Lexus LM vs Hyundai Nexo

What's the difference?

The Lexus LM is going to be a niche model. This was not designed to appeal to people that may have bought a Toyota Tarago back in the day, or even a Kia Carnival now.

It has a specific purpose for ferrying people around in absolute comfort and at that, it succeeds in a big way.

It’s just a bonus that it’s great to drive.

Welcome to the automotive equivalent of a business class airline suite.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with accommodation and meals provided.

If nothing else the Nexo is a brilliant experiment to prove there can be more than one solution for a zero-emissions future. A lot of this depends on the power grid being more sustainable, but the most pressing issue for end-consumers, and Hyundai itself when it comes to FCEV technology, is the rollout of a more robust refuelling network.

At the end of the day, the thought of having an electric car with the range and refuelling ease of a petrol one is a much easier sell than the tall retail prices and compromises that come with an EV for every-day Australians. In a way, then, the Nexo is functionally an ideal blend of the old and the new. 

You can’t buy one yet, but as this SUV will lay the groundwork for hydrogen’s future, we’ll be watching it with a keen eye.

Look, people movers are not considered the sexiest of automotive body styles, but that’s changing.

The Kia Carnival and Hyundai Staria are examples of good MPV design.

And the Lexus LM steps it up again. 

It is based on Toyota’s TNGA-K architecture that underpins a bunch of Toyota and Lexus models, including the Lexus RX, and it measures a whopping 5.1 metres long and has a three-metre wheelbase.

It shares its underpinnings with the latest generation Japanese-market Toyota Alphard, which is a cult hit in Australia among the grey import set.

The front-end design is bold, with the latest take on Lexus’ big ‘spindle grille’, pinched slimline headlights and a stubby nose. 

I am a big fan of this design. It is far more than a box on wheels and it has quite a bit of presence. 

The interior design up front is modern Lexus, with a few familiar Toyota touches, and while it’s not exactly minimal, it’s still visually appealing.

Like Toyota’s Prius, the Hyundai Nexo is not only a technology leader for the brand, but it also debuted many of its current exotic design elements long before they arrived on any mainstream model. 

A little larger than a Tucson, the Nexo has a dramatic honeycombed grille which maintains a paint finish, topped off with a strip of LED lighting which Hyundai says was to give it a distinctive look at night.

All its lighting is LED to fit with its avant-garde design, although when seen from the side or the rear it could be any mid-size SUV. 

There’s something sensible about that. The Nexo isn’t the kind of car which will polarise buyers because of its design alone.

Hidden away are very neat design elements, like functional air dams on the front guards and rear spoiler fitment, and hidden wiper blades under the bonnet cladding and tucked under the rear spoiler. 

There is also intricate pattern-work on the light fittings, making for an admirable overall attention to detail befitting such an interesting, if typically shaped, SUV.

Inside, and Hyundai points out that the Nexo was the first of its cars to get the 'bridge' centre console which now appears on the Santa Fe, Palisade, and Kona EV. 

It’s an impressive design element, really lifting the cabin ambiance on all the vehicles it appears on, although the plethora of buttons smattered across its face is reminiscent of older Porsche models, and not necessarily in a good way. It can be tough for first-time or occasional users to find the button they’re looking for.

The Nexo was also one of the first Hyundai models to score the impressive dual screen layout, consisting of a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, and a 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen.

Trim options for our market consist of a two-tone cream or a navy blue leather-appointed upholstery.

Again, there are attention-to-detail elements here, with interesting grain designs across the dash-topper and door cards, with many of the fittings appearing in silver rather than black to add a touch of futuristic flair. 

Hyundai promises sustainable 'bio-based' plastics are used extensively in the interior, leading to a 12kg reduction in CO2 emissions during the production process. 

There are also vegetable oil-derived paints used in the cabin, and fibres made using corn and sugarcane waste material. Nice to have some real eco bragging rights on something a lot cheaper than a BMW i8.

While most of the fun happens in the second row of the Lexus LM, there is a lot to like in the front compartment.

The dash is dominated by a large touchscreen that houses Lexus’ latest multimedia setup. The logical menu and uncomplicated sub-menus ensure this is an easy system to navigate. Speaking of, the in-built sat-nav is one of the better systems I have experienced. 

Comfort isn’t just the domain of the second row - the driver’s seat is very supportive and comfortable, with power adjustment.

There’s plenty of glass including a smaller front quarter window that helps eliminate front blind spots, so forward visibility is exceptional. Rearward visibility is aided by the digital rear-view mirror that is designed to ensure privacy for second and third-row occupants. You don’t want the chauffeur spying on you while you’re sleeping, do you?

The other big tick for me is the driving position. Other people movers, namely the Hyundai Staria and Mercedes-Benz EQV, have very low window lines and it leaves you with a feeling of sitting on the car, rather than in it. I am sure it helps with extra light and it probably makes it easier for kids to see out of, but from a driving perspective, I find it a little disconcerting.

But the LM has flipped that. The front compartment is designed in such a way that it feels like a cockpit that you’re ensconced in. This helps the driver feel more connected with the car, and in the LM it feels like you’re sitting in the driver’s seat of a sporty sedan, not a five-metre bus. Very well done, Lexus.

And now to the main event - the second row.

Where to begin. Let’s start with space. Because there is so much of it. Unsurprisingly given the seating layout, there is an unending amount of head, leg, knee, bum, shoulder and whatever-else room. I can’t imagine anyone complaining about space back there.

Also, getting in and out is a breeze thanks to the sliding power doors on both sides. These can be opened from the front seat, and via several buttons in the rear.

Those captain’s seats are plush. Not quite Benz S-Class plush, but still.

They are adjustable six ways - power adjustable, of course - and they’re heated and ventilated. They recline almost flat, too, if you need a nap on the way to the country estate. And while you do that you can look up through the split sunroof, or close the shade a number of ways.

Is there a massage function? Of course there is a massage function. And it’s not bad. You can choose two settings - weak and firm.

Adding to the feeling of a business class airline seat, there is a fold-out table in the armrest, although it’s a smallish one. And there is dual-zone climate control in the rear.

There is a roof-mounted control panel for things like climate, sunshades and sunroof blinds, but much of this can also be controlled by the Apple iPhone-like devices clipped into both rear seats. These are closer to the seats, so it is easier to access than the roof.

Another function in the device is the Climate Concierge that features different modes - Dream, Relax, Focus, Energise. Depending on which one you choose, it alters the seat settings, massage, climate and lights to suit.

I love the massively wide side windows that are tinted (or privacy glass), too.

Other amenities include map pockets, knee and roof-mounted air vents and a 14.0-inch display screen that retracts from the roof and connects to an HDMI cable, allowing you to watch whatever you want.

The third row is not as appealing as the second. It is technically a three-person row, but the width and the fact that it has a sizeable gap in the centre suggests that this is best thought of as a six-seater van.

The seats are not as plush of course, so you might not want to spend too much time in that row unless you are a small child. But you do get USB-C ports, cupholders, air vents, lights, sunglasses holder, power side shades and grab handles.

Getting in and out of the third row can take a while. It’s all power adjustable, so you don’t have to lift anything heavy - but it takes a while for the second row seats to move forward and up.

With all seats in place the cargo space is limited. In fact, it’s just 110 litres.

That’s similar to what you get in a seven-seat SUV. But it did fit all our overnight luggage easily.

Drop the rear row and that expands to a maximum of 1191 litres in the 350h or 752 litres in the 500h.

All grades have a space-saver spare wheel.

Being a mid-size SUV, the Nexo will possess many of the practicality attributes today’s buyers are searching for.

It has a similar right height and seat positioning to a Tucson, so it’s really bang-on for the market, and headroom despite a standard sunroof is excellent. Adjustability is also good with telescopic adjust for the wheel and 10-way electrical adjust for the seats. 

As is typical for Hyundai there are some great storage areas, with a large centre console box, a single large bottle holder and odd little storage tray, a huge cutaway underneath the console bridge (which houses the wireless charger and USB ports).

There are also large door bins, although these proved not so great for holding bottles as the door design and speakers limit the height of objects that can be placed there. 

There’s also an odd little pop-out bottle holder on the passenger side, I assume to make up for the fact that there isn’t a second one in the centre.

The back seats had a good amount of room, behind my own (182cm/6'0" tall) driving position my knees had plenty of airspace, although the presence of a 'transmission tunnel' which eats space for the middle seat was puzzling given this car is strictly front-drive only. 

Amenities for rear passengers include pockets on the backs of the front seats, a single 12V power outlet, and dual adjustable air vents. There are also small single bottle holders in the doors.

Boot space comes in at a competitive but not stellar 461-litres (VDA), or 1466L with the seats down. This is okay for the mid-size segment, although the loading lip and boot floor is quite high due to the presence of under-floor batteries. 

There is also no spare wheel for the Nexo, with only a small amount of room for a tyre repair kit.

Sadly, if you’re a private buyer and not a fleet customer, you can’t actually buy a Hyundai Nexo. At least, not yet. 

The brand is currently rolling this interesting SUV out amongst special interest fleet buyers, and our test drive comes as the first 20 examples are handed over to the ACT government which is also celebrating the opening of a new refuelling station in the territory.

Hyundai is leasing Nexos out to early fleet adopters for a set (and undisclosed) monthly fee for the time being but promises it will consider taking private orders once the refuelling network is more established and its usage is better understood. 

We’ll get back to you on price if and when it becomes more available to private customers. Don’t expect it to be cheap. 

We took a look at the Nexo’s Korean retail price, where it starts from the equivalent of A$83,645 before on-road costs and in Korea’s more forward-thinking case, tax benefits.

Thankfully though, as a “technology leader” for the brand, Hyundai’s local division has chosen to import the car with every possible spec item from the factory. 

This includes a dual-screen layout with a 7.0-inch digital dash as well as a 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen with built-in navigation, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto connectivity, fully leather-appointed interior trim, heated and ventilated power adjustable front seats, heated steering wheel and outboard rear seats, dual-zone climate control, 19-inch alloy wheels, a sunroof, fully LED head- and tail-lights, an eight-speaker audio system, smart parking assist with remote function, flush door handles with keyless entry and push-start ignition. That’s a lot of stuff. If this were my fleet car, I’d be pretty happy.

Rivals? The only electric cars with anywhere near an equivalent range are the Tesla Model 3 ($86,325), Mercedes-Benz EQC ($141,400), and Audi E-Tron ($137,100), but as it is with these models you’re faced with high retail prices and long recharging times from anything but an ultra-fast DC station. 

There’s also the Prius-shaped-and-sized Toyota Mirai kicking around. It’s also an FCEV and also available to limited fleets.

There are two hybrid powertrains available. Coming next year, the LM500h combines a 2.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine and a hybrid setup, making for power and torque of 202kW and 460Nm respectively. It is all-wheel drive and is paired with a six-speed automatic transmission.

The LM350h comes with a 2.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine and a parallel hybrid system, offering up a total system output of 140kW and 239Nm. The 350h comes in front or all-wheel-drive guise and uses a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

The Nexo’s hydrogen system is not really a drive component. It generates power for the electric motor, which is similar to the one that appears in the Kona EV. 

Like other EV models, it’s a permanent magnet synchronous motor mounted on the front axle, producing 120kW/395Nm. 

The hydrogen system is a grid of catalyst membranes which are essentially used like a giant battery to chemically combine oxygen sourced from outside the car with pressurised hydrogen. 

This reaction generates two bi-products: electricity and water, the latter of which exits the Nexo’s tailpipe.

The hydrogen system is capable of generating 135kW, just over the motor’s total output so there is always power to spare.

Powering the car’s auxiliary systems, and acting as a buffer to store excess and regenerated energy, is a hybrid-sized 1.56kWh lithium-ion battery under the boot floor.

As you’d hope with an all-hybrid line-up, the LM excels when it comes to combined cycle fuel efficiency. The 350h FWD sips just 5.5 litres per 100 kilometres, while the AWD version is 5.6L/100km. The 500h is a little thirstier at 6.6L. 

Our drive was so brief we did not get to record an on-test fuel figure.

The theoretical range of the LM, considering the 60-litre fuel tank and 5.5L/100km (350h) and 6.6L/100km (500h) fuel consumption figures is about 1000km.

The Nexo drinks compressed hydrogen. It has 6.33kg worth of hydrogen storage tanks which grant it a generally EV-beating 666km of range. 

One of the key benefits of the hydrogen system is that it refuels in roughly the same time as it takes to fuel a diesel car, using a pressurised hose in a similar manner to an LPG vehicle.

The trouble is hydrogen is hard to source at a pump in Australia. There is one refuelling station at Hyundai’s Macquarie Park HQ in NSW, another just opened in the ACT, and a third one owned by Toyota which is about to open at its Altona, VIC HQ.

The fleet of 20 cars handed over to the ACT government will use the new pump, which for the first year will be providing free hydrogen as the system is evaluated.

Overall costs for the hydrogen after that time will depend on where it is sourced from. As Australia is uniquely positioned to generate compressed hydrogen (with an abundance of renewable energy idle time which can be stored in places like the ACT) the cost will come down over time. 

Right now, though, the brand estimates somewhere to the tune of $15 a kilo for an end-consumer, or about $90 to fill the Nexo.

Finally, a benefit for the eco-conscious, Hyundai pitches the Nexo as a product which actually leaves the air cleaner after generating energy, although there are some caveats.

The first is that the membrane requires use of platinum – a rare earth metal, and the second is hydrogen requires a lengthy, power-intensive and complex process to generate in a usable form. 

In the ACT government’s case this is less of a problem, as it will use 100 per cent renewably sourced idle energy to process the gas.

As mentioned earlier, I spent much more time in the second row as a passenger than I did behind the wheel of the LM350h. But it was enough time to capture some initial high-level drive impressions.

But let’s start in the rear. The ride in the second row is comfortable - as you’d hope. Our trek from Melbourne’s inner north down to the Mornington Peninsula included a lot of freeway, which was smooth. The only thing that disturbed the peace was a chunky bridge join that caused a bit of a thump. But we were hardly disturbed. 

Back in the driver’s seat, there’s a lot to like about how the LM350h drives. First of all, it feels smaller on the road than its ample dimensions would otherwise suggest. It even feels relatively light on the road. 

After the LM, I drove a Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV that has a similar kerb weight (the Lexus is about 2.4 tonnes), and the LM felt lighter.  

The hybrid powertrain is responsive enough, offering decent acceleration from a standing start. The more potent 500h will of course be quicker.

The transition from electric to petrol propulsion is pretty smooth in Lexus (and Toyota) models these days, and the additional noise-deadening materials in the LM ensure it’s subtle.

The 2.5-litre petrol engine is really only noticeable when accelerating hard, and the CVT a slight drone, but it’s in no way unpleasant. 

Otherwise it’s a superbly refined and quiet cabin on all but the absolute worst road surfaces. Whisper quiet power windows adds to that feeling of luxurious refinement.

Given the brief time behind the wheel, we didn’t get to test the handling capability of the LM, so that might have to wait for a review in the New Year. 

The steering is heavily weighted and doesn’t feel overly responsive, but it’s perfectly suited to this sort of vehicle.

That supple ride we experienced in the rear was also evident behind the wheel.

This was especially impressive on a couple of pock-marked peninsular back roads. The ride is also much more compliant than the Mercedes-Benz EQV I tested early in 2023.

To drive the Nexo is essentially no different to an electric car. It uses the same permanent magnet motor, the same regenerative braking, and the same buffer battery system.

This means a very quiet and smooth drive. It’s not quite the unleashed performance of a Tesla, but then that’s not really the point of the Nexo which leans into the comfort of the whole experience.

The drive and hydrogen reaction is entirely a silent process, although the Nexo emits a pleasant choral tone at low speed to alert passers by of its presence, same as the Kona EV.

Despite that strong torque number, the Nexo isn’t inclined to spin the wheels, and for balance reasons, Hyundai actually de-tuned the motor slightly to make it gentle off-the-line.

When it comes to corners the comfort is again emphasised, with very light and linear steering. The chassis is rigid enough to feel under control, although the comfort suspension tune will have it tilting around a little more than, say, a Tucson.

The ride is also far more forgiving than Hyundai’s sportier petrol range, with the Nexo undulating over bumps and corrugations with ease.

As is usual with Hyundai models, the safety systems aren’t too invasive, making the Nexo a friendly companion on the freeway, and the soft interior trimmings add to its near-luxurious feel.

The ACT government reps who will be receiving this car are of the mind that anybody that drives it will become an advocate for electrification, and I’m inclined to agree with them.

For most people it’s better in every way from behind the wheel when compared to a petrol car.

Despite being so low volume, the Nexo has a maximm five-star ANCAP rating and comes with the full array of active safety items from any other high-spec Hyundai model.

Included is radar-based auto emergency braking which works up to freeway speeds with pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring with collision avoidance, rear cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, driver attention alert, auto high beam assist, and a top-down reversing camera. 

Also featuring is a blind-spot camera which appears in the instrument cluster when the indicator is applied.

The Nexo of course features the expected traction, stability, and brake controls, and has the regular suite of six airbags for the event of an actual collision.

When you buy a Lexus, you get a bit more than a car. The brand has a customer loyalty program - Lexus Encore - and depending on what model you buy, you are eligible for some pretty cool discounts, bonuses and experiences. 

There are three tiers, depending on your model. UX, NX, RX and ES fall under regular Encore, and electric models the RZ and UX300e sit beneath Electrified Benefits. But the LM, as well as the LS, LC and LX are under Encore Platinum - the top tier. 

That means access to the ‘On Demand’ program that allows access to another Lexus model for a few days or longer. So if you own an LC Convertible but need an RX for a few days to ferry people around, that’s all free. There’s valet parking service loans and more.

It also includes upgrades at Lexus partners. Our launch took us to Jackalope Hotel on the Mornington Peninsula, which is a Lexus partner, and you can get a bunch of extras here as a Lexus owner that other guests won’t get.

In terms of other ownership details, the LM is covered by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, and the servicing schedule is every 12 months or 15,000km.

Lexus is yet to announce the capped-price servicing details for LM, but it is expected to cover five years, and should be in the vicinity of approximately $700 per service.

Ownership is a tough one, because, well, you simply can’t own one. 

Either way Hyundai says the Nexo’s hydrogen drivetrain carries no warranty implications, meaning if you could own one (as Koreans can), it would still be covered by the brand’s five year/unlimited kilometre warranty.

In terms of servicing, the Nexo requires a visit once a year, although like a pure EV there are few items that actually need attention at one of these visits.

A top-up of coolant is only required about once every six years, and various filters need to be cycled out. Other than that, it’s just your usual wear and tear items like brakes and tyres.

As Hyundai leases the current vehicles out, it will be taking care of servicing for the initial batch.