Fast Facts | 2026 Lexus TX 550h PHEV
🚗 Power: 3.5-liter V6 plug-in hybrid with 404 horsepower
⚙️ Performance: Smooth, quiet acceleration; 0-60 mph in 5.9 seconds
🔋 Plug-In Hybrid System: Up to 33 miles on a full charge, 29 mpg combined after
📏 Cargo: 20.2 cu ft behind seats, 57.4 cu ft with rear seats folded
📡 Tech: 14.0-inch touchscreen; wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
A Big Family Lexus With a Surprisingly EV-Like Commute
We get it. Shopping for a three-row crossover SUV is no easy task these days. Just about every automaker has one perched toward the top of its range. Line them all up and, frankly, few of them really do a lot to differentiate themselves.
But then there’s the Lexus TX 550h, which combines a genuinely luxurious cabin with 404 horsepower, and it can likely handle your commute without using a drop of gasoline.
There’s nothing quite like it on the market: a high-end, three-row crossover SUV that happens to be a plug-in hybrid. And, as I learned over a week of driving, the TX 550h+ feels worth nearly every bit of its rather hefty price tag.
One-of-a-Kind
The Lexus showroom can be confusing. At the top price-wise is the Lexus LX, a big bruiser that guzzles gas and isn't very spacious. It’s an old-school SUV really best suited to drivers who'll occasionally go off-road or routinely need to traverse very deep snow.
The better choice for most drivers is the TX, which has a car-like chassis giving it an exceptionally spacious interior as well as good ride quality and handling.
The TX comes in three flavors. The TX 350 anchors the range with a turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder rated at 275 horsepower, which can push its power to either the front or, optionally, all four wheels. Its Achilles heel is its so-so fuel economy at just 23 mpg combined. The TX 500h addresses that by adding a pair of electric motors and a battery pack, boosting both acceleration and fuel economy. It seems like a win-win, at least until the TX 550h+ enters the chat.
The range-topper swaps in an ultra-smooth 3.5-liter V6 teamed with electric motors and a higher-capacity battery. Altogether, the setup delivers 33 miles of all-electric range and 29 mpg combined after that, per EPA estimates. That means a typical commute, with a few errands in between, can be done without the gas engine ever kicking on. Plus, with a total system output of 404 horsepower, the TX 550h+ has the quickest acceleration of the bunch.
Picking which version of the TX is best for you depends on a variety of factors, starting with its price tag. The range kicks off at around an MSRP of $58,500 for the base TX 350. It reaches its summit with my test vehicle, a TX 550h+, which added to its $81,000-or-so price tag a surround-view camera system, a rearview mirror camera, a head-up display, and a traffic-jam assistant that allowed for limited hands-off accelerating, braking, and steering at city and highway speeds.
All in, my test car ran $85,863. That’s a lot of money, but its spec list does its best to justify the price tag. It also helps that, at least for now, no other luxury brand has a big, spacious three-row crossover SUV with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. The TX 550h+ has no direct competition.
Mostly Approachable Tech
While the TX’s 12.3-inch instrument cluster and 14.0-inch touchscreen don’t have the big-number punch you’ll find in some competitors, this Lexus comes loaded with easy-to-use tech. The touchscreen is bright and easy to navigate, with a quintet of virtual buttons fixed to the left side of the display to jump between, say, audio, navigation, and the trip computer.
The built-in mapping software uses your phone’s data to provide real-time traffic and routing updates. It’s not quite as slick as Waze or Google Maps, but it’s darn close and integrates even better with the instrument cluster display. Standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility means you’re spoiled for choice.
The digital instrument cluster is similarly crisp, if a bit more cumbersome to operate via steering wheel-mounted controls. Lexus offers lots of customizability and tons of icons displaying just about every mode that is currently activated, perhaps too much for some users who would be perfectly satisfied with a more basic display rather than the information overload.
My range-topping tester also had a head-up display that didn’t wash out with polarized sunglasses, as well as a digital rearview mirror that alleviated otherwise dismal rearward visibility due to the big roof pillars and view-blocking headrests behind the front seats.
On the Road Comfort
When automakers bolt oversize wheels onto their cars, it’s usually a vanity project. True, the 22-inchers that fill out the Lexus TX’s wheel wells look great, but this SUV's adaptive dampers are what actually deliver a stellar ride. Over rough terrain, it's remarkably planted. Combine its poise with quick-witted and well-weighted steering, and the TX becomes almost fun, which is something hard to say about a big three-row crossover. However, it never really feels nimble or light on its feet.
Mash the accelerator, and the TX thrusts forward quickly with limited thrum in the cabin. Though this version has a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) rather than the traditional multi-gear transmission fitted to the model’s other powertrains, you’d hardly know it. CVT gearboxes tend to emit a drone that upsets the cabin; not so here, thanks in part to solid sound deadening.
It’s nearly silent in all-electric mode, which the system defaults to when fully charged. A tap of a center console switch lets you motor around in a more conventional hybrid mode, using both the gas engine and the electric powertrain. Drivers can save the battery’s charge for situations like low-speed urban driving, where it makes more sense to run on electricity.
The TX is a road-trip boss. With adaptive cruise control engaged and on its most aggressive setting, the TX stays centered in its lane. Hold the turn signal down, and it'll seek out an opening to pass slower-moving vehicles. If the coast is clear, it zips in with no additional driver intervention. Try it once, and you’ll be hooked; it makes driving that much more relaxed, leaving you with more time to sink into the comfortable front and second-row seats. Row three isn't all that bad, but it’s definitely best for kids since there’s little knee room.
Inside, the cabin is lined with soft semi-aniline leather over front- and second-row bucket seats that are heated and cooled. My test vehicle felt rock solid, though I would have liked to see some of the snazzier trim that Lexus often fits to its cars, like real wood, carbon fiber, or even the cut glass it uses in the LS sedan.
Roomy and Capable
Behind its third row, the TX can hold a decent 20.2 cubic feet worth of cargo. The rearmost seats power downward to create a fairly flat floor, opening up 57.4 cubic feet. Fold the second-row captain’s chairs, and that space balloons to a minivan-rivaling 97.0 cubic feet. Unlike Lexus’s own GX and LX models, the TX has a low enough liftover height that hefting a bulky suitcase into the cargo area is no chore.
Lexus also did a pretty good job of carving out small-item storage inside the TX. Its center console box is a bit small, but there are plenty of cupholders and shelves for mobile devices. The wireless charging pad sits under a retractable shelf at the front of the center console.
When fitted with the optional trailer hitch, the TX 550h+ is capable of towing 5,000 pounds, a hearty figure for a three-row crossover.
In a League of Its Own
Sure, the TX 550h+ may not have any direct competitors, but this plug-in hybrid crossover SUV hardly coasts on that fact. It’s an exceptionally appealing choice for drivers seeking tailpipe emissions-free commuting in a family-friendly, high-refinement package. There’s nothing else quite like it.
Keep Shopping: Luxury and Family PHEV Alternatives
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2024 Mazda CX-90 Plug-In Hybrid Road Test
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2025 Lexus TX 500h F Sport Performance
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