Mitsubishi To Introduce 3 Hybrids (2 Plug-in Hybrids) At Tokyo Motor Show
Mitsubishi Motor Corporation will introduce three hybrid vehicles at the Tokyo Motor Show. Two of them are plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and another is a regular hybrid.
Because the cost of non-plug-in hybrids has decreased so much, it is often only a couple of thousand dollars more to buy a hybrid than a gasmobile. Hybrids are becoming mainstream. That’s fun to see, but it’s more exciting to see the offering of PHEVs growing, and it’s nice to see that Mitsubishi is stepping up its game in this arena.
According to Mitsubishi, the three vehicles are:
- Mitsubishi Concept GC-PHEV: This is a full-sized SUV with “full time” 4WD, and has a front-mounted 3 litre, supercharged MIVEC V6 engine, but is rear wheel drive. This propulsion system is mated to an 8-speed transmission. It is also jointly powered by a “high output” electric motor and a “high-capacity” battery.
- Concept XR-PHEV: This vehicle is a compact SUV with a front engine plug-in hybrid propulsion system. The engine is only 1.1 litres, but is turbocharged and of the MIVEC direct injection type.
- Concept AR: This is a mild hybrid, meaning that it relies very little on electric power and very heavily on the gasoline engine. Mild hybrids do not normally have an electric mode, they just have an electric start/stop system that allows the engine to switch off when coasting, or when sitting in traffic to save fuel, without having to waste time starting the engine just to accelerate. This vehicle is equipped with a 1.1 litre MIVEC, direct injection, turbocharged engine.
All of the vehicles above are equipped with the “e-Assist” and “connected car” technologies.
For more news along these lines, check out our Mitsubishi archives and/or our hybrid electric vehicle archives. Also take the jump and subscribe to our electric vehicles newsletter!
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