No diesel for Outlander SUV, but a plug is coming

Friday, 19 February 2021

Mitsubishi's new Outlander brings some bold new styling cues to Mitsubishi signature look, as well as some advanced new technology.

Mitsubishi might have finally revealed its all-new Outlander SUV recently, with confirmation that it will sit on the same underpinnings as the Nissan X-Trail and use the same 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and continuously variable transmission, but there was no official mention of a plug-in hybrid or a diesel.

While diesel has fallen from grace and is consequently less important, Mitsubishi knows that the plug-in hybrid version of its popular SUV is a vital model, but it won’t have a new one ready in time for the global launch.

The solution? Well, in the USA at least Mitsubishi is keeping the old model of the PHEV on sale alongside the new model with the ICE-only powertrain.

The Outlander will show its bold new face here later this year.

CNET's Roadshow reached out to Mitsubishi Motors of North America shortly after the reveal to enquire about the PHEV version and was reportedly told that the current model plug-in would stay in showrooms alongside the new car until a replacement was ready.

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Mitsubishi is so keen to keep a PHEV in the line up it will sell the current one alongside the new Outlander in the USA.

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The new Mitsubishi Outlander sits on the same underpinnings as the Nissan X-Trail.

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But will that be the case in New Zealand? While Mitsubishi New Zealand wouldn’t confirm anything other than the fact that the standard ICE model of the new Outlander would be landing on our shores in the second half of this year, that timing gives us a strong hint that, unlike the US, we won’t be seeing the old PHEV in showrooms alongside the new one.

Mitsubishi is said to be hard at work on the new plug-in version of the Outlander, with it expected to be ready around the same time the ICE-only version is set to debut in New Zealand, making it likely that there will only be a small gap between the local launch of the Outlander and the availability of a PHEV version. Or it is even possible that it will debut as part of the local launch line up.

After its beginnings on the elderly Mitsubishi GS platform (the Japanese company's version of the Project Global platform it developed with Chrysler back in 2005), the new Outlander moves to the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance's CMF-C/D platform, also shared with the X-Trail.

The only engine option at launch will be the 2.5-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine, developing 135kW of power and 245Nm of torque, and driving either the front or all four wheels through a continuously variable transmission.

This is up on the current Outlander, which is powered by Mitsubishi’s 126kW/224Nm 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, also with a CVT, but the current car also has the option of a 112kW/366Nm 2.3-litre diesel hooked up to a six-speed automatic.

And that diesel version? Unsurprisingly Mitsubishi has dropped the 2.3-litre four-cylinder diesel option entirely from the new Outlander’s line up, relying entirely on the PHEV to be the fuel miser of the range when it arrives.

This is, of course, in keeping with what the majority of carmakers are doing these days as diesel continues its fall from grace in passenger vehicles.

As to what form the PHEV will take, Mitsubishi is remaining tight-lipped. Various rumours suggest a number of different possibilities, with either the new PHEV using a variant of the current version’s 2.4-litre engine and electric motors, to an entirely new system developed for the wider alliance to use.