What is it?
The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is the first of what will become a range of ‘plug-in hybrid electric vehicles’, and promises all the capability of the standard Outlander SUV, but with significantly lower running costs – particularly for company car drivers.
And thanks to the Government’s £5000 plug-in car grant, it costs the same as a diesel Outlander – no big price premium.
Boldly dubbed by its makers as the most practical PHEV around, the Outlander combines a 2-litre petrol engine driving the front wheels with twin electric motors, one on each axle.
It can run in full electric mode, up to 31 miles and at national speed limits, in series hybrid mode in which the main function of the engine is to generate electricity for the motors, and at higher speeds in parallel hybrid mode, for which the engine provides most of the power.
Designed at the outset as a full member of the Outlander range, the PHEV is in all practical respects no different from a diesel version – just a lot cheaper in terms of emissions related cost like company car tax, VED, and the London Congestion Charge.