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Ken Gratton29 Nov 2013
REVIEW

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV 2013: Quick Spin

Plug-in Outlander hybrid SUV aimed at environmentalists who love the bush

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV


What we liked:
>> Plug-in refinement with SUV functionality
>> Proven cross-country capability
>> Will be cheaper to buy than Holden's Volt

Not so much:
>> Slow response to demands for performance
>> We're hanging out for a styling update
>> Price may remain out of reach for Aussie buyers

Mitsubishi engaged in an interesting experiment in August of this year. The manufacturer supplied an Outlander PHEV to a team participating in a cross-country rally starting from Pattaya in Thailand and finishing in neighbouring Laos six days later.

After 2000km of typically tough terrain the near-standard car finished the event, along with all the buggies and 'monster truck' pick-ups. What made the Mitsubishi's feat so noteworthy was that it's a plug-in hybrid.

With the Outlander PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) due in Australia as a production model in April, Mitsubishi offered journalists visiting Japan last week an opportunity to drive the range-extended SU(E)V around the tight and twisty Mobara racing circuit, about an hour out of Tokyo.

At a briefing before letting us loose on the track, it was explained that the PHEV features two 60kW electric motors powered by a lithium-ion battery pack. A 2.0-litre petrol engine generates electricity on the move to recharge the battery pack, and also provide motive power in extreme need.

The weight distribution has shifted rearwards with the added 200kg of battery pack on board, and is now 55:45 (front to rear).

Two aspects of the Outlander PHEV's character were under the spotlight at the Mobara Circuit: performance and cornering control.

The extended-range SUV offers three nominal driving modes that could be tested around the circuit. 'EV' mode was electric-drive only, with both electric motors doing all the driving, and drawing power from the lithium-ion battery pack alone.

Series Hybrid mode comes into play when the electric motors are drawing more power from the battery pack – if the driver demands more performance – and the petrol engine cranks over simply to generate more electric power to keep the battery pack charged.

Parallel hybrid mode applies when the driver is demanding more performance than the combined power (120kW) of the two electric motors. At that point, a single clutch connects the petrol engine to the single reduction gear transaxle for the four-cylinder to drive through a direct mechanical link to the front wheels.

The ratio of the reduction gear is 3.45:1, which means the engine will supplement power in the same ratio as a direct-drive gear (say fourth gear in a five or six-speed manual transmission) in a car with perhaps a 3.0-litre V6 and diff ratio to match.

What this means is that the added torque from the petrol engine is unlikely to be of great benefit from a launch, but will certainly help in overtaking.

That was undeniably the case around the tight and twisty circuit. Accelerating out of a widening left-hander onto the short main straight the Outlander's petrol engine would rev up as it worked to recharge the batteries as the power was rapidly depleted. But at a point along the short straight, the engine could be felt contributing to the motive power. It was a fairly seamless transition, however.

As with other plug-ins driven by motoring.com.au in the past, the Outlander is very quiet, since the petrol engine doesn't need to be working much of the time. In fact, according to Mitsubishi, the Outlander should be able to cover 50km in EV mode before the petrol engine does its bit to recharge the battery pack. A racetrack is probably not the appropriate place to test the car's range-extending ability of course.

The Outlander provided respectable acceleration even in EV mode. Naturally, the four-banger made little impression in Series mode, but definitely upped the ante in Parallel mode. Pressing the accelerator all the way to the floor prompted the petrol engine to start almost immediately, unless the driver had previously selected ECO operation (pushing the button in the centre fascia).

But the engine needed to cross over from Series to Parallel mode before it could deliver more torque directly to the road – as in exiting a corner, for example. This frequently led to a delay of perhaps several seconds as the system determined the driver's needs by a process of elimination.

But the system – operated in a less trying environment – would more than meet the needs of owners. According to Mitsubishi engineers on hand to explain the vehicle, even when battery charge is severely depleted, it always retains enough charge to drive all four wheels, unless the driver runs the fuel tank dry as well – thus preventing the petrol engine from recharging the battery pack. At that point the driver might as well call for a helicopter.

As a sports car, the Outlander PHEV makes a fine SUV. That much was apparent around the track, which featured plenty of tight corners to test the car's passive dynamics and Mitsubishi's S-AWC system.

Mitsubishi has effectively developed S-AWC for the Outlander PHEV out of a combination of the hybrid's dual electric motors, active stability control and active yaw control. Mostly the Outlander was prone to understeer, but rapid changes of direction in sequence could provoke lift-off oversteer – quickly countermanded by the S-AWC system.

According to Tony Principe, Director of Marketing at MMAL, the cars driven at Mobara were running softer suspension settings than the cars we'll see in Australia.

Hopefully MMAL will fix the seats as well. They're comfortable enough, but do little to hold occupants in place during harder cornering. Rarely will most Outlanders be driven as hard as these pre-production cars were, however.

Otherwise, the PHEV variant is much like any other Outlander – with all the virtues and vices that go with that. We look forward to trying it out in Australia when it arrives here, likely late March next year.

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Written byKen Gratton
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