Mitsubishi has confirmed that the Paris Motor Show will host the global debut of its Outlander PHEV. Based on the new Outlander that debuted earlier in the year the PHEV will be the world's first plug-in hybrid SUV, offering true tree-hugging capabilities with a pure electric vehicle (EV) mode coupled with the range of a regular engine.
To appeal to as wide an audience as possible Mitsubishi has chosen to mate its Plug-in Hybrid EV powertrain (derived from the i-MiEV electric car) with a petrol engine rather than a diesel. This is because Mitsubishi plans to sell the Outlander PHEV to the Americans, who have not quite come around to the idea of diesel yet. No word on the capacity of that engine, but it is known that Mitsubishi is targeting fuel economy of 172mpg (1.6 litres/100km) - on a par with the Toyota Prius.
To achieve this the Outlander PHEV will be able to run in one of three modes: pure EV, series hybrid (engine powering the batteries) and parallel hybrid (engine and batteries combined). The Outlander PHEV will have a range of over 800 kilometres.
The Outlander PHEV will be introduced in Japan in early 2013 with worldwide rollout commencing after that.
Alongside the Outlander, Mitsubishi will display the European version of its latest global compact car that may be badged as Mirage, and an updated ASX compact crossover. A display model of the i-MiEV Evolution electric race car that competed at Pikes Peak will also be in attendance.