Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV impressions

[whynot]

The lease is up on the Ford Territory and I have replaced it with a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Ok, I know this is a Ford Forum, but I thought there might be some interest in what it is like to drive with this technology. Does it make financial sense? No. But, it was a toy that I wanted to play with, and that is a good enough excuse for me.

The basics. The PHEV mechanicals fits inside a standard Mitsubishi Outlander. It has a 12kWh battery bank under the floor (about 9.6kWh usable), 60 kW electric motors front and rear, and a petrol engine rated at 89kW connected to a generator. The battery has enough energy to drive the car about 52 km under perfect conditions. However, turn the air conditioner on and the range drops dramatically to around 37km (or worse depending on how hot it is).

Unlike the Tesla, it is not going to win any traffic light drags. In fact, it is probably as slow as the diesel Territory off the mark, and only slightly faster to 100kph. For a normal take off, the throttle needs a decent push (for my liking), but once rolling the acceleration is OK and very linear. As long as the power draw stays under 60kW, it will accelerate on battery. Acceleration is eerily quiet, with just a far off electric whirl, almost like the noise from inside an electric train. Above 40 kph, road and wind noise overtakes the sound from the electric motors. Sitting on the highway at 100kph, the combination of road and wind noise is, to my ears at least, louder than the inside of a diesel Territory. It is quite happy to cruise at 100kph on the highway just in battery mode (while there is still juice left).

If you have a Honda inverter electric generator, you’ll get the idea of how the petrol-generator combination works in the Outlander. Under Wide Open Throttle, the petrol-generator kicks in with a single note roar. Sort of sounds like a sewing machine on full revs. As the throttle closes, the engine cuts back to a moderate, almost indistinguishable hum. And, if it can, the petrol engine throttles down and turns off. If the battery is flat and the engine is left to its own devices, it cuts in and out while driving in peak hour traffic. Occasionally, one pulls up at the lights and the engine is burring away at full bore. It then shuts down, and when the light turns green, one moves off in almost complete silence. There are two buttons on the centre console. One tells the engine to recharge the battery. In this mode the engine runs at low speed, but flaring to higher revs when called on to provide additional power. The other mode is a charge hold mode. In this mode the petrol engine-generator does most of the work, leaving the battery charge as is. Unlike an engine connected to a mechanical gearbox, the engine revs do not rise and fall as the car works its way through the gears. Instead, the engine picks its revs to suit the power demand at the time. The revs rises to one set point and holds it – delivering constant power – until it is called to go to another rev set point.

On battery, I can get to work and nearly all of the way home. The engine only cuts in a few times, mainly because I want more acceleration when climbing up hills from rest. Fuel consumption into work is around 0.8l/100km of petrol, plus electricity around 20 kWh/100km. I haven’t had a clear run back to home yet, but I drain the battery around 10km from home and it then costs me around 3l/100km of petrol (total average for the trip).

For the sparkies amongst us, the vehicle requires a 15Amp socket outlet. Current draw is around 13.3A. It has a soft start system, which takes around 10 seconds after being turned on before it draws any current. For the first few minutes, it is only drawing around 5 Amps (I should put a tong tester on it sometime). While I haven’t sat and watched it, by 30 minutes later, it is drawing full current. It takes around 5 hours to reach full charge, tapering off the charging rate as the battery approaches full. The PHEV has an onboard timer that can be set to draw power at the cheapest rates for those on Time of Use tariffs. It is quite happy with interruptible tariffs.

In my case, the PHEV is parked in the carport. The first concern is that the charging lead costs $1,000 to replace! And, knowing the neighbourhood that I live in, having someone take the lead (even as a souvenir) is a concern. There is no way to “lock” the lead to the vehicle or the wall. My temporary solution is to mount the charge controller in a jiffbox to make it harder for a random to just pinch it. As electric cars become more popular, there is going to be real issues with people pinching charging leads (especially at $1,000 a pop), just like there are issues today with people stealing GPS navigators out of cars. The manufacturers really need to get their head around this concern and move the electronics so that a simple (and cheap to replace) 15A extension lead will suffice to charge a car. Or, somehow, make the lead lockable to the car.

The nicest complement about the PHEV is that it does not look like an electric vehicle. It is just as bland as any other Japanese SUV. Steering is OK. It could do with more feedback, but tracks reasonably straight. Suspension is very stiff (to control the extra weight) and it bounces around on surfaces that the Territory would just glide over. Driving position is not as good as the Territory, seating is very upright and lacking support. Nor is the handling. On the open road, the Territory wins hands down for refinement, driver comfort, and drivability.

Around town, it is a slightly different story, particularly in peak hour traffic. The Outlander PHEV is almost silent. In fact, 99% of the objectionable noise is coming from the other cars and trucks sharing the road with you. The Adaptive Cruise Control works well. Haven’t triggered the Forward Collision Mitigation, yet. The ergonomics of the central display is a nightmare.

In terms of build quality, I have not spotted one fault or flaw. It is exceptionally well screwed together. Lots of attention to detail. There is some interesting technology on the car as well. For example, the air conditioner compressor is electrically driven. If the engine is cold, there is a water heater for internal cabin heat. The battery pack has its own liquid cooling system. A timer can be set to electrically cool/heat/demist the cabin; all done in silence.

The PHEV is a fascinating insight into where automotive technology is heading. One thing is for certain, the automobile is not dead. Nor is it going to die when oil eventually runs out. The future for the automobile and the automotive industry is now more exciting than it ever was.