Wednesday 22 March 2017

Test Driving The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV in 2014

HI it’s Dave here, I do hope that you are having a great week so far I know that I certainly am! 

This week I was looking around for ideas for posts and I came across this review that I wrote way back in 2014. I hope that you enjoy reading these posts on my blog as much as I enjoy writing them.

So here is the story about

Test Driving The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

(photograph - wytchwynd photography)

Last Friday afternoon (27th June 2014) I collected a demonstration Mitsubishi Outlander Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicle from Devonshire Motors, Barnstaple, the local Mitsubishi Main Dealers.  The car had been booked for an overnight test drive. 

To say that it was like stepping into something from the future is an understatement.  I pride myself on having a fair knowledge about the workings of a vehicle however, this car left me feeling like a novice driver all over again.

So for the introduction to the vehicle – I was greeted by the Sales Manager and after a short chat about the differences between standard electric vehicles and the revolutionary Mitsubishi my wife and I were taken to “meet the car”.

After a brief apology for the state of the interior – they had not had time to clean it out – our guide explained that he had left the car on “tick over” to charge the batteries.  He then began the tour of the vehicle starting with the boot and its all electric tailgate.  Hiding under the floor are two compartments, one of which contains the normal 12v battery similar to the one in every car on the road today and doing the same job.  The second compartment held the charging leads one goes into a standard 13 amp household socket.  A push of a button then gently closed the tailgate.  Next we moved to the driver's side rear and he pushed gently on what appeared to be a fuel filler cap and when it opened it revealed two charging sockets – one to accept the cable from the 13 amp plug and the other to accept the “fast charge” cable, fitted to units that are popping up at charging stations all over the country.

Finally, we got into the car and the driver's area contains an array of dials, gauges and lights, there is a huge display screen in the centre of the dashboard from which you access the audio controls, the navigation system, cd changer, USB socket and more.  The centre console houses a small stubby gear lever from which you select Drive, Neutral, Park.  There are only two pedals, an accelerator and a brake and a huge button that says “Power”

Behind the steering wheel are two “flappy paddles” which control the “regenerative braking system” and there are the usual indicator and wiper stalks.  The vehicle is fitted with auto wipers which sense when the windscreen gets wet,  Continuing the automatic theme the vehicle has automatic lights that illuminate once light levels fall below a certain pre-determined level.

After this familiarisation exercise the next instruction was to put my foot on the brake, move the gear lever into neutral and press the power button.  The whole dash panel sprung into an in car replica of Blackpool Illuminations and our guide said that the car was now “running” – there was no noise! 

Another explanatory talk about the various in built charging systems followed and then we were left to our own devices.
  
(Photograph - wytchwynd photography)

The first thing that struck me whilst pulling away from the garage was how quiet the car was and although the process of driving was exactly the same the sensations and the experience were messing with my head.  The journey back home took some 20 minutes and on a stretch of open road I put the throttle hard down, the electric motor became assisted by the petrol engine and the power delivery was phenomenal. 

I have no idea of the acceleration time but it was certainly rather rapid.  When we arrived home we parked it in the nearby car park and it was then that I discovered the advantage of having a reversing camera.  The screen gave an excellent view of the full width of the car and with the aid of the display and the parking sensors I was able to reverse into the space and park accurately without the need to use my mirrors.

We left the car parked and went into the house.  I then began to feel strangely disorientated, my head becoming very “woosey” - I did not know if it was attributable to the car or not, but I decided that after we had eaten I would try again and see if I was being affected by the vehicle.

I thought about the drive home and wondered if I really liked this vehicle or whether it was just a large and quite expensive toy.......

After we had eaten, our friend joined us and we set off on a drive to North Devon’s Woolhanger Manor.   This drive would certainly allow me to put the car through its paces because we would cover fast roads, winding roads, steep hills, dirt tracks and potholes and I have to say that the car dealt admirably with everything that was thrown in its path.

I had become used to the myriad lighting effects of the dashboard and what all the arrows and symbols meant and really started to enjoy driving this electronic marvel.   I tried the system for charging whilst driving which soon replaced the used power and before much distance had been travelled I had learned about both the regenerative braking system and the phenomenal torque this machine provided when called upon.


The Mitsubishi Outlander is one of the world’s most amazing cars and can, if used in certain ways, provide the least environmental impact of any vehicle I have ever driven.  The petrol engine operates with an emission figure of just 40, the system would charge on free power if connected to a solar energy system, so with zero road tax it is and can be virtually free motoring.


I would like to thank Devonshire Motors, Barnstaple for providing the car overnight and 2 years later I am now the happy owner of a diesel Outlander (only because as at the time of writing the PHEV is still out of my price range)  I am looking forward to test driving the 2017 version to see what has changed and getting to know if Alison (my wife) is as keen on it as I am after she has driven it.

 oooo000oooo

If this post has prompted any questions, then please feel free to add them as a comment in the box below or to email me:- blueskycompany@europe.com

About Dave I am a coach; speaker; radio presenter and founder of The Blue Sky Company.  I am also a therapist and co-own a virtual light centre called The Crystal Spring.  My therapy work includes music therapy; reiki; crystal therapy

LINKS


I have recently discovered that a book written by a friend of mine is available via Amazon so I would like to share a link to that book with you.  This lady is an amazing person and I am sure that if you have enjoyed reading my blog you will also find her work of interest.






Have a fantastic day, live a life of Passion and Power.

And above all

Don't Predict The Future - CREATE IT!

DAve x

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