Of course, we all want to drive purely electrically. And Mitsubishi understood that and will equip the 2017 model year of the Mitsubishi Plug-in Hybrid Outlander with a “pure EV” function. In advance we have with our Endurance test vehicle the "V-tech Pure PHEV" Box tried.
The Polish sales department made the box available to us free of charge - a thank you to Poland for this. Nevertheless, we can not recommend the box.
Point 1 :) There is no installation instructions
A simple carton serves as a packaging. In it a black plastic box the size of a cigarette pack. Where to put it? This leaves the box once in the dark. So: hood on. It will find a plug, fits to the box.
No. There is nothing. After 10 minutes abandoned and the Internet strives. Where does this box fit now?
The Google search finds this Youtube video. And already shows at the desk, the installation is Fummelarbeit. And it becomes a fumbling job. Kneeling in front of the footwell you strive to break your fingers, knot your hands and fix the box at the end with a cable tie.
Point 2 :) The box does what you expect, but
Yes, the box does what it promises. You drive purely electrically. Who presses the green button in the center console (ECO mode), which activates the software program of the V-TECH box. And? It works. The plug-in Hybrid Outlander drives, even at temperatures below 7 °, purely electrically going on. Remains at full throttle in pure electric mode and only from around 130 km / h, the petrol engine switches directly to the front axle. Short in the Seriel mode, then immediately in parallel mode.
Well that, but: So what does the box do?
The box plays the engine control unit of the plug-in Hybrid Outlanders wrong parameters, so that the control of the drive train is changed. Is that good or bad? This always leaves an unpleasant certainty.
Mitsubishi has designed the plug-in Hybrid Outlander as the world's first plug-in hybrid SUV and put it on the road. The layout with the two electric motors and the small gasoline engine has been deliberately chosen, as well as the functional principles and methodology of the plug-in hybrid powertrain. Who is liable for damages arising from the use of the box? What if the box overcomes security hurdles of the operating system?
With all compliance with the promised function, there remains a feeling of insecurity. We will therefore test the new plug-in hybrid Outlander with the extended EV strategy in 2017 and then think again about the use and effect of the “Pure PHEV V-Tech Box”.
