Why the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Just Makes Sense

Want to avoid range-anxiety? Need a large, family car that is reliable, comfortable and economical? Then look no further. Read this review from Morrison Motor Group General Manager JP Wolfenden as to why latest Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is the smart choice when it comes to buying a larger SUV.

Let’s be honest. Buying a car shouldn’t require choosing between saving money during the week and actually enjoying driving it on the weekend. Yet that’s exactly where many electric vehicles leave you. They’re brilliant, that is, until you decide to leave town.

That’s where the Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid quietly gets it right.

For me, the biggest surprise hasn’t been the technology or the performance, it’s how quickly it became part of everyday life. In what way? My daily commute? Pure electric.

In the morning I unplug it, drive to work, drive home, plug it back in, and repeat, (and really, I don’t even need to do it each night due to it’s ability to run 100kms on a full battery charge). The fuel station has become a place I wave at more often than I visit. My weekly fuel bill has, for all practical purposes, reduced to a bare minimum. Which is awesome, considering the latest prices at the pump.

Now before anyone jumps in with, “Ah, but your power bill must have gone through the roof…” – not really.

Yes, it’s gone up slightly, but nowhere near what I used to spend filling a tank every week. In fact, if one of the kids moves back home for a month, the increase in the household power bill is far more noticeable than charging the Outlander ever has been.

That’s the bit the headlines often miss. Living with a plug-in hybrid isn’t about chasing impossible savings figures, it’s about making your day-to-day life cheaper without changing your lifestyle.

Then Friday afternoon rolls around.

This is where a lot of EVs start asking awkward questions like, “Have you planned your charging stops?“

The Outlander simply asks, “Where are we going?“

Whether it’s a frosty Canterbury morning, heavy rain on Arthur’s Pass, or a snow-covered road heading towards the ski field, the confidence it gives you is worth far more than another 20 horsepower ever could be. Grip isn’t something you notice when you have it — only when you don’t.

One feature I’ve grown to appreciate far more than I expected is the regenerative braking.

With a quick tap of the paddles behind the steering wheel, you can increase the amount of regenerative braking. Heading downhill, especially on long alpine descents, the vehicle naturally slows itself while recovering energy back into the battery.

The result?

You’re using your brakes far less, generating less heat, putting less wear on your brake pads and, perhaps more importantly, maintaining better control on steep or slippery roads. Once you’ve driven a mountain pass using strong regenerative braking, going back to a conventional vehicle feels strangely old-fashioned.

Of course, if you’ve got kids, you’ll eventually discover another feature that becomes unexpectedly useful – the seven seats.

Are they designed for a six-foot adult on a five-hour road trip? Let’s just say, probably not (unless you enjoy yoga).

But for taking the kids’ friends home after sport, collecting extra passengers after dinner, separating siblings who have suddenly decided they no longer like each other halfway through a holiday, or simply giving yourself options, they’re brilliant.

Better still, when you don’t need them, they disappear completely into the floor without stealing valuable boot space.

It’s one of those features you don’t think you’ll use very often, until you realise you’re using it all the time.

The truth is, most modern SUVs have reached the point where they all offer touchscreen displays, heated seats, cameras, wireless phone charging and enough safety technology to practically drive themselves.

What Mitsubishi has done differently is combine all those expected features with something genuinely useful:

• A vehicle that runs as an EV during the week.
• A capable petrol SUV on weekends.
• Confident all-wheel drive when the weather turns nasty.
• Excellent regenerative braking that actually makes driving better.
• Seven seats when life inevitably gets complicated, and
• Enough combined power that it never feels like you’re compromising.

The clever bit isn’t that the Outlander can do all of these things individually.
It’s that it does all of them exceptionally well in one package.

Sometimes the smartest vehicle isn’t the one with the biggest battery or the most horsepower. It’s the one that simply fits into your life without asking you to change it.

For more information on the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV range, or if you wish to talk to our friendly sales team or arrange a test drive, touch base with your details and we will be in touch.