Outlander Phev In-Depth Observations - Mike Mas

[PHEV07]

Hello Outlander Owners - I just completed an In-Depth Article on the Mitsubishi Outlander Phev. This article provides a detailed look at how the new Outlander Heat Pump operates and how it differs from other hybrids and EV’s. I’ll cover HV battery heating and cooling. How to prevent lithium battery “Plating” a permanent damage which occur to lithium batteries during cold weather use. I’ll compare how the Outlander fairs against the Hybrids like the Toyota Rav4. Talk about the dangers of owners switching their AGM 12 volt battery to lithium. Discuss the fact the new Outlander might not be the best plug-in Hybrid for colder regions and how Mitsubishi left out a vital battery component which could leave you and your family stranded in frigid weather. I’ll talk about Innovative Pedal and B-3 / B-5 High Regen, how they work and why they sometimes start the gas engine. PHEV Travel suggestions for added safety and more economy. Finally, introduce “Volting” a Method of Engine / Motor / Cycling which can reduce your engine run time up to 40% on trips using less fuel.

Note: Because of graphics used, I authored the story using QuarkXpress and placed it on my non sponsored /Ad-Free web site. Please click on the link below - Enjoy Mike

Outlander Phev In Depth Observations - Mike Mas

http://rotory.com/PHEV/outlander/

This article was very well written. Thank you for sharing.

Let us hope that more ppl take the time to read this, so as to educate themselves. Too bad that your link link is not a hyperlink.

Let me see if I can add one here.

https://rotory.com/PHEV/outlander/

 

[PHEV07]

I was doing some research into the Outlander. I see that in the 2018 Outlander’s owner’s manual that on page 2-11 it says that the “BATTERY TOO COLD” may be displayed on the multi information display at temperatures of -30°C or colder. Could it be that when you returned from Mexico in previous years and in the recent cold spell of -23 to -30°C that the traction battery was not cold enough to trigger the message? Do you perhaps have an unheated garage that does not get as cold as the outdoor temperature?

I park my vehicle outside 365 days of the year.
We sometimes get temps as low as -40C but most days from Jan 1 to Feb 28 the temp ranges from -20'C to the low -30Cs

I just read this article by one of our members. Very informative and well explained.


https://rotory.com/PHEV/outlander/

 

[Terry Yates]

Hello Outlander Owners - I just completed an In-Depth Article on the Mitsubishi Outlander Phev. This article provides a detailed look at how the new Outlander Heat Pump operates and how it differs from other hybrids and EV’s. I’ll cover HV battery heating and cooling. How to prevent lithium battery “Plating” a permanent damage which occur to lithium batteries during cold weather use. I’ll compare how the Outlander fairs against the Hybrids like the Toyota Rav4. Talk about the dangers of owners switching their AGM 12 volt battery to lithium. Discuss the fact the new Outlander might not be the best plug-in Hybrid for colder regions and how Mitsubishi left out a vital battery component which could leave you and your family stranded in frigid weather. I’ll talk about Innovative Pedal and B-3 / B-5 High Regen, how they work and why they sometimes start the gas engine. PHEV Travel suggestions for added safety and more economy. Finally, introduce “Volting” a Method of Engine / Motor / Cycling which can reduce your engine run time up to 40% on trips using less fuel.

Note: Because of graphics used, I authored the story using QuarkXpress and placed it on my non sponsored /Ad-Free web site. Please click on the link below - Enjoy Mike

Outlander Phev In Depth Observations - Mike Mas

http://rotory.com/PHEV/outlander/

 

[Terry Yates]

No, they're not saying that at all.

It was a pretty clear and comprehensive explanation I think, I don't know what to add to try and explain it any clearer. I'm trying but all I can suggest is re-reading it, or getting someone else to read it and try and explain it to you. Maybe it's just clear to me as I already have one and fully understand how it works.

check out https://www.richi.uk/p/mitsubishi-outlander-phev-faq.html

 

[Grandad]

Thanks for the reply last I checked there is no word for a HV battery heater in the 24 or 25 models. Sure would be nice!

Thanks Mike

Keep an eye out for any activity on the class action suits.

 

[michael8554]

There are separate posts of the AGM 12V Aux battery being replaced with Lithium 12V.

The Mike Mass article reckons that battery could fail at sub-freezing temps,stranding the PHEV.

 

[jpetro]

There are separate posts of the AGM 12V Aux battery being replaced with Lithium 12V.

The Mike Mass article reckons that battery could fail at sub-freezing temps,stranding the PHEV.

Great read Mike. Thank you for pulling together this info.

 

[Jedinsky]

Sorry for the delayed reply. I've told the forum to update me when a post comes through.

Ooh... where do I start. I have a three-page document that went to the dealer with the first service. Nothing really resolved yet, other than they confirmed I'm on the latest firmware. BTW, the model is Exceed Tourer, but I'm pretty sure these observations would be common to all models.

In summary, a few of the bullets:

• radio can only be tuned to a station in seek-mode (cannot select or step to a specific frequency). You can not pre-tune to a station you're heading towards.
• radio station presets self-shuffle without warning
• documentation on the entertainment system does not contain enough pictures, and refers to buttons that are not on my display
• no option to beep horn on lock or unlock
• Mitsubishi Connect app is referenced in the manual, but is not available. URLs referenced in the manual go to a 404 page not found (that's an unforgiveable error. There could and should always be a valid page, even if the content is unhelpful.)
• the phone address book cuts off at 4000 entries. I have 4700 address book entries in my phone (and, unsurprisingly, I keep adding more. One or two every day). Worst: it looks like the most recent entries are the ones ignored by the car, so don't appear in the search screen.
• the nav system consistently fails to find valid and known street addresses - I think only one street number has ever been recognised by the car since I took possession. My two most frequently used addresses, both established for way over 30 years, are not found (one is "2", but the car thinks it's "2A", and the other is "20" but the car thinks it's "1/20"). Yes, I updated the maps.
• the nav system consistently directs me away from the most direct route on a country trip (ie: it's REALLY obvious that it wants me to get off a freeway and go a longer/slower route - we're talking 10 minutes or more extra. The system even correctly updates the projected times on approach to take into account the additional time, so that when I ignore it and go past the directed exit, the arrival time drops back again.... )
• in map suggestions (buttons appear at the top) text is so big that the suggestion is useless. What do you select when the options offered appear as "Smi..." "Smi..." and "Smi..." (truncated at the right - you get the idea)
• The car can not be connected to a WiFi point that has a hidden SSID. That's esoteric, but important to us.
• Actually, from the manual it's not obvious WHY you would want to connect to WiFi. It is obvious that I'm not going to get Mitsubishi Connect in Australia any time soon, and that's disappointing.

The nav problems are important to me because I often drive in areas where there is no mobile reception. When you're in the middle of nowhere, a "can't find" message is the last thing you want or need.

So far, and to their credit, none of the dealership or service people have suggested that I could use Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. Good decision, because it's not what you want to hear after investing $85k in their product.

OK. That feels a bit better (but doesn't help the car). In Australia many of these failures constitute "unfit for purpose". They are. Sadly they just take the shine of a car that's REALLY lovely to drive.

The hardware is great, the software seems to have been designed to be "idiot proof" rather than optimised for customisability and features, and to a certain extent thats a good thing because way too many people who really should have just bought a "more appropriate car for cold weather" love to complain about the petrol engine starting when they don't want it to, because they're so distracted by a few dollars worth of fuel they can't see the massive repair bills they'd have to pay if they actually got what they wanted.

The good news is a software update can fix most of the real problems, the bad news is that convincing mitsubishi to actually do it will be quite difficult, and "jailbreaking" the software would almost certainly void the warranty.

its tempting though, the UI has plenty of room for improvement, and plenty of really stupid flaws that could be very easily fixed (radio is a prime example, GPS issues too).

some additional modes would be a great improvement (I.E. an auto "volting" drive mode for long trips to maximise range, and a "camping/campervan" mode that turns off all unneccesary lighting and minimises idle power consumption for efficient use of the V2L inverter and Airconditioner). "power" mode is great, "eco" is completely useless (basically a "i'm too stupid to manually turn off the aircon to save fuel/power" mode) and should be replaced by "range". its really strange to have a selector wheel AND the one button (rather than having everything in the selector wheel, or having two buttons so you can scroll up or down through the list, etc)

by far the most frustrating thing i've found is how damn cagey the dealers/mitsubishi are with information (I.E. self-charge kwh/L, idle power consumption, the fact that the little bars on the the battery gauge represent roughly 1kwh each, etc), like i've already bought the car just tell me what i want to know, i'm not gonna ask for a refund, and i'm gonna find out anyway eventually, i'd just like to avoid having to run my own tests when mitsubishi already has all the information i'm looking for.

I just tested idle power use with aircon on in 30c+ weather (86f+) and direct sunlight, used 8.5kwh in a span of 5 hours, works out to around 1.7kw which is pretty good under those conditions. i'll run a no-aircon idle test soon and post the results if anyone is interested.