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  • Electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles are normally pretty easy to spot.

  • They're usually small standalone models that are styled to look

  • a little bit futuristic. Things like the BMW i3 and Nissan Leaf are good examples.

  • What they are not normally, however, is big

  • SUV's that are just as comfortable in the mud as they are around town like the

  • Mitsubishi Outlander plug in hybrid electric vehicle,

  • or PHEV for short. Even though this car looks

  • pretty much exactly the same as the standard Outlander from the outside and

  • by and large

  • on the inside there is actually two different power sources underneath.

  • There is an electric motor, which will promise to run this car for about 30 miles

  • on

  • charge alone, and then there is a petrol engine, which kicks in when the

  • electricity runs out.

  • One of the big advantages of running an electric car is the noise, or rather the

  • lack of it and, if you listen

  • the PHEV is wonderfully hushed, especially when it's running on electric power alone.

  • There is a little bit more noise when the petrol engine kicks in but to be

  • honest

  • you be very hard pushed to notice it and you only really do so when you're

  • properly putting your foot down and overtaking.

  • One of the other benefits that you often hear about with electric cars is that

  • instant sort of kick of acceleration you get when you put your foot down.

  • Unfortunately, that's not something you get with this car, but

  • to be honest that'd been a bit weird if you did. I mean this is a quite high-riding

  • SUV and if it performed like a, well, performance car then

  • that would be a little bit strange. So in many ways this car driving pretty

  • much like the normal diesel Outlander

  • is no bad thing. It handles much the same as well, although

  • because the batteries sit quite low down in this car it does give it a little bit more

  • stability when you're going round corners.

  • In fact the things that make it feel most like you're in an electric car

  • these paddles behind the steering wheel. Now normally those

  • are in most other cars used for changing gear but

  • in this car you actually alter the level of brake regeneration that you get. So

  • if you pull on this side then every time you lift your foot off the throttle

  • then it does loads of braking for you, so, especially when you are around town you barely need

  • to touch the brake pedal at all.

  • If you are going down the motorway then you probably don't want that quite so much so you can take it

  • all the way off so it is just like an ordinary car.

  • The seating position in the Outlander is really good.

  • You're sat very high up, it is easy to get in and out and everything -

  • wheel and seat - has got lots of adjustment. Also, because of this high seating position

  • you've got

  • fantastic visibility all-round front and back.

  • But the biggest problem with this cabin is this middle section here really.

  • It just looks and feels really cheap and

  • really quite dated, especially for a car of this class.

  • All materials just feel a bit flimsy, and nothing's got that feeling of quality that

  • hope for from a car like this.

  • Now the main controls, to be fair, are actually pretty simple to use. Things like the

  • temperature and climate control

  • are all set out very simply here. But it is a bit odd that some of the other

  • controls

  • are tucked away over here. So you've got two separate places you've got to look at.

  • But the biggest culprit is this screen. It's

  • an aftermarket unit. It's clearly not properly integrated into the dash

  • and it's just really really fiddly. These buttons on the touchscreen

  • are really small and you've got to be very accurate with your stabbing motions and

  • the chances are you will,

  • on several occasions, end up pressing the wrong button.

  • Now what with the petrol engine up front and the batteries

  • there is quite a bit of stuff to fit into the Outlander, and you expect

  • that something has to give practicality wise. The Volvo V60 plug-in hybrid, for

  • example, has a boot that is a 125-litres smaller

  • than the diesel equivalent, However that is not the case with the Outlander.

  • This boot

  • is pretty much exactly the same size as that

  • on the diesel version. The only thing is you can't get a seven-seat version of this car

  • whereas you can with diesel.

  • The other difference is, under the boot there isn't a huge

  • amount of storage. There is not many clever bits, but there are a couple of big bins

  • either side. The space in the five seats that you do get is very good though. Headroom

  • is

  • very generous, and leg room is fantastic. You get huge amounts of room that way and

  • there is this almost totally flat floor and that means that you can get a third

  • person

  • in the middle with almost no problems whatsoever.

  • Another totally flat thing is the loading bay. There is

  • almost no entry-lip, and when the seats are all folded flat it is

  • completely even. However, it's a bit of a problem actually

  • folding the seats, because you have to come around to the side, flip the bases up

  • and then drop the backs. It's not exactly a one-handed movement.

  • But how well this car drives, its practicality etc, won't really matter

  • compared to one thing for a lot of people, and that

  • is how much it costs. We are quite used to the idea that plug-in cars cost a fair bit

  • more than conventional

  • petrols and diesel etc, but that isn't the case with this car. It costs,

  • like-for-like, pretty much exactly the same as the equivalent

  • diesel - once you factor in the government's £5000

  • low-emission vehicle grant that is.

  • The only thing you miss out on is that third row of seats and a tiny amount of space in the

  • boot.

  • Running costs should be good as well. That 148 miles-per-gallon official fuel economy

  • might be a bit of a pipe dream for many people but if you're doing a lot of

  • miles

  • just around town on short journeys then you'll do many of those

  • on electric alone. A knock-on effect is that has a tiny CO2 emissions figure, of just

  • 48 g/km. That means it's going to be in the lowest company car tax band

  • until at least the end of the decade, and also you get a free tax disc

  • alongside that. We would say that if you're going to be doing longer journies

  • then the diesel is a much more worthwhile car to consider - this car

  • really is, as we say, better for short journeys

  • around town. The PHEV only comes in the top three

  • trims on the Outlander - that's GX3, GX4 and GX5 and all three

  • are very well equipped. All of them get dual-zone climate control, Bluetooth

  • and automatic lights, while the GX4 adds some serious luxury kit like

  • electrically adjustable seats

  • and a reversing camera and parking sensors. If you feel the need to go up to

  • GX5 then you also get an electronic tailgate.

  • You can also download an app to your phone that allows you to control when the car

  • charges,

  • see how much battery there is left, and even turn on the heater remotely before

  • you get into the car.

  • Now with all this technology on offer, though, it is a bit of a shame that you have to go to the top

  • level trim

  • to get DAB Digital Radio as standard. The Outlander PHEV

  • is a bit of a strange mixture then. It's great in some areas but it's rubbish

  • in some others. But you can pretty much ignore that really cheap feeling

  • interior, the infotainment system that feels really complicated and

  • a bit naff, and the fact you can't get a seven-seat version of this car because

  • it will be so cheap to run comparatively, especially

  • as a company car. The hybrid Outlander trumps

  • all of its rivals by being no more expensive to buy

  • than the equivalent diesel. Now, bear in mind it won't fit in with everybody's driving

  • needs but

  • if it does this could be a very cheap way

  • to run an SUV. For more information on the Outlander search for Mitsubishi

  • Outlander on whatcar.com, but before you go anywhere

  • do click subscribe and keep up to date with all of our latest video road tests.

Electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles are normally pretty easy to spot.

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