2019 Outlander PHEV reviews and what we know

ChrisMiller said:

The Niro PHEV is only available in one trim spec in the UK - Kia don't do options! Smaller is actually a benefit in the UK. Unlike the US where parking spaces are generally sized to fit a '64 Impala or an F-150, UK ones are sized to fit a Morris Minor, which can make an Outlander a bit of a squeeze (particularly if you have to fit in next to a Q7).

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The covered car park at the new Sainsbury's in Nine Elms, Sarf Lundun, has all extra large spaces - presumably ready for all the Yanks about to move into the US Embassy next door.

Subaru takes a shot at the Outlander, http://tractionlife.com/2019-subaru-crosstrek-hybrid-preview , excerpt:

It was therefore important for Subaru to ensure the Crosstrek Hybrid stayed true to the brand mantra of full-time symmetrical AWD. Goh notes that some rival systems revert to FWD when there is no charge left to power an electric rear axle, but in the Crosstrek Hybrid, the transmission sends its 148 combined-system horsepower to all four wheels, whether it’s running as a hybrid or in full-electric mode... 'We put no restrictions on this car for off-road driving, unlike some of our competitors.'

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Ouch. While mechanical AWD is admittedly more capable off-road, I'm guessing most people will not notice the electrical AWD's limitation, and not having a driveshaft is more reliable long-term, theoretically. What do you think? What Goh failed to mention, was that to maintain the Crosstrek's ground clearance, they had to place the battery in the trunk, shrinking available space to 15.9 cubic feet, almost half of the Outlander's 30.4 cubic feet.

With USA sales starting at the end of this month, 2019 will be the Outlander's first full year to have an AWD SUV PHEV competitor in the same price range.

Woodman411 said:

to maintain the Crosstrek's ground clearance, they had to place the battery in the trunk

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I wonder how having all that weight at the back of the car will affect the handling? While (I read that) the Outlander is a reasonably competent off-roader, it's unlikely to be the first choice for anyone for whom that is the most important consideration.

I am scheduling a test drive of a Crosstrek before year ends. I want try its pure EV torque and the battery weight in the rear...
Even before driving, I don’t hold big expectations:
-Smaller trunk (wife requeres a big cooler for groceries);
-Lower EV max speed (I’ve already had hard time to keep driving under 78mph at LA freeway to avoid ICE);
-Higher price (on top of lower Fed Credit, Mitsubishi has been discounted heavily, Subaru probably will not);
-Fewer color choice (There is no RED!)

Maybe Subaru will surprise me, who knows...

Tai

Tai626 said:

I am scheduling a test drive of a Crosstrek before year ends. I want try its pure EV torque and the battery weight in the rear...
Even before driving, I don’t hold big expectations:
-Smaller trunk (wife requeres a big cooler for groceries);
-Lower EV max speed (I’ve already had hard time to keep driving under 78mph at LA freeway to avoid ICE);
-Higher price (on top of lower Fed Credit, Mitsubishi has been discounted heavily, Subaru probably will not);
-Fewer color choice (There is no RED!)

Maybe Subaru will surprise me, who knows...

Tai

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If you don't mind, I'll expound/add a few more points against the Subaru in addition to what you mentioned:
- as you mentioned, smaller EV battery = smaller Federal tax credit, specifically $4,500 versus Outlander's $5,836 (gap widens to $6,700 with the 13.8 kWh battery, whenever that's coming)
- likely lower warranty coverage, hasn't been published yet on Subaru's website, based on existing Subaru and Toyota Prius Prime information:
-- Basic (aka bumper-to-bumper): 3 years/36,000 miles versus Outlander's 5 years/60,000 miles
-- Powertrain: 5 years/60,000 miles versus Outlander's 10 years/100,000 miles
-- PHEV components: 8 years/100,000 miles versus Outlander's 10 years/100,000 miles
-- Anti-Corrosion: 5 years/unlimited miles versus Outlander's 7 years/100,000 miles
-- Roadside Assistance: 3 years/36,000 miles versus Outlander's 5 years/unlimited miles
-- Battery drive degradation: no warranty versus Outlander's no warranty
- US-based Consumer Reports expects the 2018/2019 Crosstrek to have only "above average" reliability, versus the Outlander's "Good", although the Toyota-sourced PHEV components should be very reliable on the Subaru
- louder interior noise, based on measurements from regular Crosstrek (80 db's) versus Outlander's (69 db's for 2018, probably lower for 2019), source: https://www.thecarconnection.com/overview/subaru_crosstrek_2018 | http://www.auto-decibel-db.com
- fatal aesthetic mistake for the fog light housing, creating a "sideburns" look for all exterior colors except silver (admittedly not a big deal for everyone)

On neutral ground, one side doesn't seem to have the advantage in these areas:
- poor halogen headlight performance: iihs rates both Crosstrek and Outlander halogens as "Poor"
- good safety: iihs rates both Crosstrek and Outlander as "Good" in various crash tests, including the difficult small overlap frontal
- anemic acceleration: both vehicles will go 0-60 mph (0-100 kph) in about 9-10 seconds
- both companies involved in scandals in 2016: Mitsubishi in Japan for overstating fuel economy, and Subaru in USA for selling defective engines that burn engine oil (Mitsubishi's scandal went longer and the consequences were higher)
- aesthetically, both vehicles hide the exhaust outlet instead of ideally integrating it into the lower rear bumper. Large, downgraded look of reflectors flank both rear ends
- as mentioned, battery drive placement has its pros and cons: Subaru's placement in the trunk is detrimental to rear cargo space, but allows higher ground clearance: 8.7 inches (22.1 cm) versus Outlander's 7.3 inches (18.5 cm), and the battery is protected. Outlander's placement underneath its floorpan allows a more even weight distribution with no penalty to the rear cargo space (except the rear electric motor), at the cost of ground clearance: 7.3 inches versus the regular Outlander's 8.5 inches (21.6 cm)
- as mentioned, electric versus mechanical awd has its pros and cons: Subaru's mechanical awd is more capable, at the cost of fuel-efficiency since the driveshaft never disengages when not needed. Electric awd does not suffer from the parasitic drag of a mechanical driveshaft, but does not offer the same off-road performance, since the rear electric motor cannot produce enough power in demanding off-road situations (such as deep loose sand or diagonal inclines)

I'll let someone more Subaru-friendly list the pros of the Crosstrek

New Motoring review in the UK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea6dBmpeNag

Also, first official video I've seen specifically for Outlander PHEV accessories, from Netherlands (love the white on dark-wheels look): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhBPOtkiO4A

Criticising headlight performance is not altogether the manufacturers fault but US legislation.
My PHEV came with xenon lights in the UK back in 2014 and they are pretty good.
My AMG Merc has LED lights which are even better.
I haven't had a car with halogen lights since 2000.
Laser is the next step which I think also falls foul of US rules.

gobiman said:

Criticising headlight performance is not altogether the manufacturers fault but US legislation.
My PHEV came with xenon lights in the UK back in 2014 and they are pretty good.
My AMG Merc has LED lights which are even better.
I haven't had a car with halogen lights since 2000.
Laser is the next step which I think also falls foul of US rules.

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Probably more like relatively low USA pricing = low equipment levels. Not sure there's too many places in the world that sell the Outlander PHEV for less than $30,000 USA dollars, about $25,000 Euro's or less, and that's before the federal and state credits, here's one example: https://www.rchillmitsubishi.com/new/Mitsubishi/2018-Mitsubishi-Outlander+PHEV-50fe80f20a0e0a6b49d0e7985f420c30.htm

USA regulations allow for xenon/hid and LED headlights, and IIHS did rate the LED headlights for the Outlander and Crosstrek:
https://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/subaru/crosstrek-4-door-wagon
https://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/mitsubishi/outlander-phev-4-door-suv

USA regulations now allow for laser headlights: https://www.nydailynews.com/autos/news/nhtsa-advanced-adaptive-laser-headlights-regulations-article-1.4043781

Nice review from the Irish Times: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/motors/mitsubishi-outlander-phev-plugging-the-gap-between-now-and-the-future-1.3740948

Fair review, but I'm not sure what he was doing to get only 30 mpg (that's pushing towards 10 l/100km for our continental friends) - driving it back and forth over the Conor Pass? I've never had a figure that poor, and no-one's ever accused me of having a light right foot!

The MY2019 in the USA definitely will be the one with 2.0 engine...

https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onroad/cert/pcldtmdv/2019/mitsubishi_ldt_a0860384_2d0_s3-30_phev.pdf?_ga=2.62588069.866929943.1545960143-354090253.1544732483

Tai

Tai626 said:

The MY2019 in the USA definitely will be the one with 2.0 engine...

https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onroad/cert/pcldtmdv/2019/mitsubishi_ldt_a0860384_2d0_s3-30_phev.pdf?_ga=2.62588069.866929943.1545960143-354090253.1544732483

Tai

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That's disappointing, as Australia already got this forked version a few months ago, it's already late, which means MY2020 that will have the powertrain update will also come late. VW/Ford/Hyundai alternatives can't come soon enough. I've been holding out, might go the Prius Prime route...

Woodman411 said:

Tai626 said:

The MY2019 in the USA definitely will be the one with 2.0 engine...

https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onroad/cert/pcldtmdv/2019/mitsubishi_ldt_a0860384_2d0_s3-30_phev.pdf?_ga=2.62588069.866929943.1545960143-354090253.1544732483

Tai

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That's disappointing, as Australia already got this forked version a few months ago, it's already late, which means MY2020 that will have the powertrain update will also come late. VW/Ford/Hyundai alternatives can't come soon enough. I've been holding out, might go the Prius Prime route...

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USA forked version verified by federal rebate site: https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/taxevb.shtml

More production-like view of the VW Atlas Cross: http://www.carglancer.com/2020-volkswagen-atlas-cross-sport-spied-with-no-disguise-in-china

French 'real world' test of the Outlander over a 360km route. It achieved overall 5.95l/100km (starting fully charged, no recharging en route), slightly worse than the BMW 225xe and the Audi Q7 e-tron. It's not really much of a comparison, since it's very dependent on the size of the battery (the Audi has 17.3kWh, I believe - and, of course costs a LOT more ).
https://fr.motor1.com/reviews/301188/mitsubishi-outlander-phev-le-test-de-consommation-reelle/
(in French, but Google translate does a very reasonable job)

Autoexpress does a head-to-head with a Kia Niro PHEV: https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/105798/kia-niro-plug-in-hybrid-vs-mitsubishi-outlander-phev-pictures

Woodman411 said:

Autoexpress does a head-to-head with a Kia Niro PHEV: https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/105798/kia-niro-plug-in-hybrid-vs-mitsubishi-outlander-phev-pictures

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A motoring journalist that says the Mitsubishi PHEV has a CVT automatic transmission at the moment should be totally ignored IMHO.

That wasn't a motoring journalist, but an ignoramus. He doesn't just mention a CVT, he hammers on about it. And a juddery ride? Browse this forum - most posters mention that it is the an exceedingly smooth car. Maybe he over-inflated his tyres. A fake review.

Not a review, but a reliability survey (not scientific, but based on responses from 18,000 readers) of EVs. The PHEV comes in third place with 97.7%, beaten only by the Yaris and the Leaf. The Tesla S scores only 50% (ouch!).
https://www.whatcar.com/news/best-and-worst-electric-and-hybrid-cars-for-reliability/n17069

ChrisMiller said:

Not a review, but a reliability survey (not scientific, but based on responses from 18,000 readers) of EVs. The PHEV comes in third place with 97.7%, beaten only by the Yaris and the Leaf. The Tesla S scores only 50% (ouch!).
https://www.whatcar.com/news/best-and-worst-electric-and-hybrid-cars-for-reliability/n17069

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Thanks, added to OP.