Detailed Photos of the 2019 Lexus UX250h

Subcompact crossovers are coming on fast. There seems to be a new one every month, as manufacturers eagerly enter the growing market segment. Lexus already has the subcompact NX, which competes with the Audi Q3, the BMW X1, the Mercedes-Benz GLA, and the Volvo XC40; it's adding this new, much smaller UX to surround the segment. What the UX lacks in size, it more than compensates for with its styling-the body sort of looks like an amateur ice sculpture.

Riding on Toyota's new compact architecture, the UX is a first cousin to the Toyota Corolla hatchback and the C-HR crossover.

The powertrain is largely silent, the ride is supple, and the atmosphere is modern.

Acceleration, however, is nowhere near sporty. The UX250h hit 60 mph in 8.6 seconds, which isn't very quick even by compact-crossover standards.

Aside from the polarizing exterior design and the parsimonious fuel economy, there's nothing really attention-grabbing about the UX250h.

Although billed as a crossover, the UX sits pretty low. If you just stepped out of Lexus's behemoth LX570, the ride height and driving position will seem positively carlike.

A glance at the numbers bears out the impression: At 59.8 inches, the UX sits only a couple of inches higher than the Corolla hatchback.

Of greater importance to hybrid buyers will be fuel economy. The EPA estimates the UX250h will get 41 mpg in the city and 39 on the highway; we averaged 31 mpg.

Interior materials are excellent, and the virtual gauges behind the steering wheel are as elegant as in the rest of the Lexus lineup.

A large screen sits at the top of the instrument panel. Interacting with the infotainment screen is done by a pad next to the shifter-hey, a real shifter!

There's a learning curve to getting the touchpad and its adjacent secondary buttons and scrolling wheels to control what's on the screen, but it's not nearly as annoying as Acura's touchpad system in the new RDX.

Body motions are kept in check, and there's a responsiveness to the steering that borders on sporty.

Should your attention turn to the UX250h and the desire to write a check for $35,025 overwhelm you, you'll be delighted that this new Lexus goes down the road with a controlled and refined manner in line with other Lexus products.

You'll also find joy in the high-quality interior and, of course, the fuel economy.

There's not much room in the cargo area, either. As a result of the battery pack, the hybrid version holds 17 cubic feet to the nonhybrid's 22 cubes.

The more time we spend with the UX250h, the more we see it as a replacement for the discontinued CT200h, just dressed to look like what people buy in 2019.

We count this as a good thing because it's easy to forget you're in a so-called crossover when driving the UX.

The standard version is front-wheel drive; only the hybrid comes with all-wheel drive. But the UX250h's all-wheel-drive system doesn't use a driveshaft. Like the RX450h, the UX hybrid uses an electric motor to power the rear wheels, and it works only at speeds up to 45 mph.

While the hybrid's powertrain does make 12 horsepower more than the UX200, it also carries a 180-cell nickel-metal hydride battery and two electric drive motors, one at each end.