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With the Outlander PHEV, Mitsubishi has launched the world's first plug-in hybrid SUV. The approach from the beginning to develop a vehicle architecture that works both for the classic drive with gasoline and diesel engines, as well as in a possible, purely electrically powered variant, has made the Outlander plug-in hybrid to a technological flagship object.
While current hybrid SUVs are trimmed to plug-in variants primarily by equipping an external charging device and using a larger battery, the approach to the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is much more profound.
Continue with cleverness!
The aim was to implement the SUV feeling valued by many car buyers with the advantages of an electric vehicle, without accepting the disadvantages of the electric vehicle (currently especially the range). A range limitation due to the battery capacity was out of the question. In addition, the SUV should also have the performance of an SUV and not have to surrender in winter. The whole solution has become all the more ingenious.
The powertrain of the Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid in detail:
Three engines worry about the drive of the plug-in hybrid. Two of them are electric motors with an output of each 82 PS. The front electric motor brings with it 137 Nm of power and the rear electric motor 195 Nm. As usual with electric motors, this force is available almost from the first revolution.
The two electric motors are joined by a gasoline engine that works in the Atkinson cycle and is therefore primarily designed to function as an “electricity generator”. The focus here is on the efficiency of the two-liter petrol engine (MIVEC). The petrol engine has an output of 121 hp and forces a maximum of 190 Nm of force on the crankshaft.
The petrol engine was mounted on a kind of bell housing in which a clutch is located. However, the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid has no gearbox in the usual sense. Nevertheless, the petrol engine can be coupled to the front axle from a speed of about 70 km / h and then drives it directly to.
Under the bonnet and directly on the gasoline engine is still a third generator. This is used exclusively for energy. While the electric motors on the front and rear axles both send power to the axles, as well as roll and brake recover energy from the motion, the generator near the gasoline engine operates only as a power generator.
The advantages of the powertrain is the consistent focus on maximum efficiency without having to accept the disadvantages of an electric vehicle. With the 12 kWh from the deep under the vehicle floor integrated battery pack (lowers the center of gravity, good for driving), the Outlander creates according to EU standard, a range of 52 kilometers, purely electric. For most commuters, this route is completely sufficient to get battery-electric to work.
To short the bridge to the endurance tester: For us, this purely electric range, which has settled in everyday life with good 30 km, completely enough to be on the road for most of a week without gasoline engine. Our neighbors are happy about the quiet car, I about the low cost and my wife about the thrust of the electric motors from the state.
Back to the powertrain of the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid:
Mitsubishi has the Outlander plug-in hybrid very clear for the modern urban (Made-up word for "the city") Life constructed. The maximum efficiency is obtained with the same consistent use of the 12 kWh battery. This is a getting used to in everyday life, because you are not always successful in the search for electricity, but everything can be brought to the series.
Following scenario: You drive to work in the morning with charged batteries - on average this is 40 kilometers one way in Germany - there you can charge the Plug-In Hybrid Outlander on a charging station in the underground car park. And in the evening you drive back again. At home, in the garage, back to the charging station. Then you will see this display in the multimedia system's EV mode:
Purely electrical operation
The Outlander plug-in hybrid has an extensive extension in the menus in the multimedia system, with which, among other things, the driving modes can be displayed. In this case the display says: “We drive electrically!” The two electric motors are supplied with electricity from the battery (up to 60 kW) and drive the Outlander.
From around 65 km / h the display can change and show a new scheme:
Parallel hybrid operation
From 65 km / h, the petrol engine can be engaged directly for propulsion via the wet clutch on the front axle. The documents for the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid always speak of 120 km / h at which the gasoline engine switches on - that's correct, but if the battery level drops, if you ask for more power or if you want to charge the batteries, the gasoline engine can already be used Switch on from around 65 km / h and then drive the front axle directly. Anyone who now works with a little feeling on the accelerator can leave the petrol engine switched on and push the Outlander with the 190 Nm of the petrol engine, if desired, up to the locked top speed of 170 km / h. If you overdo it with the power demand, or simply demand the maximum power, you will see a different graphic in the display:
Serial hybrid operation
Up to 120 km / h you can often see this power flow in the display. The gasoline engine, coupled to the generator, produces the energy for the battery pack, from where it is distributed to the two electric motors. The Outlander plug-in hybrid is a real SUV with a “real” all-wheel drive. The Mitsubishi control logic for intelligent all-wheel drives (S-AWC) was also adopted in the plug-in hybrids. Up to 65 km / h, the two-liter Atkinson petrol engine produces the electricity for propelling the plug-in hybrid via the generator.
Charge logic and four-wheel cleverness
Of the whole process, the driver feels almost nothing in everyday life. The whole drivetrain, the logic and computing power behind the constant change of serial and parallel hybrid technology, between recuperation and dynamic distribution of the drive power, is so savvy that one sits only with admiration behind the wheel.
The reach advantage of the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid
The result of the complex drive train, the clever combination of gasoline engine and electric motors? Together with the 12 kWh batteries and the 45 liter large gas tank? The plugin hybrid driver does not have to be scared to lie down. On the weekend on a big tour? No thing. On vacation? No thing. Anyone who consistently uses the power storage system and the possibility of electrical charging will be able to do almost one 3.000 kilometers with one tank! Do not you believe?
How the all-wheel drive behaves in winter, how everyday life affects consumption, how you can get used to the good equipment of the test car (including electric parking heater) - and many other topics for the endurance test of the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid, here in Blog! New every Friday!