ARE YOU IN OR OUT? (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

The in-crowd will make their next family SUV an EV. Mitsubishi's Outlander PHEV could though, be a better alternative, thanks Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Reviewword count: 34

Mitsubishi's Outlander PHEV, the family mid-sized SUV that started the trend for Plug-in Hybrids, returns to a now-crowded market segment. And much other than the name is familiar with this well-priced, well engineered contender.

Backgroundword count: 216

A familiar name returns to the market it originated - Mitsubishi's Outlander PHEV. History records that it was one car, Mitsubishi's Outlander PHEV, that kick-started the UK's currently almost insatiable desire for Plug-in Hybrids. The original version of this model was launched back in 2014 when PHEVs were virtually unheard of and, helped in Britain by a £2,500 UK government grant, was an instant hit. By 2018, by which point over 115,000 versions of the car had been sold across Europe (and the Outlander PHEV was accounting for almost half of all pluggable car sales on our shores), it was time for a very effective update. But ironically, sales fell off a cliff at this point thanks partly to the ending of the government grant and partly because of an explosion of new rival mid-sized PHEV crossover models from other brands. Mitsubishi Motors in the UK, who had depended on the Outlander PHEV for almost half of its sales, never recovered and pulled out of Britain completely in Autumn 2021. But now the brand is back, with a new UK distributor (IM Group), a new sales network and a new product line-up spearheaded by the two model lines that sold best under the old regime, the L200 pick-up and the Outlander PHEV that's our focus here.

Driving Experienceword count: 268

As with its predecessor, the drivetrain of this Outlander PHEV is based around a 2.4-litre petrol engine, but here it develops a fair bit more power - 302bhp. A mere 134bhp of that comes from the combustion unit; the rest is provided by the two electric motors, a 114bhp one at the front and a 134bhp unit at the rear, the two creating AWD capability. Despite that, there's only 195Nm of torque so performance isn't especially arresting, 62mph from rest despatched in 7.9s en route to a limited 106mph maximum. By then, you'll have passed the 40mph crossover point between the electric mode this Mitsubishi always starts off in and petrol power, a transition which is very smooth. EV drive range from the 22.7kWh battery is substantially more than the old car, at 53 miles - about the same as various rival Stellantis-brand models who lag behind the top (VW Group-set) class standard for this kind of car. There are seven selectable drive modes for different conditions. This Outlander has a lot more ground clearance than most of its rivals (200mm), so it'll be better on rutted tracks than PHEV SUVs and crossovers of this sort usually are. Even if you didn't know that, you might guess it from the high and commanding driving position, which some will like and some won't. Expect a decent ride, though it may be unsettled by extreme potholes and speed humps. And, like the old model, highway refinement is excellent. Not so good is the intrusive nature of the various ADAS drive assist features. The braked towing weight is up to 1,600kg.

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