The adventures of the Long Ranger

IF YOU'RE seriously considering putting a Lexus NX 450h+ in your carpark, chances are you've gone pretty far in life. It retails for S$357,800, after all, which is big money for a car that isn't that big. But at least you're getting 2 cars in 1, plus it goes pretty far itself.

The NX 450h+ is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), meaning it's sort of what would happen if a Lexus and a Tesla had a baby. Hey, Julia Roberts was married to Lyle Lovett at the peak of her hotness, so stranger things have happened.

Anyway, like other PHEVs the Lexus can run on electric power for a short distance, and switch to petrol when the occasion calls for it. Unlike other PHEVs, however, it can actually do the zero-emissions thing for a meaningful distance.