2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Real World Range

The Mitsubishi Outlander you see here is a bit of an oddity. It’s not the all-new 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander that just arrived at dealerships, based on the Nissan Rogue and vastly improved in every conceivable way. No, this is the old Outlander — similar to the last one we tested in 2018 — featuring the plug-in hybrid system from Mitsubishi and no Nissan makeover. Mitsubishi has made some upgrades to the plug-in hybrid SUV for one model year only, 2021, as a new PHEV (as in, plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) based on the redesigned Outlander due next year. Why just one model year for the improvements? Well, it actually received these improvements a while ago in the global market, so the U.S. is just playing a bit of catch-up. But the changes are substantial enough to warrant a retest of the outgoing SUV to see what impact they’ve had on its all-electric range.

Related: 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander: More Space, More Tech and a Lot More Styling

The Ride

I last had a go at the Outlander PHEV a few years ago when it first arrived on our shores. The 2018 model was powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and two 60-kilowatt electric motors, one at each axle. It produced a combined 190 horsepower and was rated to go 22 miles on electric power alone, thanks to its 12-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery. For 2021, Mitsubishi has introduced a larger (2.4-liter) engine, a 13.8-kWh battery and a more powerful 70-kW electric motor at the rear transaxle. As a result, the slightly updated Outlander PHEV produces a combined 221 hp and is EPA-rated to go 26 miles on electricity before the gas engine kicks on to keep the party going. 

It’s a bit more powerful, a bit more efficient and goes a bit farther on electricity. But how much farther does it go in the real world? The last one was rated at 22 miles, but without trying too hard, I managed to get 27 miles on a cold, drizzly day. I had bigger hopes for the new one, given the better weather conditions and improved equipment.

The Route

The standard route I use to test the range of a plug-in hybrid is a simple 56-mile round-trip jaunt from my home in Ann Arbor, Mich., to a BBQ joint in Dearborn — a nice mix of urban stop-and-go driving, two-lane suburban streets at lower speeds and four-lane boulevards at highway speeds. I make sure the vehicle has a full tank of gas and a full charge, and the tire pressures are to the manufacturer’s recommended level when cold. When testing a PHEV like this, the goal is to see just how far it will go without hypermiling, but I take some steps to try and give the vehicle help — the climate control is off, the windows are up and any driver-selectable EV mode is activated. Cruise control cannot be employed on this Outlander PHEV if you have it in EV mode; it automatically selects Normal (hybrid) mode, as it apparently doesn’t want to be limited on decisions around how to best maintain speed. I keep acceleration to a reasonable rate (no feathering the throttle to cause honking horns behind me), and speeds to within 5 mph of the posted limits.

The Results

With cooperative weather and traffic, the results for the 2021 Outlander PHEV were even more impressive than for the prior version. The updated model is rated for 26 miles of pure electric range, but when I set off on my test, the predicted range already read 29 miles (it learns the driver’s style to predict range based on past results). When the predicted range hit zero and the gas engine kicked on, I had traveled 36.1 miles in total, more than 10 miles beyond what the EPA says the Outlander PHEV should do in the agency’s test cycle. That’s more than enough for most people to commute to work and back.

The Outlander PHEV also features something unique for a plug-in hybrid: DC fast charging using a CHAdeMO connector. That’s a bit outdated — most new plug-ins support connections under the Combined Charging System (CCS) format — but Mitsubishi says that it can charge the Outlander PHEV up to 80% in as little as 25 minutes. That’s a capability most plug-in hybrids don’t have, though the charge speed isn’t so impressive anymore. Many full EVs can charge a much larger battery pack (and thus reap more range) to 80% in similar time thanks to higher capacity onboard chargers. 

Out of curiosity, I pulled up to a local EVgo DC fast charger and plugged the Mitsubishi in. I arrived with a 26% state of charge, according to the charger, and it began pumping juice into the battery at a rate of 20 kW. That lasted through about a 76% charge, when the rate throttled back to 9 kW. Total time spent at the charger was 28 minutes to reach an 81% charge from 26%. The total cost for that session, however, was $10.39 for 8.39 kWh of electricity (which is actually less per kWh than the $9.49 it cost me to add 5.67 kWh to an Outlander PHEV three years ago, interestingly). And that gained me about 20 miles of electric range — still not a very cost-effective idea, making me question the point of a DC fast charger on a plug-in hybrid. It makes a lot more sense for a pure EV, but one that schleps along its own gas-engine backup? Not so much. What’s more, if a pure EV shows up at the charger only to see your gas-electric hybrid occupying the space they absolutely need to get back on the road, you’ll get some stink eye for sure. 

Change Is Coming

The rest of the Outlander PHEV is barely worth mentioning — it’s the finest example of a 1990s-era Japanese SUV you can buy. If you’re nostalgic for designs, electronics and interior materials of that era, you’re going to love the 2021 Outlander PHEV. But I’d suggest waiting for the redesign, which will reflect the vastly improved, Nissan-based redesign. It’s coming in the second half of 2022, and Mitsubishi says it will again feature an all-wheel drive system employing electric motors on the front and rear axles, as well as seven drive modes. 

More From Cars.com:

• 2021 Mitsubishi Mirage: Not the Cheapest New Car, But It’s Close
• Research the 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander
• 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander Review: From Outcast to Outstanding
• ​​Mitsubishi Outlander, Eclipse Cross, Mirage Get Redesigns in Model Lineup Overhaul
• 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport: 3 Pros and 5 Cons

Related Video:

Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.