it's a feeling repeated in the back, where not only does your hair (what remains of it - again, see this correspo... oh, never mind!) brush the swooping ceiling of the car, but the squab of the bench feels too low in relation to the high floor, so your thighs don't quite have the right amount of support beneath them. Also, there's a pronounced hump in the transmission tunnel area, kind of an unwanted vestigial remnant of the Mk8 ES being sold as a hybrid in other markets, but not here. So sitting three across the back of the car looks optimistic, unless they're all children.
It's certainly not cramped in the back of a Lexus ES, then, and if you're of a healthier build than this writer then you might not notice these shortcomings. But they're there, mainly because shoving the battery underneath the floor has clearly resulted in a higher mounting position for the seating, and these aspects of the interior make the ES feel like something of a reverse Tardis: larger on the outside than it seems within the cabin. Factor in that the rear seats do not fold down at all (there's a ski-hatch or through-load panel back there, and nothing more) and there can be no 'froot' under the Lexus' bonnet (because, yes, it has to accommodate an ICE in other markets besides our own), and you're left with 512 litres of cargo capacity, max. Certainly not bad, but not brilliantly versatile either.
Performance
On the continent and, presumably, in its home market of Japan, there's a dual-motor 500e version of the Lexus ES, with something like 340hp at its disposal. We kick off this section of the review with mention of this model because it desperately, desperately needs to come here, much sooner rather than later, to bolster the ES' case. As things stand, the ES 350e is underwhelming in the extreme and about as likely to tempt conquest sales from machines such as the
Audi A6 e-tron and
BMW i5 as Donald Trump would be of legitimately winning a third term in the Oval Office (we say legitimately because we wouldn't put it past him to redraft the US Constitution, you see).
The ES clearly borrows much of the EV tech it has from the
Toyota bZ4X family, which is not a surprising move on Lexus' part; platform sharing is part and parcel of the modern automotive world. But what suffices for a mainstream C-segment electric SUV is not what you want powering a hefty old E-segment barge like this. With a 77kWh (gross) battery pack installed, the ES 350e weighs a whopping 2,245kg. So does the bZ4X's solitary front-motor, rated at 224hp and, more alarmingly, just 269Nm of torque, sound like enough for you in a car of this magnitude?
The answer is, no, it doesn't. We experienced this on the recent
DS No.7 launch, where premium-tilting machines make the mistake of component-sharing certain drivetrains that might work in cheaper, everyday cars, but which do not cut the mustard for prestige applications. With the French SUV, at least it was only the Hybrid 145 that let the side down, meaning you can safely opt for an E-Tense EV and enjoy the all-round experience of the No.7. In the Lexus ES 350e, there's currently no way out of this woefully underpowered set-up.
As it stands, the Lexus summons up a feeble 99hp/tonne. And so it feels every last gramme of its substantial kerb weight out on the roads. A lot of the joy of picking an upper-level EV is to feel that effortless, muscular, midrange 'whoosh' they can deliver when running 400-500Nm motors to overcome their weight, but the ES 350e is just painfully slow for a car of this type. Don't be fooled by the eight-second 0-62mph time; that says nothing of the undernourished roll-on performance this Japanese car demonstrates. It's verging on a strain to wind it up to motorway speeds on tight or short sliproads, and you have to plan very carefully for any overtakes you might be contemplating on two-lane routes. Can you imagine saying the same about any A6, i5 or Volvo ES90, for instance? No, you cannot.
We accept that the widespread adoption of 800hp, 1,000Nm EVs is probably not a good idea, not with the prevailing driving standards in the UK right now. But if you're forking out a lot of money for a luxury saloon like this, surely you want it to have a bit of oomph, a bit of easy-access power? That is a premium experience, in and of itself. Sadly, the Lexus has no such thing in this solitary specification we are currently afforded.
You might think the payoff is amazing one-shot range, or unbeatable electrical efficiency, or ultra-rapid charging times. But no. On 19-inch wheels, you can get a Lexus ES 350e Premium to 361 miles, which is acceptable, but the Premium Plus drops that back to 357 miles, while fitting 21s can lop something like 28 miles off these figures. To whit, the Takumi's maximum is a mere 326 miles on paper, and obviously a lot less in reality.
But the ES is also on 400-volt architecture, so aside from the
DS No.8 (160kW) and ageing Mercedes EQE (170kW), its peak DC charging speed of 150kW is way off the pace in a class where the i5 runs at 205kW, while 800-volt competitors such as the A6 e-tron and ES90 can take in electricity at 270- and 350kW respectively. All this means you'll need at least 28 minutes to get the 350e's battery from 10-80 per cent at a public charging point; a decent figure six or seven years ago, perhaps, but looking tardy in the present climate.
Ride & Handling
Lexus could redeem itself here if the ES 350e was immaculate for ride and refinement. And when you initially roll off in the car, especially in the models fitted with the plumper tyres on the 19-inch wheels, then the early signs are highly encouraging.
Sadly, it doesn't take long for that promise to evaporate. There's not a huge gulf in comfort between either the 19- or 21-inch wheels, because whichever ones you end up with, if you hit a medium-sized pothole or drain cover in the road, the Lexus will let you know about it. Similarly, on a rutted back road, its surface bubbled up into something vaguely lunar by underlying tree roots, the ES simply bobbles and shuffles and shimmies about ceaselessly, unable to settle back down on its conventional springs and dampers until the road returns to something approaching the level.
The 350e is never out-and-out-crashy, or uncomfortably firm, but it just seems to lack the necessary wheel and body control in adverse conditions that would allow it to glide along serenely, its progress unperturbed by any road-type it encountered. Most of the time, it is a very comfortable car for ride quality, but there are too many occasions where its composure is easily upset by what seem to be only modest imperfections in the tarmac.
This couples with a pair of surprising observations about the rolling refinement, as well. At anything above 50mph, a quite pronounced ruffling noise starts to emanate from the panoramic roof up top. We had to check a couple of times that it wasn't slightly open, but no - even when it's fully shut, it's a noisy old thing. And then we noticed that, in league with the wind noise from above, at motorway speeds on the rougher asphalt that we tend to get in large patches on our road network, there's also too much tyre roar seeping up from underneath the Lexus into the passenger compartment. Again, on that latter point, on the newer sections of surfacing, it quietens back down, but such an amount of chatter from the rubber shouldn't be audible at any point in a grandiose car like this from a manufacturer fabled for offering a relaxed driving experience.
Because, of course, the ES 350e is no great shakes in the corners. Body roll is quelled to a suitable degree and the steering controlled through the new, smaller and round wheel in the cabin is quite accurate and quick, but it lacks for any meaningful connection to the chassis that would help the driver discern the overall cornering attitude of the car. And there's a sense that the Lexus' underpinnings are entirely grip-oriented and safe, and that pushing up to the limits of adhesion will only result in fun-sapping understeer. There's no impression of a delicate handling balance or any sort of driver engagement in the ES 350e.
Dynamically, from a Lexus, that is pretty much what we were expecting before driving it. But to make up for that, and to override that weak powertrain, the ES 350e needed to be near-flawless for ride comfort and refinement - like this
glorious Asian EV delight. The fact that it isn't rather takes the shine off the whole car, frankly.
Value
And then we come onto the fact that the ES isn't about to win plaudits for being a relative bargain. Quite the opposite, in truth; it looks blinkin' dear for what it is. Sure, Lexus itself would point out that it stuffs all three trim levels with standard kitlists that run from the generous in the entry-point Premium to bounteous-to-the-point-of-being-overblown in the Takumi.
But they cost a small fortune each, these ES 350e models. The Premium starts from £59,345, the Premium Plus we've driven here a staggering £68,245, and the Takumi is entirely the wrong side of 70 grand at £72,545. All this, when seven years ago, the Lexus ES family started from £35,155 for a 300h.
Seventy-two-and-a-half grand, for a 2,245kg car with 269Nm and 150kW DC charging speeds. So while the Japanese manufacturer might point to the Premium being less money than the cheapest A6 e-tron (£63,365), ES90 (£67,560) or i5 (£67,795), all of those cars have more power, they drive better than the ES, and they recharge a whole lot quicker. And while the DS No.8 is a brave choice, at £54,690 for a lot more range (up to 446 miles) than the Lexus can summon up, it nevertheless seems a tempting alternative.
Verdict
We always quite liked the old hybrid Lexus ES. Yeah, sure, it was front-wheel drive in a predominantly RWD class, and it wasn't massively quick, and its 2.5-litre engine could occasionally be noisy when worked hard, but it was something beautifully built, elegantly refined and suitably leftfield to allow it to be recommended, while it was well-equipped and good value too.
We were hoping for much the same from the new ES 350e, seeing as the adoption of electric power should have by rights bolstered its ride and refinement no end. But the fact that it has some questionable wheel and body control, and too much tyre and wind noise on occasion, plus the increase in prices to a chunky £60,000-£70,000 bracket accordingly, are all aspects which leave us a tad disappointed with this newcomer - and then that deflated feeling is only exacerbated by the meagre e-motor fitted to the ES 350e's front axle. Yes, it has a lovely interior replete with glowing-bamboo trim, but that's about all it has on this first reckoning. By Lexus' own high standards, the manufacturer could - and should - be doing better than this.
