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Mitsubishi has fully updated the Outlander plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle (PHEV) for 2023 and it arrives this fall. The new Outlander shares a lot of its construction features with the outstanding new Nissan Rogue. However, the Outlander is a seven-passenger crossover SUV and has a powertrain with dramatically better fuel economy than the Rogue offers.
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The MSPR for the new Outlander starts at $39,845, and with the Mitsubishi Destination/Handling Charge of $1,345 has a beginning consumer cost of $41,190. These prices do not include dealer documentation fees, added dealer markups, or added dealer-installed content.
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The biggest surprise offered by this new Outlander PHEV is that it comes with DC fast-charging compatibility. Of course it can charge on Level 1 or Level 2 chargers, but if you find a DCFC you can bring the battery up to 80% in just 38 minutes. Best of all, it opens up a lot more possible public charging spots when on the road. This is a big advantage over PHEVs like the Kia Sorento PHEV, Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV, and RAV4 Prime. Once Tesla finally opens up its Superchargers to the public, we presume this Outlander will be able to charge using them.
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Mitsubishi reports that the Outlander will earn a 64 MPGe rating from the EPA, and that it has a 38-mile all-electric range. That is a big improvement over past Outlander PHEVs. Overall range when fully-energized is a whopping 420 miles. There isn’t an affordable BEV crossover SUV with a range anywhere close to that. The Outlander PHEV will prove to be a fantastic road trip vehicle based on these numbers.
"The 2023 Outlander PHEV is the pinnacle of Mitsubishi Motors' engineering," said Mark Chaffin, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. "With 38 miles of electric range and 420 miles of combined range, this vehicle offers the perfect blend of clean and quiet electric motoring with the ease of refueling and no range anxiety that only a gasoline engine can offer. Customers have been reserving cars at Mitsubishi dealers for months, and we can't wait to start delivering on that excitement."
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Like the Toyota RAV4 Prime PHEV, the Outlander employs an all-electric rear drive for its all-wheel drive setup. The 2023 Outlander PHEV’s Super All-Wheel Control (S-AWC)5 system uses the gasoline engine and front motor to drive the front wheels, and a stand-alone rear-mounted motor to drive the rear axle. BothPower is up both front and rear with a combined system power of 248-horsepower and 332 lb/ft of torque.
This brief overview doesn’t do the new Outlander PHEV justice. We look forward to testing this great new entry to the 2023 plug-in hybrid market soon and providing readers with a full report.
2023 Outlander Plug-in Hybrid Electric vehicle image courtesy of Mitsubishi.
John Goreham is a long-time New England Motor Press Association member and recovering engineer. John's interest in EVs goes back to 1990 when he designed the thermal control system for an EV battery as part of an academic team. After earning his mechanical engineering degree, John completed a marketing program at Northeastern University and worked with automotive component manufacturers, in the semiconductor industry, and in biotech. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in print in dozens of American news outlets and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on TikTok @ToknCars, on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin
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Comments
This was one vehicle I was
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This was one vehicle I was waiting for (but it didn’t come out soon enough) when I was shopping for PHEV SUVs. I wish I could combine features of the Outlander with those of the Sorento PHEV (larger battery, more electric horsepower/torque, specifically, but the 2nd row bench may also have been nice, as an option at least). The Sorento PHEV gets about 15-20% better fuel economy in hybrid mode, and has a more spacious interior, and greater maximum range, which would have been deciding factors for me when it came down to it, for me. The whole Chademo capability seems more a novelty to me. Not only are Chademo chargers kind of rare, it is a dying standard. I have no idea why Mitsubishi would choose it over CCS, other than their Nissan affiliation… but even the new Nissan Ariya uses CSS format. What would have been better, I think, would be an 11kW+ 240V charging option, since that would mean at public L2 chargers on 60 amps or more, and at home, one could get a full charge in less than 2 hours, and Tesla destination chargers are usually capable of that kind of delivery. A $200 adapter would give an Outlander driver access to a far larger network of faster charging options. I doubt many people are going to drive 30 miles and stop for 40 mins to drove another 30 miles; the Chademo only seems perfect for those situations where someone had a 60 ish mile round trip with a Chademo charger in the middle.