As the fall season peaks, we’re finding ourselves commuting more in the dark. Normally, that’d be a little sad; but, behind the wheel of our 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, things aren’t so gloomy.

Another 3,500 miles gets us close to the 15,000-mile mark. So far, it’s been almost entirely smooth sailing.
As you can imagine, we spend a lot of time driving; so, a comfortable cruiser is greatly appreciated, and our Outlander is exactly that. The seats leave you well rested after hours of driving, and the ride is mostly quiet, aside from the occasional electric hum from the plug-in hybrid system.

Our fuel efficiency has only slightly dropped since last update, now 30.9 MPGs. Still decent, and something we can overlook considering how easy it is to charge up the battery without actually needing a plug.

In one example, the Outlander’s “EV Charge Mode” was able to put nearly 30 miles worth of juice back into the battery after 150 miles of highway driving.

Having the Outlander PHEV’s gas engine to fall back on when electricity runs low is nice, but we still prefer to keep those pistons in place. The obvious reason for that is fuel economy. But it’s also because it’s a real pleasure to drive this thing in full-electric mode. It’s not like a sports car where I want to hear the engine. I’m totally fine piloting an SUV in near silence.

The only complaints involve our personal devices; namely, we still find the wireless charger to be a bit finnicky, and hooking up an older Apple device to CarPlay is not always simple.

Still, these hardly detract from the overall positive experience. As one logbook comment put it, “Nice SUV, Great PHEV.”

See more of updates with our 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV here: https://motorweek.org/long_term/2023-mitsubishi-outlander-phev/
Watch our full Road Test with the 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV: https://motorweek.org/road_tests/2023-mitsubishi-outlander-phev-2/

Check out more of our Long Term fleet here: https://www.motorweek.org/reviews/long_term/

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