PHEV Diary
MONTH FIVE
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
Written by Richard Gooding
The highest monhtly mileage tally, and the most efficient economy figure are two major highlights of the fifth month with our Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. A security vulnerability is the only downside paddles in earnest. Whereas before I’d leave Going on the mileage figures alone, it’s been the car in ‘B5’ mode (the fiercest regenerative the busiest month yet for our Mitsubishi braking setting) and let it shake off speed Outlander PHEV. Over 1,258 miles have when it needed to, the past few weeks have passed under the big SUV’s wheels in seen me choose ‘B3’ for most of the month five, with, once again, a large time I’m driving, changing ‘up’ proportion of them on the UK’s when I approach a junction A-road and motorway network. y B or obstacle which would A disproportionately large g n i require the Outlander number of journeys adopt racing b to come to a stop. It larger than my regular m e l l an a g attitude, clearly works, and is trips to the office have definitely a better and necessitated three trips chargin chieved a more enjoyable way to to filling stations to e g w eatin b drive the plug-in SUV. brim the Outlander’s , g p You not only feel more tank with petrol. The 157.7msubishi’s involved in the driving cost? £116.36, around £3 Mit ure process, g fi l but you have more than last month. a i c offi more fun trying to outwit the traffic and judge when to take All-embracing your foot off the accelerator and let charging attitude the car – hopefully – roll to a stop. I don’t However, despite the trio of fill-ups, one think that’s all that had made a difference figure which has unbelievably improved is to this month’s impressive figures, though. our average, real-world economy figure. This month, for the first time, we’ve eclipsed No obstacle Mitsubishi’s claimed economy figure of I have a feeling that the warmer weather has 156mpg. That’s right, in the real world, with played more than its part, too. At least two careful use and adopting an all-embracing journeys home from the office this month charging attitude, we achieved 157.71mpg, have been achieved in all-electric mode only. beating the Japanese company’s official That’s never happened before. My shortest figure by a whopping 1.71mpg. commute is around 25 miles, and with the Part of the reason for the uplift in economy full 32 miles of range displayed (another first could be down to the fact that I’ve recently since the car arrived), the distance proved started to use the steering wheel-mounted
Going Stateside: Outlander PHEV to hit the US Already a phenonmenal sales success in the UK and Europe, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is due to hit the US for the 2017 model year. The big plug-in Mitsubishi SUV has never been sold Stateside, and the final details for the US market cars are still being finalised. It’s unknown as yet exactly what changes will be made, but it’s understood that a new battery will form part of the American specification. Shown at the New York International Auto Show in March 2016, a ‘prototype’ debuted on the Mitsubishi stand and previewed the new model for potential US buyers. Online reports suggest that although the 12kWh battery pack may remain, both driveability and range may be improved and more specifically suited to US driving conditions. Reports suggest that the car will be specifically tailored to the US market, and although the ‘Save’ function should remain, according to Green Car Reports, a pure-EV mode may make an appearance as well as a
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system which decides how to split any remaining charge. One significant change will be the omission of a CHAdeMO quick-charging facility, but the 4WD lock will stay. An auxilliary AC power source is also being considered. The US Outlander PHEV is also rumoured to be specified with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, something the UK and European version desperately needs. Exact specifications will arrive later in the summer. Read more: bit.ly/1UajeyI
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no obstacle to the total zero-emissions journey, and I was rewarded with a ‘---.-’ figure in the miles per gallon display. I was also quietly proud of the 990.4mpg which appeared at the end of one particularly urban-flavoured trip. One interesting point: I have heard of other Outlander PHEV drivers whose cars have informed them of a 33-mile range, which is actually higher than that of the 32 which Mitsubishi claims. But with any highs, you have to accept the lows, too – if the Outlander PHEV doesn’t visit an electric car charging point often enough, it’s just a petrol-powered, quite heavy SUV with a mid-30s mpg drinking habit. The lowest figure this month? 30.5mpg – I wasn’t quite so pleased with that one... Other stats? Average electricity consumption
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