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One year Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV.
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One year in the endurance test.
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One year of PHEV technology in everyday life.
Since 10. October 2014 we drive the Outlander PHEV. What did we learn in this one year?
12 months and 21.000 km later, we mainly learned three things: (Quite apart from the experience that the only defect on the Mitsubishi Outlander is a broken mirror cap, but the fault is the garage door, or the driver :))
1. PHEVs have arrived in everyday life.
2. SUVs do not have to be environmental pigs.
3. There are too few charging stations. Still!
21.000 km in the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
PHEVs have arrived in everyday life
1.) The skepticism at the beginning of the endurance test was great. How will you come to terms with the charging cable? How do you cope with all that complicated technology? Can you save anything at all? A gasoline engine in an SUV, something like that must lead to high fuel bills. And how durable is the technology? Can you drive through the mud in a PHEV SUV? We had a lot of questions about the start of the endurance test, but in the end it shows: With the first PHEV SUVBecause the Mitsubishi Outlander was the first SUV to bring this technology onto the road, a car arrived at dealers whose technology was sophisticated right from the start. We didn't have to change our everyday lives. The only thing that might be seen as a “change” is plugging in the charging cable as soon as the Outlander has been parked in the garage. But it's neither inconvenient nor a problem. It's an extra step - not a problem when you consider the benefits that come with it. It is clear to us today: PHEV technology has arrived in everyday life with the Outlander! And that the whole “technology” is not a problem at all, the number of “problems” and “defects” (ZERO!!) has shown it!
SUVs don't have to be environmental pigs.
2.) SUVs are big cars, heavy cars. The consumption is correspondingly high. So SUVs are environmental messes. But that’s just “bullshit”. At least in this test!
Just yesterday we drove to great-grandma's house in the Outlander PHEV. So – completely normal “daily business” for a family SUV. The distance is simply 198 km. We drove the first 46 km battery-electric. On the motorway we have the cruise control set at a fixed speed of 130 km/h. Thanks to the adaptive function, this cruise control relieves the driver on the motorway. When we arrived at Grandma's, the on-board computer showed 6.1 liters. 6.1 liters per 100 km? With a dog, child, stroller and enough space? And then it's not a complex diesel engine, it's a rather simple gasoline engine that works using the Atkinson process. We had to do without a charged battery for the return journey. Consumption therefore increased to 8.2 liters.
8.2 liters are still fantastic in pure hybrid mode. The gasoline engine of the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV also has no NOx problems to solve like a diesel engine. The intelligent interaction of the two electric motors, the consistent use of battery capacity, the easy change between parallel and serial hybrid drive - all of that makes it Outlander PHEV probably the cleanest SUV on the market!
But: bring us more charging stations!
3.) A problem remains even after a year. The number of charging stations is simply too small. Not only are there a lack of additional ChaDeMo fast chargers, there is also a general lack of a comprehensive infrastructure of charging stations. There are gas stations on every corner - but even for the clever PHEV from Mitsubishi - the petrol drive is actually only the "emergency solution". Every day for work, errands and shopping here within the home, the PHEV does everything purely electrically . The realistic range of 40-50 km can be used sensibly in everyday life to maximize the number of trips in pure electric mode.
As soon as the battery is empty, the petrol engine of the Outlander PHEV kicks in and takes care of the propulsion. This represents independence from charging stations. But you get used to “electric driving” so quickly that you actually want to drive electric much more. And our society lacks the necessary progress.
Too few charging stations everywhere! And then there are also too many ignoramuses who park at the few charging stations and thus block access to the juice tap for e-cars. But the Outlander PHEV can't do anything ...
