2024 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Review: 7-Seat Plug-In Hybrid SUV Shines Unexpectedly

In 2024, Mitsubishi is in a bit of an odd spot. Its lineup currently consists of three different versions of the Outlander SUV (the Outlander, Outlander Sport, and Outlander PHEV), two versions of the Mirage (Mirage and Mirage G4), and the Eclipse Cross. It wouldn't be wild to think that Mitsubishi didn't have a lot going on at the moment or that the company was wrapping up its automotive business stateside.

That's why I was a little surprised (and perhaps a little relieved) to learned I was going to be receiving a 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander for review. Not just any Outlander, mind, but the PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) version of the SUV. A few people I talked to didn't even know such a vehicle existed before it showed up at my home.

If my week with the 2024 Outlander PHEV is any indication of what Mitsubishi is capable of if it tries making something other than one of the least expensive cars you can currently buy, then it would be prudent to not count out the once prevalent Japanese automaker.

The Outlander I drove was finished in a striking "Red Diamond" paint color with a black roof. You could possibly see it from low-earth orbit. Aesthetically, I never got tired of looking at the huge red SUV parked in my parking lot, although it hasn't changed very much on the outside since its introduction in 2017, it's a handsome vehicle. SlashGear also reviewed the 2023 iteration. 

I don't want to phrase this as a bad thing, but the 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is sort of a confusing vehicle and the feeling of "what exactly am I driving?" never really went away over the course of the week. But here's what was plain in front of me: the complexity came in the Outlander's PHEV drivetrain. Just the introduction of the term "PHEV" likely caused a significant number of readers to skip forward a few paragraphs to where I talk about Apple CarPlay and how much the SUV costs. All of the engineers reading just leaned forward in their seats in an effort to see if I explained the drivetrain correctly.

With its two electric motors and 2.4-liter four cylinder engine working together, the Outlander PHEV generates a combined 248 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque. It may not be much to write home about on the horsepower end, but the electric motors make it positively torque-y when going at full tilt. It's no Lucid Air Sapphire or even the equal of a Ford Mustang Mach-E when you put the pedal to the sustainably sourced metal, but it's no slouch either. Just because the drivetrain isn't particularly exciting, at least on paper, that doesn't mean you discount it entirely. Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones said: "Meekness does not mean indolence."

The EV parts are comprised of the two aforementioned electric motors and a 20 kWh battery. According to Mitsubishi, the EV driving range is an estimated 38 miles when the battery is fully charged. Running on gas, the Outlander achieves an EPA-estimated 26 miles per gallon. I found that estimate to be a little optimistic, but otherwise realistic. Not everyone accelerates up highway off-ramps for fun like I do, so your gas mileage may vary slightly. Mitsubishi states that the SUV has a range of around 420 miles when both the battery and gas tank are full. 

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The Outlander PHEV's charging port seemingly required a few logic puzzles to actually open, and the buttons and options on the interior of the car didn't seem to bear any relation to its actual function. Eventually, I figured out that to unlock the charging port, you have to exit the vehicle and press the unlock button on your key fob twice, then you press on the charge port door to open it. It's not exactly intuitive.

When I was driving the Outlander, it wasn't always evident which part of the drivetrain was doing the lion's share of the work at any given time, at least from audio cues. Sometimes it was silent like every other EV, and other times the gasoline motor made itself known. Regardless, it's clear that the gasoline part wasn't added to give it a menacing growl. It's strictly utilitarian.

The PHEV's drivetrain allows it to act as a few different types of electric or hybrid vehicles through different drive modes that the Outlander switches between, depending on driving needs. There's EV Mode which shuts off the gas engine and uses only the battery for power; next, there is Series Hybrid Mode which uses electric motors powered by the battery to drive. The battery is then being charged by the gasoline engine. Lastly, Parallel Hybrid mode is when the electric motors and the gas-engine join the party to work together to achieve propulsion.

Mitsubishi's interpretation of a tachometer on the instrument panel did its best to tell me what the motors were doing at any given time, but it was a bit of a mess from a readability standard. That brings me to perhaps the most disappointing facet of Outlander PHEV. There is a lot of Nissan influence in its interior. In fact, the interior looks sort of like a combination of the Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti QX60 that I reviewed a short time ago. The screen placement and even some of the buttons are very much the same to its platform mates at Nissan. It's worth noting that, in 2016, Nissan bought a 34% controlling stake in the company. So the Nissan-ness of the interior runs a little more than skin deep.

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Other than a case of deja vu, the interior was genuinely a welcome respite from the harshness of the outside world. It was as quiet as a library that happens to be moving down the highway at 65 miles per hour. All seven seats were wrapped in leather and the Bose 9-speaker sound system was a nice touch.

In addition to the tachometer, the instrument panel suffered from the same problem as its Nissan cousins. It's sometimes too complicated for its own good, yet the SEL Premium package rectified matters with a heads up display that delivers your speed and the most pertinent navigation information. The SEL package includes a power panoramic sunroof, heated steering wheel, and a massage function on both front seats. Additionally, this Outlander was wearing Bridgestone Blizzak winter tires, which I thought would add an unwelcoming noise to driving, but this was not the case. The Blizzaks ended up being a welcome sight as it snowed during the week.

The Outlander PHEV is fitted with MI-Pilot, which is the driver assistance package that allows for what amounts to a more sophisticated cruise control. On a long stretch of highway, I activated the feature and it pretty seamlessly adapted to traffic conditions. It would likely be a welcome feature on particularly long drives. It was certainly easier to activate, requiring only a few steering wheel button taps, compared to the several menu affair from Nissan's ProPilot.

The 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV starts at $40,345 for the base model which has an identical drivetrain and battery capacity. The Outlander PHEV I was driving was the SEL trim, which starts at $46,295; its options as-equipped included the leather seats, Bose sound system, the red paint color, and a sunroof, adding up to $4,095 on top. Throw in a destination charge and it will set you back a grand total of $51,835.

Seven-seater plug-in hybrids are a bit of an anomaly in today's market, and while over $51,000 may seem like a lot of cash (and it is), it slots in as less expensive than options like the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan, especially if you go for the base trim. The extra bells and whistles may be a little hard to justify if price is your primary concern, but for what it is, it's a relative bargain.

My only real gripes with the Outlander are that the interior of the SUV doesn't do very much to differentiate itself from its Nissan counterparts. The drivetrain is a marvel of automotive engineering and while I am not an automotive engineer, I wish the car would indicate what exactly the drivetrain was doing instead of trying to look through menus on the infotainment system or try to make sense of the tachometer's interpretive dance. Other than those small quibbles, the 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is a tempting option for anyone who wants a big family car with a lot of tech under the hood that does its best to make trips to the gas station few and far between.