Did Mitsu blunder by not putting 16Kwh battery in US version

[ChrisMiller]

Knowing that the BMW gets 30.5 kWh in a enclosure not much larger than the Outlander makes me wonder at the wisdom of not making a significant increase in capacity. The effect for Mitsubishi sales would be well “electrifying “ :roll:

But if the bigger battery puts an extra few thousand £s/$s on the price tag? (May not matter as much with a luxury brand like a Beemer.)

I'm sure Mitsi will have looked carefully at driving stats. Here in the UK (and much of Western Europe) the average trip length is only 7 miles (11 km), for which a larger battery would deliver little benefit - I imagine it will be much higher on the other side of the pond.

 

[jaapv]

I don't think Mitsubishi blundered, they had a four-year uphill struggle to get the car approved by the US authorities. Changing spcifications in mid-stream would surely have thrown them back by years.

 

[ThudnBlundr]

How many are in each pack? Mitsubishi will be buying huge quantities of these batteries, so the cost should be pretty low. When Renault almost doubled the capacity of the Zoe battery, the cost increase wasn't huge and virtually no one bought the older 22kWh car. They've dropped it all together for 2018

 

[StevieB]

Different engine and battery models don't cost anywhere near the additional retail prices given.

An Mercedes Benz E200d & E220d is the same engine, but different engine mapping. Same MPG and CO2 levels too, but the E220 is £2-3k dearer.

Same applies to engines from Jaguar, BMW and even Ford Transit Custom Vans.

Tesla will also be the same - whilst increased battery capacity will obviously physically cost more, it won't cost the difference in what they charge for it. That's just marketing and consumerism - it's perceived as a superior model, so folk will pay for it.

The 2019 Model was never going to be a radical change, as there's an all-new model for 2020/2021, so this was just a little stepping stone or even a test mule for the all-new one. The new one is based on a shared platform with Ren-Nis, so time will tell how it's going to marketed. It's also (the 2019 small update) for Japan and the European market only. No surprise it didn't make the US, due to the long time it took the current model to get type approval, mainly in Cal.

Also, I read on here the the Li-Ion batteries for the Outlander are Yuasa ones, who are quite new to this tech (obviously well versed in normal lead batteries). The market leaders Panasonic weren't choosen. I presume Yuasa ones were cheaper, but perhaps the actual density of them are not quite on par yet? Stats: https://www.statista.com/statistics/235323/lithium-batteries-top-manufacturers/

 

[elm70]

Also, I read on here the the Li-Ion batteries for the Outlander are Yuasa ones, who are quite new to this tech (obviously well versed in normal lead batteries). The market leaders Panasonic weren't choosen. I presume Yuasa ones were cheaper, but perhaps the actual density of them are not quite on par yet? Stats: https://www.statista.com/statistics/235323/lithium-batteries-top-manufacturers/

Nice to see that I'm not the only one surprised by the Mitsubishi decision to go with Li-Ion battery from Yuasa (which also to me doesn't sound an experienced company in the Li-Ion field)

Now that Mitsubishi is part of the Nissan-Renault alliance .. I guess they will go for battery similar to what Zoe or Leaf are using.

Not sure if this is good or bad thing ... since Nissan Leaf does not look to have an advance battery management like Chevrolet or Tesla ... and the Leaf had multiple reported issues with battery degradation ... but maybe not as bad as the degradation in our PHEV

From the CES'18 ... I have seen the nice concept of modular battery pack from Honda ... it would be nice to have a standardized "battery block" .. and open the PHEV to have more or less battery capacity

Soon is also coming to market the solid state battery ... which should boost capacity and lower the prices ... but maybe in the 2020 optic solid state battery is still not feasible