Meant to be a global car and therefore, to meet all possible driving conditions in all regions, Outlander PHEV went through various stages of testing during development, including hot weather in USA as well as cold weather in Canada.
Mitsubishi Motors’ engineers ticked another box after the completion of a two-month specific cold weather test in Russia, prior to the forthcoming introduction of the car in this strategic market.
Cumulating more than 30,000 km over 8 weeks of evaluation in Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Tolyatti, the three test cars experienced a combination of very low temperature (below -30° C) with snow covered road surfaces, unknown in other cold climate regions where Outlander PHEV is already retailed.
All in all, the car performed very well and with no concern for the charging system. Furthermore, taking this plug-in hybrid electric vehicle beyond the usual (i.e.urban) habitat of conventional electric cars, the engineering team underwent a series of tests on different road surfaces, from broken pavement to flooded areas. The robust construction of the car as well as its Twin Motor 4-wheel drive and “Super-All Wheel Control” (“S-AWC”) systems withstood all tests, demonstrating Outlander PHEV’s readiness for operation in Russia.
Start of sales for Outlander PHEV in Russia is expected from the 2014 Moscow Motor Show, held at the end of August.
Concluding the test, Andrey Pankov, CEO of MMC Rus, Mitsubishi Motors’ official Distributor in Russia, commented:
“Together with MMC, we deliberately chose to test the car over two months of the most unpredictable weather conditions with frost, thaw… in order to test the real-life driveability of this plug-in hybrid electric car in various, and most demanding, weather conditions.”
He added:
“Unlike city cars, engineered exclusively for the city, Outlander PHEV is an electric car that meets the expectations of one of the most stable and fastest growing groups of our customer base opting for SUV. I am sure that this ‘breakthrough’ vehicle will take its place in our line-up and will be as popular in Russia as it is amongst European customers.”
