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2023 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV to get a much bigger battery

So it turns out we still don't have full details on the 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Information will continue to trickle out instead. But at least we have information on one of the SUV's most critical parts: the battery pack. It has more capacity, and should have more range. The outgoing Outlander PHEV had a 13.8-kWh battery pack good for 22 to 24 miles of all-electric range. The new model's battery expands to 20 kWh. On the WLTP cycle, it's good for 54 miles, but the U.S. EPA numbers will probably be lower. The capacity increase is about 45%, so applying that to the miles, we're expecting somewhere around 32 to 35 miles of electric range. That would put it close to the Ford Escape PHEV's 37 miles of range and the Kia Sorento PHEV's 32 miles. It would still trail the RAV4 Prime's 42 miles of range. Mitsubishi also noted that the gas tank has expanded, too, so the Outlander PHEV's overall range should increase. Despite all this, the plug-in hybrid also retains a third row of seats, something its predecessor lost. This is due to a revised rear motor that includes the motor controller as part of the unit. The previous model had the controller located in the passenger compartment. Mitsubishi says this freed up interior room for the rear-most seats and also reduced the amount of high-frequency noise in the cabin. As for the powertrain itself, Mitsubishi isn't sharing output details. All it has said is that the Outlander PHEV still has dual electric motors, plus a gas engine. That engine is a 2.4-liter four-cylinder similar to the current model. The press release Mitsubishi provided suggests the electric motors are more potent, so we may see more than the 221 combined horsepower of the outgoing model. The Outlander PHEV will go on sale in the United State in the second half of next year. We should have many more details on it as we approach the on-sale date. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander exterior and interior walkaround

Mitsubishi wants a compact pickup for the U.S. market, but won't rush it

A Mitsubishi dealer told Wards Auto last year that "the most requested model at the brand's U.S. dealer meetings is 'a pickup truck, a pickup truck, a pickup truck.'" This month, Mitsubishi North America's COO told Wards that the carmaker has its eye on getting back to the compact pickup segment in the U.S., but that it will take time. "[We'd] have to have one that's the right fit for Mitsubishi," he said, "for our demographic, and something that's really competitive in the market." That wasn't the case with the last compact pickup the brand sold here, the Raider. A product of the Daimler-Chrysler alliance with Mitsubishi at the time, the Raider was a rebadged Dodge Dakota. The pickup sputtered through four years of meager sales, being pulled from the market in 2009. As part of the Renault-Nissan alliance, Mitsubishi's been put in charge of the group's next midsize body-on-frame platform, Automotive News reports. The chassis will underpin the next-gen Mitsubishi Triton (2019 model pictured), Nissan Navara and Renault Alaskan, and if Daimler continues the tie-up with Renault, the next Mercedes X-Class. It sounds like Mitsubishi has already made room for electrification, the COO telling Wards, "you start mixing in some of that electrification technology and these hybrid drivetrains, the aspect of performance is really going to change in the future." The carmaker does very well with its compact Triton pickup, sold in 150 overseas markets under that name as well as L200 and Strada. Wards says LMC Automotive predicts a Triton will come to the U.S. as a 2025 model, but we can't know how similar our model would be to the international model. Our Nissan Frontier, for instance, is not the same as the Frontier sold overseas, the global truck also known as the Navara and NP300. The five-year wait shows Mitsubishi won't be reckless with any new launch now that it has a vision and momentum to protect. The Japanese carmaker has posted sales gains in the U.S. for six straight years. The last two years surpassed 100,000 units, 2018 delivering a 14 percent jump over 2017 in spite of Mitsubishi having just four models on sale here.

Mitsubishi recalling 2013 Outlander Sport for suspension issue

Just 305 units of the 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport are the subject of a recall over a potential suspension issue. Crossovers made from January 17-25 of this year might suffer from a bad weld on the front left strut's stabilizer link. If it fails, damage to the brake hose or tire could result, in turn making steering or braking control of the compact CUV more difficult.
When the recall begins, owners can take their Outlander Sports to Mitsubishi dealers for inspection and replacement of the strut assembly if necessary. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration bulletin below has more information.