Nicest Outlander PHEV Prices Barely Extra Than Common New Automobile

The 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid begins at $41,190, together with vacation spot. That’s fairly excessive for a Mitsubishi however not the typical new automobile — Kelley Blue E book pinned the U.S.’s common transaction worth at $48,301 again in August. Mitsubishi revealed across-the-board pricing for each trim stage of the Outlander PHEV this week, and for the nicest, best-equipped instance, you’ll pay barely greater than that: $51,340.

The SEL trim stage, which seems to be the candy spot on the center of the vary, prices $46,790. There, you get loads of luxuries: leather-upholstered seats, an 8-way adjustable front-passenger seat with reminiscence, heated rear seats and triple-zone local weather management, amongst different niceties.

The SEL Touring, for about two grand extra, grants a heads-up show, heated steering wheel, panoramic sunroof, and a Bose premium audio system. On the top quality — the SEL Premium — the corporate throws in semi-aniline leather-based and massaging entrance seats. The value? Simply $49,490.

Past that, there’s the fortieth Anniversary Version, meant to commemorate Mitsubishi’s 4 a long time in North America. It provides “Black Diamond” paint with a bronze roof (!) and good badges. However for essentially the most half, Mitsubishi will promote you its finest for merely $1,000 greater than the typical new automobile. That appears like a reasonably strong deal to me. I’ll admit, I virtually wrote this story anticipating to giggle on the suggestion of a $50,000 Mitsubishi, however we’re in irritating instances, to place it mildly, and taking the entire scope of the market, this truly isn’t horrible. $50,000 as we speak would’ve been price $38,677 10 years in the past, in spite of everything.

So far as internals and efficiency are involved, the Outlander seems to be a decently environment friendly SUV for its dimension, and it’s obtained the model’s signature S-AWC all-wheel-drive system for good measure. However don’t get any wild visions in regards to the second coming of the Lancer Evolution, or something of that kind. I’ll throw it again to Lawrence Hodge:

Mitsubishi says the Outlander PHEV is the “pinnacle of Mitsubishi engineering.” They might be proper. A 2.4-liter Atkinson cycle I4 will get paired with a 350-volt, 20 kWh battery pack. Mitsubishi says this provides the Outlander PHEV an all-electric driving vary of 38 miles. When mixed with the 14.8-gallon gas tank, it might get 64 MPGe and a mixed 420 miles of driving vary. Fairly spectacular.

That entire setup will get paired with the corporate S-AWC (Tremendous All Wheel Management). Mitsubishi says that this can be a new era of the corporate’s all wheel drive setup. It makes use of the ICE engine and a entrance electrical motor to drive the entrance wheels whereas a rear-mounted electrical motor drives the rear wheels. Whole mixed system horsepower is 248 and 332 lb-ft of torque.

Let’s give credit score the place it’s due, too: the inside truly appears to be like improbable. I’m positive a few of that feeling might be attributed to the bar for “improbable” being regrettably low for Mitsubishi nowadays, however nonetheless — I’d take the Outlander’s exterior and inside over the RAV4 Prime’s each day of the week.

Sadly, if you examine the Outlander PHEV to the RAV4 Prime in nearly each different metric, yeah — Toyota wins out, handily. Extra horsepower (albeit much less torque), a whopping 94 MPGe versus the Outalnder’s 64 MPGe, and the flexibility to journey as much as one other 120 miles on a full tank of gasoline and a completely charged battery, for a complete vary of 600 miles. The Outlander technically has a 3rd row of seats the RAV4 Prime doesn’t, but it surely’s actually usable provided that your least-liked passengers don’t have legs.

Nonetheless, I like the place Mitsubishi goes, I actually do. That is in all probability the one compelling product the corporate has given us in some 15 years that doesn’t have “Evolution” within the identify. You’re virtually there, group — just a bit bit extra.