Unlike some of its rivals – such as Subaru, which has a cult following and the sales to back it up – Mitsubishi has been slipping off the U.S. market consumer’s radars for some time now. They decided to shake things up and produced stuff like the 2022 Eclipse Cross or the all-new Outlander three-row SUV, but it’s still not all roses.
While the latter arrived with a competitive price of $25,795 (excluding other charges), the ultra-popular plug-in hybrid version has remained a 2021 model year. It still comes with the same outdated design as the previous generation Outlander and only keeps things fresh from a technical standpoint. It does so by including powertrain revisions, a larger battery pack, along with more performance. All for the same price of $36,295.
We gave you this quick rundown because there’s a big decision to be made if one is gearing up for a PHEV acquisition of the Mitsubishi Outlander variety. The Japanese automaker has just kicked off the teaser campaign for the all-new Outlander PHEV with a new-generation hybrid system. But we feel it’s a bit premature to check up on the bank account.
This is because the company is promising the all-new Outlander PHEV for some time this fiscal year. And said fiscal year lasts between April 2021 and March 2022. So, a big window of time for just the official introduction, not the market release. Bear in mind that one is coming even later, during the second half of the current fiscal year at home in Japan and “in the second half of calendar-year 2022” for the United States.
To make the wait worthwhile, Mitsubishi says the Outlander PHEV will have “improved motor output and increased battery capacity over the current model,” which comes with a newly beefed-up total system output of 221 horsepower. Additionally, the current model’s battery has been ramped up to 13.8 kWh (instead of 12 kWh), with an EV range of 24 miles (39 km). Most importantly, Outlander’s new architecture will allow the PHEV version to retain the seven-seat configuration.
We gave you this quick rundown because there’s a big decision to be made if one is gearing up for a PHEV acquisition of the Mitsubishi Outlander variety. The Japanese automaker has just kicked off the teaser campaign for the all-new Outlander PHEV with a new-generation hybrid system. But we feel it’s a bit premature to check up on the bank account.
This is because the company is promising the all-new Outlander PHEV for some time this fiscal year. And said fiscal year lasts between April 2021 and March 2022. So, a big window of time for just the official introduction, not the market release. Bear in mind that one is coming even later, during the second half of the current fiscal year at home in Japan and “in the second half of calendar-year 2022” for the United States.
To make the wait worthwhile, Mitsubishi says the Outlander PHEV will have “improved motor output and increased battery capacity over the current model,” which comes with a newly beefed-up total system output of 221 horsepower. Additionally, the current model’s battery has been ramped up to 13.8 kWh (instead of 12 kWh), with an EV range of 24 miles (39 km). Most importantly, Outlander’s new architecture will allow the PHEV version to retain the seven-seat configuration.