HI it’s Dave here, I do hope that you are having a great
week so far I know that I certainly am!
This week I was looking around for ideas for posts and I
came across this review that I wrote way back in 2014. I hope that you enjoy
reading these posts on my blog as much as I enjoy writing them.
So here is the story about
Test Driving The
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
 |
| (photograph - wytchwynd photography) |
Last Friday afternoon (27th June 2014) I
collected a demonstration Mitsubishi Outlander Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicle
from Devonshire Motors, Barnstaple , the local Mitsubishi Main Dealers. The car had been booked for an overnight test
drive.
To say that it was like stepping into something from the
future is an understatement. I pride
myself on having a fair knowledge about the workings of a vehicle however, this
car left me feeling like a novice driver all over again.
So for the introduction to the vehicle – I was greeted by
the Sales Manager and after a short chat about the differences between standard
electric vehicles and the revolutionary Mitsubishi my wife and I were taken to
“meet the car”.
After a brief apology for the state of the interior – they
had not had time to clean it out – our guide explained that he had left the car
on “tick over” to charge the batteries.
He then began the tour of the vehicle starting with the boot and its all
electric tailgate. Hiding under the
floor are two compartments, one of which contains the normal 12v battery
similar to the one in every car on the road today and doing the same job. The second compartment held the charging
leads one goes into a standard 13 amp household socket. A push of a button then gently closed the
tailgate. Next we moved to the driver's
side rear and he pushed gently on what appeared to be a fuel filler cap and
when it opened it revealed two charging sockets – one to accept the cable from
the 13 amp plug and the other to accept the “fast charge” cable, fitted to
units that are popping up at charging stations all over the country.
Finally, we got into the car and the driver's area contains
an array of dials, gauges and lights, there is a huge display screen in the
centre of the dashboard from which you access the audio controls, the
navigation system, cd changer, USB socket and more. The centre console houses a small stubby gear
lever from which you select Drive, Neutral, Park. There are only two pedals, an accelerator and
a brake and a huge button that says “Power”
Behind the steering wheel are two “flappy paddles” which
control the “regenerative braking system” and there are the usual indicator and
wiper stalks. The vehicle is fitted with
auto wipers which sense when the windscreen gets wet, Continuing the automatic theme the vehicle
has automatic lights that illuminate once light levels fall below a certain pre-determined
level.
After this familiarisation exercise the next instruction was
to put my foot on the brake, move the gear lever into neutral and press the
power button. The whole dash panel
sprung into an in car replica of Blackpool Illuminations and our guide said
that the car was now “running” – there was no noise!
Another explanatory talk about the various in built charging
systems followed and then we were left to our own devices.
 |
| (Photograph - wytchwynd photography) |
The first thing that struck me whilst pulling away from the
garage was how quiet the car was and although the process of driving was
exactly the same the sensations and the experience were messing with my
head. The journey back home took some 20
minutes and on a stretch of open road I put the throttle hard down, the
electric motor became assisted by the petrol engine and the power delivery was
phenomenal.
I have no idea of the acceleration time but it was certainly
rather rapid. When we arrived home we
parked it in the nearby car park and it was then that I discovered the advantage
of having a reversing camera. The screen
gave an excellent view of the full width of the car and with the aid of the
display and the parking sensors I was able to reverse into the space and park
accurately without the need to use my mirrors.
We left the car parked and went into the house. I then began to feel strangely disorientated,
my head becoming very “woosey” - I did not know if it was attributable to the
car or not, but I decided that after we had eaten I would try again and see if
I was being affected by the vehicle.
I thought about the drive home and wondered if I really
liked this vehicle or whether it was just a large and quite expensive
toy.......
After we had eaten, our friend joined us and we set off on a
drive to North Devon’s Woolhanger Manor.
This drive would certainly allow
me to put the car through its paces because we would cover fast roads, winding
roads, steep hills, dirt tracks and potholes and I have to say that the car
dealt admirably with everything that was thrown in its path.
I had become used to the myriad lighting effects of the
dashboard and what all the arrows and symbols meant and really started to enjoy
driving this electronic marvel. I tried
the system for charging whilst driving which soon replaced the used power and
before much distance had been travelled I had learned about both the
regenerative braking system and the phenomenal torque this machine provided
when called upon.
The Mitsubishi Outlander is one of the world’s most amazing
cars and can, if used in certain ways, provide the least environmental impact
of any vehicle I have ever driven. The
petrol engine operates with an emission figure of just 40, the system would
charge on free power if connected to a solar energy system, so with zero road
tax it is and can be virtually free motoring.
I would like to thank Devonshire Motors, Barnstaple for
providing the car overnight and 2 years later I am now the happy owner of a
diesel Outlander (only because as at the time of writing the PHEV is still out
of my price range) I am looking forward
to test driving the 2017 version to see what has changed and getting to know if Alison (my wife)
is as keen on it as I am after she has driven it.
oooo000oooo
If this post has prompted any questions,
then please feel free to add them as a comment in the box below or to email
me:- blueskycompany@europe.com
About Dave I am a
coach; speaker; radio presenter and founder of The Blue Sky Company. I am
also a therapist and co-own a virtual light centre called The Crystal Spring. My
therapy work includes music therapy; reiki; crystal therapy
LINKS
Blue Sky Company www.moonshadowmedia.wixsite.com/bluesky
Wytchwynd Photography www.moonshadowmedia.wixsite.com/photographportfolio
I have recently discovered that a book
written by a friend of mine is available via Amazon so I would like to share a
link to that book with you. This lady is
an amazing person and I am sure that if you have enjoyed reading my blog you
will also find her work of interest.
Have a fantastic day, live a life of Passion and Power.
And above all
Don't Predict The Future - CREATE IT!
DAve
x
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