How green is my SUV? On the road with Mitsubishi's electric Outlander

Here's a first-world problem: you're open to buying a green vehicle, but a hatchback or small sedan is not really your thing. You've got kids. You've got gear to lug. And part of you remembers what Will Ferrell said about the Prius.

Enter the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, a green SUV that sells for a mainstream SUV price (from $59,990) and supplements its petrol engine with juice drawn from a standard household powerpoint.

The Outlander PHEV was NBR's Green Car of the Year 2014. And the company says it's sold 200 since June. So when my petrol powered people mover got its steering column wrecked by Mt Eden's most incompetent thief, it seemed a good choice to take for a week's test spin.

The PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) is a three-trick pony.

There's a pure electric motor that will give you a 50km range; a hybrid electric motor that extends range and helps you charge (both produce  60kW); and a 2 litre petrol engine (producing 70kW) that delivers extra grunt when necessary - such as on steep hills or high-speed driving - and gives you a total range of around 750km.

The three engines work in concert (you can't manually switch between them, although obviously once the pure electric engine's batteries are spent it's out of the picture). The petrol engine drives the front wheels and the twin electric motors the back. Combined, they deliver 1.9L/100km fuel economy and emissions of only 44g/km (SUVs usually fall around 121g/km to 150g/km; Toyota rates its Prius hatchback at 90g/km).

The Outlander PHEV is roomy and, according to NBR Motoring Editor David Linklater, has no-compromise in performance thanks to its ground-breaking power train (read his full review in Mitsubishi's staggering leap into the future). In fact, it's the fastest-accelerating model in the Outlander line. And, unlike some green vehicles, it's got a sleek and powerful look. Or as Bill Bennett put it after I posted a pic to Twitter, it "has a vague family resemblance to an Imperial Storm Trooper." It my book, any automobile that inspires Star Wars references gets the big tick.

There is one compromise on space, or at least the way it's used. The boot is roomy, but the battery configuration doesn't allow for a spare tyre or an optional third row of seats, making the PHEV a five-person max vehicle. The other crimp is towing capacity: 750kg vs a the top-of-the-line petrol Outlander's 1600kg.

Drive economically and the petrol engine will recharge the electric. I didn't manage that most of the time, to be honest.

There are two models, each priced at only a modest premium over top-shelf diesel model ($56,990): the Outlander PHEV XLS 4WD ($59,995) and the PHEV VRX 4WD ($66,990). Both feature mod-cons like touchscreens with GPS navigation, reversing cameras, proximity alerts, Bluetooth for wireless synching with your smartphone (which I set up via the voice recognition without a hitch) and keyless entry. The VRX adds extras like a larger (7-inch) touch display, leather seats, an electric tailgate and wi-fi - which allows for integration with an iPhone and Android smartphone app (check out the full techs and specs on Mitsubishi's site here).

"Filling up" from a standard household powerpoint. If, like me, your socket's exposed to the elements, it should be sealed.

The cost of a recharge
The most common questions I got on Twitter were: what's the electric engine's range, how long does it take to charge and how much does it cost to charge?

The answers: 50km (in economy mode), 6.5 hours and around $1.41 (which means it would cost around $20 all up to charge the Outlander PHEV to travel 700km, which is roughly the distance it will travel on its 45 litre petrol tank, which costs around $80 to fill).

A couple of my out-of-town social media followers took fright at that 50km. But for me, like most, it's well inside my daily commute distance. With an overnight recharge, you're apples. The PHEV's plug is on the side of the vehicle in the same manner as the petrol cap (one is on one side, one on the other) and you plug into a standard household power point. If you drive economically enough (and I didn't at most times, to be honest), the petrol engine can also recharge the battery.

The electric engine's 50km range is well within my daily commute of around 5km to work and 5km back, even allowing a couple of side trips. And beyond being cheaper, an over-night recharge in my carport was a whole lot less effort a trip to a petrol station. 

If you've got a power point in your garage or car port (make sure it's sealed if exposed to the elements), it takes about 30 seconds to get the recharge underway, and you can unplug whenever it suits. 

Most power companies offer their cheapest rates after 11pm or midnight. That's where the smartphone app comes in: you can use it for timed recharging (though if you're less fancy you can by a standard switch timer from the likes of Dick Smith for a couple of dollars). The app also allows for tricks like remotely turning on the air con and warming or cooling the PHEV VRX while it's still plugged in. 

What else? In both electric and hybrid modes, the Outlander PHEV is near silent. No one knew I'd arrived home. And I felt super virtuous. It's a good feeling to have a vehicle that's both good for the planet and big enough to keep the kids seated out of pinching distance of each other. 

ckeall@nbr.co.nz

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