New Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV gets seven seats and a hefty £47k pricetag

The new Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV will go on sale in May with prices set to start from £46,995. The plug-in hybrid SUV is returning to the UK after a five-year absence, now with seating for seven.

Those extra seats will give the new Outlander an advantage over its rivals in the mid-size SUV class, like the Hyundai Tucson, Volkswagen Tiguan and Toyota RAV4. However, the Mitsubishi will be more expensive than the plug-in hybrid versions of all of them, including the new Toyota RAV4 PHEV which we expect to cost from somewhere between £40k and £45k when it arrives soon.

Not only does the Outlander cost more than its closest rivals, it’s only expected to offer a pure-electric driving range of around 50 miles. That’s slightly better than the equivalent Tucson’s 43-mile EV range, but the plug-in Tiguan can cover up to 77 miles without using a drop of petrol while the new RAV4 can supposedly do a whopping 85 miles.

Offering seven seats as standard does give the new Outlander PHEV an advantage over those rivals, because that’s a feature only bigger more expensive cars such as the Kia Sorento, Volkswagen Tayron and Hyundai Santa Fe have. Although, you can currently save up to £7,000 on a brand-new plug-in Santa Fe with the Auto Express Buy A Car service. 

What’s more, while the base Nativa version of the Mitsubishi will be a seven-seater, the high-spec Diamond model will have five seats. More details about both specifications will be announced as the launch of the new Outlander approaches, but we have been told deliveries are also due to begin in May.

While we await more details, this generation of Outlander has been on sale in continental Europe and other global markets for a while. So we know that its plug-in hybrid powertrain combines a naturally aspirated 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with two electric motors and a 23kWh lithium-ion battery pack. These provide all-wheel drive plus 304bhp, so 0-62mph takes less than eight seconds, and the SUV offers a combined range of 500 miles. 

The powertrain is able to operate in two very different ways to maximise efficiency. At low speeds, it acts as a ‘range-extender’-like hybrid, where the petrol engine in effect works as a generator for the battery. At high speeds, though, the system can switch to a parallel hybrid, where drive from the petrol motor is sent directly to the wheels with assistance from the e-motors. Efficiency ratings put the Outlander PHEV at 108mpg and 60g/km on the latest European cycles.

Mitsubishi’s partnership with Nissan is obvious in the digital interfaces, which are made of a pair of 12.3-inch screens. The central one features software similar to what we have seen on Nissan models, with embedded Google Maps, and there’s an array of familiar switchgear and design elements, such as the stubby gear selector you’ll recognise from a Qashqai.

While it remains to be confirmed if the software will be available in UK models from launch, it’s clear that the Outlander as a whole has taken a big step forward in its latest generation, offering more space, performance and tech.  

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