Mitsubishi reveals Outlander PHEV

Friday, 29 October 2021

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

Mitsubishi has launched the plug-in version of the new Outlander over in Japan, coming with a reworked powertrain and more range.

The PHEV is set to be the flagship Outlander, with Mitsubishi upping the outputs of the front and rear motors by around 40 per cent, which should put total system output at close to 140kW/275Nm, assuming the petrol engine is untouched from the previous model.

Mitsubishi hasn’t explicitly confirmed power or performance figures, nor the specific engine the motors are tied to, so those figures are just guesses until we get official confirmation.

Mitsubishi has confirmed more details of the Outlander PHEV as it goes on sale in Japan.

The battery pack has been increased to 20kWh, resulting in a total of 87km of range (WLTP), up from the outgoing model’s 55km.

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Funnily enough, the PHEV looks almost identical to the petrol-powered Outlander.

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The interior has stepped up a lot compared to last-gen.

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All Outlander PHEVs get the full driver assistance and active safety systems.

Mitsubishi has also given the Outlander PHEV a one-pedal-mode, which lets drivers accelerate and decelerate using just the accelerator pedal. Like a number of EVs, modulating the accelerator pedal alone can exert enough braking force via regenerative braking to slow and stop the car.

As before, the S-AWC all-wheel drive system is included, now with a new brake AYC (Active Yaw Control) function for the rear wheels.

This allows the system to distribute the driving force to the front and rear wheels optimally according to road conditions, while torque vectoring by controlling the brakes on the left and right wheels is also possible for the front and rear wheels.

Seven drive modes are standard, ranging from Normal and Tarmac to Gravel, Snow, Mud and Power modes along with an Eco mode.

Safety is taken care of by the new Mi-Pilot single-lane driver assistance technology for highways. This combines Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Lane Keep Assist (LKA) to assist the driver in maintaining distance between vehicles while keeping in the centre of the lane.

It also detects speed limit signs and automatically adjusts the set speed accordingly. Mi-Pilot with Navi-link uses map data to automatically adjust vehicle speed as needed according to curves, forks, and other circumstances on highways.

Additionally, the vehicle can automatically start within about 30 seconds of stopping in traffic, alleviating fatigue on the expressway.

Japan will get three PHEV trims, which all get the full driver assistance and active safety systems.

The base M model is a five-seater, the G can seat up to seven with some nicer kit like 20-inch wheels, and the high-end P seven-seater with a premium interior/exterior, Bose audio and more.

Mitsubishi New Zealand is yet to confirm the local line-up but we’d expect that information to arrive sooner rather than later.