Looking For 7 Seats And A Plug That Won't Break The Bank? | 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV 

We appreciate your in-depth and enthusiastic review the all-new 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV! Thanks🙌

Go with Outlander PHEV for 6-9 month test. It is more interesting car than the rest.

Since this is a PHEV I decided to publish the video here and on EVBG both. If you want to get a vehicle that's trying hard to sit on the fence between hybrids and EVs, this is it.

I still think this is the ideal car camping vehicle. That’s 1500W outlet plus battery pack, but with a gas engine makes so many more things possible than you’d have with either a gas or electric car, or most other PHEVs (e.g. the outlet in the Santa Fe PHEV maxes out at 150W).

It still breaks my heart to this day to see Mitsubishi struggle the way they are considering at one point they were just as popular as Kia and Hyundai is!

This will be my first SUV! Terrific job Alex.

I vote for the Outlander PHEV. Almost all may days are under 38 miles of driving. Therefore that is the one I am most interested in.

It would be interesting to have this model as a long term test vehicle: serial hybrid systems are intriguing.

As I'm strongly considering the Outlander PHEV, I've read and watched as many reviews as I could find. This is bar far the most comprehensive review of practical considerations for a potential purchaser. Thanks!

Chademo supports V2H That’s a solid reason to have it, currently. The last generation Outlander had it too. The car is a big “quirky” but it definitely does things like no other - for good and bad.

Alex, I believe the expression 'falling between two stools' is most applicable here. 26 mpg in hybrid mode is simply NOT good enough when several PHEV and non-plugin hybrids are closer to 40 mpg.

Looks nice and I would love to see it as a long term vehicle on your channel!

GREAT review and comparisons -- I bought my 2023 Outlander PHEV (SEL Premium) 2 weeks ago - local dealer had 7 Outlander PHEVs on the lot. I got it for $1,200 UNDER MSRP and the dealer gave me $31,500 for my 2018 Acura TLX -- I paid $18,000 plus tax for the Outlander. I have driven 550 miles -- getting 72 MPGe. I am plugging it in every night for my daily commute and weekend errands. It feels "luxurious" inside -- premium leather, panoramic roof, 360 camera, power folding side mirrors, heated, steering wheel, heated seats, hands-free tailgate, head up display, Bose speakers AND massaging seats! If I take a longer drive, I will have no "range anxiety." Plus, the Outlander has a 10-YEAR WARRANTY. ONE BIG NOTE: the owner's manual clearly states that the 3rd row is ONLY for people under 5' 3." I do not need a 3rd row, so I "tri-fold" it. This opens up a HUGE, DEEP storage well. And, I can stack duffel bag items on the folded 3rd row! The RAV4 Prime may have better overall mpg, but the 18-month wait and $12,000 "dealer adjustment" are outrageous. One local dealer wanted $65k for loaded Prime with MSRP of $52k. I did not consider Kia or Hyundai brands -- "Kia boys" have stolen 3,000 of them in my area (and assaulted drivers in the process). This is a real issue. Lastly, my home solar panels will be installed in 6 weeks along with a Level 2 charger in my garage. The Outlander PHEV is the PERFECT choice for me in 2023. Final note: the local dealer now has 14 Outlander PHEVs on the lot and offering $1,250 off MSRP. Availability, luxury, value and price -- a great vehicle to "step into" electrification!

Thanks Alex, well done, as usual.

The chademo connector seems like an interesting option for road tripping, as in theory the Outlander could be plugged in and get quite well charged in a road trip meal stop. I’d like to see the Outlander as your next long term vehicle, as I’d personally like to see how well it handles your use cycle. Going up and over that mountain pass would certainly give an idea of how the compromised power train design would handle a slightly more “extreme” commute. That, and you’ve already had plenty of Hyundai/Kia models with plugs in the long term review fleet. It’d be nice to have something from a different manufacturer.

Wow, Alex actually mentioned the CHAdeMO DC Fast Charging standard unlike other RU-vid reviews.

Just picked one of these up! Its amazing!

Been waiting for your review of this Alex! 😊

Great job Alex 👏👏👏....HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY EVERYONE ✌️

OMG there should be an option to remove the 3rd row and add a spare tire and jack. Yes, please get a long term PHEV. This one seems interestingly different

Would love for you to get this for long term test.

We have an older Chevy Volt. The drivetrain you are describing sounds a lot like the Volt. (Less the AWD, of course) It doesn’t do anything exceptionally well, but it does what it does quite adequately and gets good fuel economy. I ran a fairly long trip just yesterday in hybrid mode, and it ran the generator most of the way. Did the math myself, miles/gallons, and it got 42.5 mpg running at highway speed. I know there are more efficient cars, but it’s still not bad. This Mitsubishi would probably be a great compromise vehicle too.

We picked up ours, an SEL Trim, in early December 2022. we are in Canada so keep that in mind. It was full of Gas when we got it and On January 13th I put 45 Litres to top it up after 1359 kms of city driving. Since our Imp. Gallon has 4.54 litres that works out to approx. 3.3 L/100kms or 85 miles/Imp gallon or approx. . We are happy with that

love this PHEV, I hope you also review the sound quality as well. I will definitely spend more if I can get better sound quality

Nice and practical. Thanks for this review.

This is a very impressive design. I would have got this one if made available a year ago when tax credits were available. For the 26MPG, anyone could do the math and figure out if that's a big deal or not. For eg: If someone does long trips 20% of their miles, they would be doing 10k miles out of 50k total miles on gas. So, the extra gas would be about 100 gallons if compared with another vehicle with 36MPG. That means just paying $400 extra (assuming $4 per gallon). You have better chance of getting $400 or more of discounts from a Mitsubishi dealer than a Toyota or Hyundai dealer. In many ways, this vehicle make a lot of sense and a more fun AWD EV without worry of range anxiety or paying huge price or wait time at chargers..

Three rows in that is ridiculous

Two problems: 1. 3rd row seat is too small to be useful. I would have preferred they just get rid of the 3rd row and give us a bit larger cargo space. 2. Very few Mitsubishi dealers.

This would be a great long termer. Not a lot of people know about these, and it's an interesting drivetrain.

I purchased a Kia Sorento EX PHEV up here in Canada. Took delivery in May. I have a family of 6 so we use the third row constantly - an emergency 3rd row wouldn't work for me. Here in Canada after a $5000 government rebate it was actually cheaper than the ICE equivalent trim. I paid $45K CDN for it, minus the $5000 (after tax) rebate, so about $42k pre-tax(shoutout Brantford Kia!). After 14k km I'm averaging 1.5l/100km(156MPG), though now in the winter I'm using more gas for cabin heat. Almost all of my trips are on EV(groceries, errands, soccer, etc). Wish it had a heat pump, but that's the only thing I envy on the Outlander. I think of the PHEV technology as more of a "gasoline mitigation" technology. I'm saving around $450/mo in gas, my electric bill went up about $50. So the net $400/mo savings in gasoline almost covers my car note. All in all it was a great replacement to the 2007 Honda Odyssey it replaced. The DC fast charge would be essentially useless for my use case, especially since its Chadmo. If one were to use this for road tripping, I don't think they would spend the time to find a Chadmo DC fast charge for 38miles of range, plus go to the gas station to fill up.

Mitsubishi needs to make a 3000GT PHEV, but as a coupe-hatchback-sedan so it will sell to families.

This will be my next car. The combination of features makes for a superb SUV (that 1500W inverter is a crowning glory), and it has one more trick up its sleeve: CHAdeMO reverse charge, vehicle to grid/house power. I'm retiring in a few years and will be spending a lot of time off grid on solar power; not outright in wilderness, but off the beaten track. I have no intention of routinely using the car's battery in that context, but the car will double as a very capable backup source for extended periods of time. Worst case, you run the engine for half an hour in charge mode, and you have power for a whole day; and, of course, with good sun you normally live and drive on solar power all the time. Mitsubishi really have put together a phenomenal vehicle, where companies like Jeep and Land Rover (who should be leading the SUV field) have completely lost the plot.

There are some other early reviews from Canada where the mpg was reported as much better than EPA, your press drive mpg is more in line with EPA. I am very curious about what the home test mpg will be, and whether that next review will uncover the parallel hybrid operation gear ratio. I know it was low on the prior phev and contributed to high consumption.

Great review as usual Alex! I vote for the outlander for your next vehicle it seems so unique and more interesting to the others. Also the Korean plug-ins really cannot operate in full EV mode whereas the outlander does. Remember the Korean electric motors are so weak that when you accelerate the engine almost has to come on to move the car which really makes it a hybrid car not a plug in. For that reason i would not even consider the korean options.

That pic of you and Roman is awesome! 🤣

Great video and review as always, Alex. Fair, balanced, accurate! Regarding 3rd row head room: this top model you reviewed has the retractable window roof. I believe the lower 2 models which are significantly less($38K and $42K) do not have that moonroof standard. It seems like you lose a good 3" of headroom because of that. Obviously still not ideal for a taller adult, but better and much more ideal for kids(which is what most of us will use that 3rd row for, sparingly). Does that sound right? I really like the size of the Kia Sorento PHEV(longer than Outlander), and as much as the captains chairs have benefits...if I only need 5 seats plus cargo sometimes (more likely more often for me than needing the 7 seats), the Mitsubishi wins out there.

Another great review! Go with the Mitzi - it's the only one that offers serial AND parallel hybrid modes and has a V2L / V2H facility, which is important to me as a potential buyer. Oh, and AWD for both cornering safety and off-road use (would love to see you doing a bit of soft-roading) 🙂

I really fell in love with the idea of this, has features like the third row and headlight washers that can't be had on the Rogue I also love... However the MPG is the killer. My commute would exhaust the battery one way, I can't charge at work. All in between the cash outlay for the PHEV over a Rogue with the poor mileage when not running in EV mode vs the high mileage of the Rogue 1.5VCT I can't see it making sense for my use.

I've got this Outlander PHEV for two weeks now in Sydney Australia. For 1000 kms of driving, my average energy usage is 3L/100Km .My driving experience is awesome compared to my V6 Kluger/Highlander Toyota. Overall, this is worth the money.

I've watched almost every review of the 2023 Outlander PHEV on YT and this is the most informative review I've seen yet. You cover all the technical bits that took me weeks to discover and do a great job of comparing to the competition. You even found the little space on the front part of the 3rd row when folded! Only thing I would correct is that there are no tethers for child seats that need them in the middle of the second row, those type of child seats need to be placed in one of the outboard seats. Oh, and as a 7-seater, the fuel consumption ratings have to assume 7 occupants, where 5-seaters such as the RAV4 are assumed to have 4 occupants. So a bit of a quark when comparing those EV range and fuel consumption numbers but the RAV4 will indeed be more fuel efficient in hybrid, mostly because it has a eCVT that keeps power in the optimum range and parallel mode turns on more often.

Great reviews as always @Alex, I'd be interested in a roundup of PHEV in your buyer's guide for those of us weighing in between PHEV and pure BEV. Ps- OEMs need to kill the piano black thing. It absolutely does not age well at all

Hello, I have had a pleasant moment while watching the video, it has convinced me to get a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. I would like to know when it will be available in Chile.

I'm wondering why they dont use a smaller and more efficient engine as generator if it's never directly linked to the wheels? Seems like a 2.4L is a bit of a large engine to serve this purpose.

Really happy to see this review. Great review and super detailed as always. Picking up my PHEV hopefully just before Xmas. As far as the hybrid MPG, it seems some of the Aussie reviewers have been getting much better than 26mpg. But it might a little tricky converting their liters per 100km to mpg. Either way. Can't wait for this car! Happy to see Alex's stamp of approval on it.

Great video Alex but can you look into what is going on with the focus (auto focus?) it’s really noticeable starting at 1:11

It's nice to see PHEV being taken seriously. I wish more would support fast charging, heat pumps, and larger batteries for good EV mode range. I chose a PHEV because charging infrastructure is still miserable where I live and I do a huge number of long trips from spring in to the fall, but then all my day to day can be on EV mode. I really wish they didn't pick CHAdeMO though. Ick.

Drove one for a half hour or so. My thoughts: Good: * It rides pretty well. * The interior looks pretty good. * Price per size seems quite reasonable. * Second seat leg room/head room is fantastic. * Aux heat, in particular that it's got a heat pump, is great news. Bad: * I just don't like serial HEV/PHEV's. Rev too much, MPG is inadequate, etc. * Resale value/residual value is questionable * Built in Japan. Sayonara tax credit. * Build quality? The plug in door might as well be tin with plastic hinges. Might? I think it was! * MPG was not impressive, and I suspect close to poor. * Mitsu's consumer vehicle (at the least) exist from the UK and Au don't look good to me. I don't want to own the next Delorean. Meh: I was unable to get it to direct drive at any reasonable speed. There may be a way, and it may take more playing with the various modes, but it's a question. Opinion: The Hev/PHEV architecture I believe is superior is the planetary Gen/Motor/ICE combination as used by Ford (escape), Toyota (Rav/HH), Chrysler (pacifica), and perhaps others. I consider the torque converter replacement method (used by darn near everybody) to be "MEH", and these serial/parallel implementations to be inferior and without justification. I presume their only advantage is they are cheap/simple (relative to other choices). I can think of quite a few better things to consider: * Ariya * Mach E * Blazer/Equinox * Mazda CX-90.

We traded purchased a 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander gas model this past summer since we got a phenomenal trade in credit for our 2020 Dodge Caravan. Initially, we were concerned about the space but have adapted and have been impressed with handling on snow covered icy roads , partially on our trip to California where the Canadian highways were snow covered and extremely icy. I have also been impressed with fuel economy above freezing temperatures. The fuel economy isn't so good with -35 degrees Fahrenheit but that is the case with any vehicle in extremely cold weather. The more I research the 2023 Outlander PHEV, the more I am interested. In Canada, for price vs. value, this seems like a good deal. Would love to see a 6 month to 9 month test to confirm this vehicle will perform well. It seems like a better option compared to the 2022 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid PHEV in terms of build quality and durability.

This car seems to check all the boxes! Great review. I could kick myself for not putting down 400.00 and doing a purchase contract with a dealer On AUGUST 12th 2022 before the new EV BILL came into law. This would have been a steal at $31,999.00 (-$7500 FEDERAL Credit) . I hope that new GEORGIA senator EV bill gets past it will give manufacturer's 18 mos to prepare for the new law instead of the circus of bill that just instantly happened. It would make this car eligible again for an EV credit. LOVE the 1500W for Tailgating and Camping. I sure hope this car is a homerun it should be for Mitsubishi!

I had a gen 1 PHEV and that single gear thing was a killer. If you did anything more than about 40 mph, with the engine running and driving the front wheels, it sounded like it was being thrashed to within an inch of it's life. If was fine for EV based commuting (which I used it for) but I would not want to have used it for a cross country trip. Sad to hear that there isn't at least a CVT or, better still, a proper gearbox in the gen 2 version. As I had to make a one way cross country trip (I moved states) I decided to chop in the PHEV (which lost about 50% of it's value in just 2 years) and go back to a Land Rover Disco 4 (I had a lot of stuff to bring with me). Also, BTW, there was much debate around the piss poor BMS in the gen 1 PHEV. I dropped about 0.1 ampHour as regular as clock work. We (the owners) could never get Mits to explain why or get them to update/upgrade the BMS past it's v1 software. In fact, Mits seemed happier to drop the 10k to replace batteries when made to than fix the BMS. So you might want to consider that as well. I am now, some 3 years later, considering moving on from the D4 and was looking at this. But man it is pig ugly...

The only Mits dealer near me changed to a Tesla dealer so I am out on the Mits... and I work for their sister company! I say Kia or Hyundai, but the Mits is nice!

Lol! Great video again, Alex. Yeah that third row is useless. This reminds you of the movie, Two grumpy old men!! As @flossycarter would say….this is a family show! 😅😅😅 this is actually a pretty good vehicle, considering it’s built on the same platform as the Nissan rogue. I think I would actually opt for this over the rogue especially if you don’t need a third row.

Beautiful SUV. Mitsubishi will become major player again if it’s entire lineup is this interesting.

Interior is pretty nice though

Please include the RAV4 prime during your next comparison because I can wait for a year or two .. thanks a lot

Thanks, but NO THANKS. The third row footage, though appreciated (really) took the of the list for me. Therefore, thanks for the review 😅

I wish that the new outlander was still available in the UK. I have the 2015 PHEV as a company car and love it. I'm now looking at the outlander PHEV alternatives 😞

Did you try the lay flat fronts seats that create lounge seating with the back seat? You can sit in the back and lay out like in a recliner while buckled in.

There upholstery fit and finish seems very substandard. But if in saving thousands over the direct competition I can overlook some things as long as everything else is in the class.

Standard heat pump, that's a nice surprise. Many more expensive pure EVs miss that feature.

If $7500 off MSRP, I would be seriously interested in an entry level plug in. Market will be crashing in a short while. Mitsubishi has been good about discounts.

It has a great exterior! It's just smaller than I expected :(.

I regularly get 90km on a charge driving 50/50 urban/highway, have used 30litres of fuel covering 3000km,17kw per 100km Cost about 3$ a charge, which won't be an issue when I get solar/battery back up.I only use charge mode going up hill, downhill the regenerative braking,gives me about 10 km charge after 2km.

Not a Mitsu fan at all but only watching cuz Alex, you do great job otherwise...nah Would like to see Hyundai Plug-in Santa-Fe or Tucson in your long term. just my vote on either of those 2.

How would you compare the plug-in system from the old generation to this generation?

this is a good and different long range tester the most common european choice for some time

Two questions. First, at what speed does the engine come on in normal mode? And second, while at highway speed with ICE running, would putting car in charge mode decrease fuel economy?

still waiting for updates on the long term test. I hard that Alex had picked one of these up about 2 weeks ago. Hoping to hear some updates. I'm curious to hear because I was looking at Toyotas, but with their shortage of stock, years of waiting unless you pay scalper prices, and the absolutely horrible dealer experience, has me looking elsewhere.

Wait i saw this has memory seats for the front passenger seat, I'm pretty sure that's a rare feature for a mainstream crossover

Said it on your other channel and I’ll say it here, CHAdeMO is such a weird decision here. I get it because of the Mitsubishi-Nissan connection, but in the US it’s already a dying standard and makes no sense for such a small battery. Would have made more sense to bump that AC OBC from 3.3kW to 6.6kW IMO.

Definitely a long termer IMO

What would be the range when you drive in NORMAL mode which is the default since there is a sepaerate EV mode which would be about 38 miles with 20 KW battery?

My first choice for what you should buy is (prolly) still the Niro PHEV . . . however, I understand if you want AWD. 2nd choice is tough. The Outland is more available and certainly cheaper that the Sorento. I love the Sorento, but the Sorento PHEV is quite a bit more . . . hmmmmmm . . . which sells more per year? That makes a difference if more people will be buying them . . . hmmmmm

Except possibly for the Japanese market why on earth would you fit CADAMO to a new vehicle?

This is exactly the powetrain Honda should and could have built for a number of their models e.g. Accord and Pilot.

Through preview of this car... well done. If I were you, I'd opt to give this one a long-term trial, vs. the Hyundai & Kia cars. Hyundai & Kia have gotten so bad with recalls & reliability, they've come off my future buying list totally. Their cars look good & may have lots of new tech, but it's really a "buyer beware" situation for those brands at this point. In this Mitsu, I think that the 3rd row is a non-seat... I know you've said it's mostly for "emergency use," but if you put any teen or adult in there, you will be taking them to the emergency room for medical attention afterwards! They really should have a 5-seat model of this instead.... or (less desirable) make the seat quick to remove.

LOL, hilarious watching Alex and Roman together in a tiny 3rd row. Wouldn't want lube involved there though XD

Looks great. Very aggressive front end. Spacious and practical. What's more to ask? Maybe that it would be an SUV made by a different, better manufacturer. Well, you can't have it all. Although you can always get a Telluride/Palisade but I don't think they offer a plug-in version of these models yet.

que lux gracias por mis vustas ....

So it list the hybrid mode as 26mpg. But the cruising range is 420miles. But the gas tank is 11.3. Are they using another method to figure out the mpg because the 420miles / 11.3 would be about = 37 mpg.

This sounds a lot like what BMW tried with their i3 with the range exterior system

What kind of CVT does it use? A belt driven Jatco one or a more EV style single gear reduction?

So when parallel mode kicks in does that mean u add electric 248hp + engine 132hp together to get a total of 380hp?

Big fan of Isuzu, Suzukis and Mitsu’s. I hope Mitsu doesn’t exit the NA market like Suzuki 😊

I actually have been recently considering this but all the Mitsubishi dealerships are going out of business. I even stopped 2 owners and both dealerships are no longer existent and one is a Volvo dealership that's supposed to be serving them.

I vote this one or a Tucson.

Alex can you please compare the back row plus trunk space to Toyota Rav4 Prime? I would like to know which one is better for car camping, thanks!

I've owned a PHEV for the last 9 years. These new PHEVs are priced $10k more than their ICE comparable sibling. You won't save $10k in 100k miles (average warranty term for the PHEV system), they don't make financial sense...

Get the Mitsubishi!

I'll take it without the 3rd row but add a spare tire. More room and better fuel economy

If 38 miles of EV range handled 50% of annual driving need, wouldn’t 26mpg hybrid mode be acceptable? I like the direction Mitsubishi is going.

I think CHadeMo is supposed to be able to deliver power from vehicle to load

Alex, do the Outlander PHEV, Mitsubishi is the come back kid. They are slowing starting to build compelling vehicles

Does this car have cameras that display the blind spot, when engaging turn signals to turn or change lanes?

heard that '23 OL PHEV does not have option for the garage door opener built into the rearview mirror.....e.g. HomeLink. Is this true? Is there an aftermarket install so that a clip opener does not need to be put onto the interior sunvisor? thanks

The PHEV is $14k more than the regular version. (In Canada)This is affordable?

Thanks Alex, so I have one question, If suppose I am on a long drive occationally, Can I still get high HP, Power, by keeping both ICE and bettery ON? because Gas only Outlander has just 181 HP not enough for highway according to me, But if I go with PHEV, does it change dynamics?

Interesting, but 26mpg just isn't very good for hybrid mode. A V6 highlander or pilot isn't very far off from that, the hybrid version of the highlander is 35ish, and the next size down CR-V and Rav4 hybrids are 35-40mpg. If you want the 38 miles of electric range, this may be good, but otherwise, there are better options out there.

This Outlander PHEV is proof that Toyota is still the king of hybrid tech. The Rav4 Prime has a smaller battery (18.1 kWh) but still manage to have a longer EV-only range, better fuel economy, and better 0-60 time than this car.

I would have taken a spare over the 3rd row taking up the space. Or at least had a model that gave me a choice.