Power trippin’
With all the hype and hoopla over electric vehicles and hybrids presently, there is one car which could be considered the most outstanding in terms of its acceptance by the masses – the Outlander PHEV from Mitsubishi.
PHEV stands for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle, meaning it combines an I.C.E (internal combustion engine) with an electric motor ( two in this case) to minimise fuel consumption and supplement range while also making a significant dent in greenhouse gas emissions.
Outlander’s two electric motors – one at the front, one at the rear – allow the Outlander PHEV to either use the ICE and the electric motors in tandem, using regenerative braking to keep the battery charged to supply power to the wheels (parallel hybrid technology), use the electric motors exclusively to power the wheels (series hybrid technology) or operate both series and parallel systems together.
Using this, Mitsubishi can post the almost unbelievable fuel consumption figure of 1.7 litres per 100km.
The Outlander PHEV also boasts genuine 4WD off-road capability thanks to rugged construction of the battery pack housing. It can even traverse fords.
The only clues distinguishing the Outlander PHEV from the regular variety are the subtle PHEV badging and the sheer silence of the thing as it sits beside you at the traffic lights. So how do you feed a PHEV?
There are two power sockets of different sizes. The frontmost one is what you would use plugging into a charge station while out on your travels. This provides fast charging capability, so you can gain 80 percent charge, from flat, in about 25 minutes.
The best bet though, is to use the inverter and slightly smaller plug arrangement found under the false floor of the cargo area, to plug into your house and letting your PHEV slurp up the power it needs overnight.
The next morning, you’re all set with your 57kms worth of pure battery juice, which in many cases, is all you’ll need to go to work. You can – if your Boss is an agreeable type – plug in there too, because the inverter/charger unit allows you to plug into any power outlet.
There may be occasions when you have to run about a bit during the day and you’ll be drawing power while you do.
If you run right out of juice, the ICE will cut in as it is required to do so, so unlike a pure EV, you don’t have to worry about range anxiety.
Nor should you ‘nana-drive’ to squeeze even more economy out of the PHEV or think that if you put the loud pedal down, you’re going to lose out on range or power.
And while the PHEV element is the sexiest part of the car, don’t think for a minute that Mitsubishi has skimped on other aspects. The Outlander PHEV has all the bells and whistles it should, even to the point of having two grades: an XLS and a VRX; the VRX being the higher spec’ version.
Both models offer Super All Wheel Drive 4WD systems, a cargo area of 886 litres with seats down, adaptive cruise control, hands free audio and phone controls, leather wrapped steering wheel, active stability control, emergency brakeforce distribution, ABS, five-star ANCAP safety rating, a seven-inch touchscreen with Apple Carplay and Android Auto compatibility, push button start, forward collision mitigation, lane departure warning, reversing camera and auto high beam dip function.
VRX versions take heated front seats, blind spot monitoring, lane change assist, multi around view camera monitoring and rear cross traffic alert, along with higher grade trim options, and highlights.