PHEV for Australian camping, light offroad

[greendwarf]

My 2015 Outlander has very limited stall torque compared to traditional off road vehicles like a Mazda Demio.
I had an unpleasant moment where I went around a gate through a steep grassy dip (in the middle of nowhere). The Outlander got to the bottom, and simply could not roll it's wheels up the the other side as it was too steep for the torque available The townie tires were not slipping on grass. Luckily I was able to rock back and forth until I could hit the steep bit with enough speed to get over it.
This is a stall-speed issue.

Try these:
Tie the towbar to a tree. See if you can spin the tires and get any significant pull or spin the wheels on grass or gravel
Put a 4"x6" under the front wheel. See if you can get over it, or even get the wheels to spin

Not sure "stall torque" is the right term for an EV drive but you are correct that the PHEV needs to be rolling to deal with obstacles. In the early years of this forum a user demonstrated that the Mitsu can't drive over a house brick on level ground from stationery if already in contact.

At the time I speculated that this is probably normal for all EV drives because of the lack of inertia in an electric motor as compared to an ICE when it starts but I don't recall any discussion to come to firm conclusion. Once rolling, I have seen video of our car being driven up a 45 degree ramp with no problem.

 

[Woon Chung]

Not sure "stall torque" is the right term for an EV drive but you are correct that the PHEV needs to be rolling to deal with obstacles. In the early years of this forum a user demonstrated that the Mitsu can't drive over a house brick on level ground from stationery if already in contact.

At the time I speculated that this is probably normal for all EV drives because of the lack of inertia in an electric motor as compared to an ICE when it starts but I don't recall any discussion to come to firm conclusion. Once rolling, I have seen video of our car being driven up a 45 degree ramp with no problem.

I have no actual experience of Off-Road Driving. Thus, I am not qualified to join this issue.

But when I owned All Wheel Drive and 4x4 with manual engagement shift, I tried to understand what is AWD and what is 4x4.

In Petrol Engine era, the difference between 2 different system is distinguished by engagement of wheel control. AWD system once noticed the spin of tire, it lowers the torque for free spinning wheel torque and send it to the other Axel or opposite side of the wheel. 4x4 system does the similar job by automatic or manual transition of the torque through mechanical structure.

As a result, AWD is more efficient on slippery road, Iced road or on the grass. AWD is not designed for rocky mountain road. But 4x4 is more powerful torque to required Axel. It is good to overcome rocky road.

There is a different Characters of Torque between Internal Combustion Engine(ICE) and Electric Motor(EM). EM's torque shows similar torque in a whole RPM range, on the contrary, ICE shows different torque according to the RPM. very low torque in low RPM, Very in High RPM. Therefore, in a certain RPM range, ICE has way over torque than EM.

This theory applied to AWD. When the vehicle has obstacle on one wheel to overcome, AWD does the excellent job to distribute proper torque to each wheel or each axel, but when they use EM for the power, maximum torque is significantly lower than ICE. When revving EM, the spinning speed becomes fast but it does not increase the torque when tire touches the block. When revving the ICE, the torque increases and when tire touches the block, high torque lift up the vehicle.

Left picture is ICE RPM VS Torque. Right picture is EM RPM VS Torque.


If you want to enjoyed the Rock climbing or mud escaping, Mitsubishi is not a good choice. But when we drive snow Icey road or when we are in the thin mud or grassy dirt road, Mitsubishi S-AWD is excellent.

 

[antonvs]

My instinct is that the Outlander PHEV is not for you.

It's a city style soft-roader.

It has terrible ground clearance and has a host of electronics that are probably very sensitive to water incursion.
If the electronics are injured, you end up with a car that cannot be driven.

Every gram of stuff you put onto the car, including heavier tyres, will reduce the electric range of the car in the city.

If you do take one off the bitumen, you'll need to find a way to carry a spare.
(Mitsubishi don't provide a spare wheel, because of the amount that reduces electric range.)

For specifics, you'll need to talk to people about specific models.

Mine doesn't have any under-body protection, nor does it have an inverter or outlet.

One forum member has posted that the PHEV does do very well in sand.
On a four wheel drive course, the instructors were unable to bog the PHEV.
(Possibly a combination of the extra 800kg weight, and the high torque at 0 RPM.)

I understand your comments but wonder if you have seen this test done in the Flinders Ranges......

 

[AndyInOz]

Well, I've seen it now.

To save everyone else the trouble:

"If you want to be a family that drives on country roads at 100 km/h this is the car for you."

"It is not a serious off roader it is for mild bush tracks."

"You have to spend a lot of money to kit it out for that."

"It doesn't even come with a spare wheel, and you need two."

(All paraphrased to save everyone from going through the long presentation.)

I nearly spat out my coffee, when they showed the car bravely driving through a one inch deep puddle.

 

[AndyInOz]

By the way, the video starts with saying that Mitsubishi had modified the vehicle before giving it to him.

 

[Jedinsky]

Well, I've seen it now.

To save everyone else the trouble:

"If you want to be a family that drives on country roads at 100 km/h this is the car for you."

"It is not a serious off roader it is for mild bush tracks."

"You have to spend a lot of money to kit it out for that."

"It doesn't even come with a spare wheel, and you need two."

(All paraphrased to save everyone from going through the long presentation.)

I nearly spat out my coffee, when they showed the car bravely driving through a one inch deep puddle.

you're correct, but as a wise man once said "any car's offroading capability is inversely proportional to how much you care about it", and an outlander PHEV would be a big step up from a minivan.

the 2024 has a wade depth of 40cm, which is nothing spectacular, but can be lifesaving during flash flooding.

it still can't hold a candle to a genuine offroad 4wd, but there are levels to "genuine offroading 4wd" and manufacturers have only very recently started offering EV/hybrid powertrain offroaders.