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Winter, ice and snow pose the Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid a new challenge. Again and again, we receive e-mails from Outlander drivers or prospects who want to know what experiences we have had with the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid, now that it's so cold.
Warm through the winter in the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid
I'm not a friend of gloves and scarf in the car. A thick jacket, solid or even coarse footwear and you feel like a snowman behind the wheel. I personally prefer athletic shoes and prefer to drive without a jacket car. Since the freedom of movement is less restricted. In winter, a family car with us definitely needs a seat heating, better still, in addition, a heater. The Outlander Plug-In Hybrid has such an electric heater (and the seat heater!). Ever since it got cold, we have programmed this, every day at the same time warms the Outlander, thawing the discs and takes the upcoming car ride so the frosty horror.
However - and here there was a reader email with a very similar question - the preheating time of the Outlander plug-in hybrid not to be very long. If a lot of snow fell, then it may be necessary to activate a second heating phase despite the auxiliary heating.
Heating power of the auxiliary heater
The auxiliary heater draws 2.2 kW of power from the socket for ten minutes. Then it switches itself off by itself. Reader Hiersemann also recently asked whether it is really only 10 minutes that can be preheated with the auxiliary heater.
Yes. After ten minutes, the electric heater switches off. A restart is then not possible immediately. Only after another 10 minutes it can be activated again. That would not be so dramatic, if the app for remote control of the Outlander plug-in hybrid would not be so slow and cumbersome to use. Add to this the well-known problem with the connection via WLAN. Say, just from the bathroom or even better out of the bedroom to connect with the Outlander, rather not work. Here further expansion of the connectivity of the Outlander plug-in hybrid would be desirable. Either it connects directly to our home Wi-Fi, that would be enough, or Mitsubishi would offer connectivity via mobile. Then you would be able to connect to your own plug-in outlander also remotely. But back to winter, back to the heater.
Under 7 °, the heating system (climate control) requires a heating stove that supplies the heat required by the occupants. Although the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid uses an electric heater for the water circuit for the auxiliary heater, as soon as you are in motion, the waste heat must be provided by the engine. Now reader Hiersemann asked for my personal attitude to the heating, how I drive as little as possible by gasoline engine and what I do, so I with the Outlander PHEV both with warm feet and maximum efficient on the way.
Well - it's very simple:
Before I freeze, start the discs or the air in the car gets stuffy, so I let the petrol engine of the Outlander plug-in hybrid run along so dear!
Warm feet are more important to me than the last drop of petrol efficiency. True to the motto: Technology should serve people, not the other way around. It would probably be great if the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid were equipped with a 20kW battery instead of a 12 kW battery. It would also be great if the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid worked like an electric car via a heat pump. Use an air conditioner and heater, and then use an effective dehumidifier. Yes, that would be great. And instead of a 2.0 liter petrol engine without charging, I would like a 1.5 liter three-cylinder turbo petrol engine with gas drive (CNG).
But that's not how it works. The Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid is offered all over the world. Germany, on the other hand, is one of the countries where the autobahn is free, but diesel is cheaper than petrol. In addition, we commute less, and if so, then a longer distance. It is not easy to find the right compromise for all drivers. This is precisely why the range of drive options continues to differ. Gasoline engine, diesel engine, electric motor, gas drives, hybrids, serial, parallel, plug-in and plug-in with diesel, sometimes with gasoline. There is simply no silver bullet at the moment. Especially not for such small markets as Germany, where there is currently too little demand for plug-in technologies.
With the increasing selection, the advice and the analysis of one's own driving habits becomes more and more important, because only then can you find the most sensible solution for your own needs. And that is exactly what must happen when buying a car before.
In my opinion, the Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid offers an extremely intelligent bridge technology with a reasonably dimensioned battery (larger would be heavier and more expensive) and can still be driven over the long haul without having to worry about charging station fears. We still accept that compromises have to be made.
As a family car, the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid hangs in front of the house for most of the day and is charged whenever we want to use it. Nevertheless, I don't have to worry about the range as soon as we leave battery operation. The petrol engine works sufficiently efficiently thanks to the recuperation of kinetic energy and the constant balance between battery power and momentum.
That's why I do not worry about maximizing the battery operation. For me it is more important to drive with a well-conditioned car. Therefore, I completely renounce the ECO button, turn the climate on 19.5 °, use the heater as much as possible and I am pleased with the clever interaction of the three electric motors and the gasoline engine.
5.42 liters on average on 100 kilometers
We obtain 100% of our electricity from renewable energy sources. Then I'm generous when it comes to preheating the Outlanders Plug-In Hybrid. And with the 5.42 liters in real consumption - the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid plays the role of a family SUV here - I save myself any criticism! The plug-in hybrid is currently the only plug-in hybrid SUV that is within a reasonable financial framework. And Mitsubishi has dared to go far ahead. I don't want to rule out the possibility that some things will still change in the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid. Presumably, some things will also be feasible using software.
Software update for the Remote Control
As soon as you type this blog article, the mobile phone reminds you that an update for the “Remote Control App” is due. The preheating time of the auxiliary heater can be set with software version 1.3.7. 10 minutes, 20 minutes or 30 minutes. To apply the update, you have to let the app connect to the car. Then put the car in update mode (switch on the ignition without depressing the brake, then alternately press open / close 5 times via remote control (a total of 10 times!) And then update the app.
Just tried: Now runs the auxiliary heater for 20 minutes. This should currently be sufficient to defrost the windows and preheat the interior 😉
Very well put.
We have had the last model of this series in operation for a few months.
Very well thought-out overall concept.
We drive a large part with the battery, relatively little with the support of a petrol engine, and when we do, we mostly do a maximum of 100-110 km/h.
Then consumption of less than 3 liters of Super is possible on average.
About the heating: We had a Webasto parking heater installed. It consumes little fuel and the effect on the service life of the engine (since it is almost always preheated in winter) is significant.
Very nice report, but some statements seem to apply only to the basic version ...
Our Plus-Intro (MY2019) can be heated purely electrically even at temperatures below 0°C (even while driving). The range naturally decreases a little faster, but from time to time it is still enough to cover the daily 35 km commute purely electrically.
The text is significantly older than what is given as the date. This SW option didn't exist then. LG