[Ernest Grolimund]

New member. Have new 2023 Outlander PHEV. Having trouble getting range claimed, in February, in Maine. Got 24 miles after first charge overnight. Got 55 miles after 39 hour charge. Am buying 240V charger with a variable amp setup and smart technology to rectify this. Believe range milage is based on summer temperatures and unrealistic charging time of 16 hours. But also believe the problem can be solved with a few upgrades to get one of the best PHEV cars on the market. Am planning to install a new 240V circuit to the outside of my house and a Primecom 240 V , 10-16-24 amp charger. Charge time is expected to be 2.5 hours at 24 amps in summer or 5 hrs in winter in Maine. Suspect maximum range will be 55 miles new as I have gotten this a few times so far but no higher. The manual is not very good at explaining charging and the dealers are not good at explaining it either. So I am seeking comments to help resolve the issues I am having with the car. I believe it is a good thing to try to promote PHEV's and get them on the road for the good of humanity and the climate. Honda is having worse problems with their Clarity PHEV and is discontinuing that model leaving the Outlander as the best choice that I can see.

I have also inquired about the battery heater to see if I can get better range with that but no one knows anything about that except that the Outlander has a battery charger. It does not seem to be capable of increasing the range though in a significant way.

A dealer disabled the beep with the charger lock for free which was nice. Comments on what to do about the charger issue are welcome. Perhaps we should all come together and request Mitsubishi improve this situation for their sake as well as ours. A dealer suggested I join some forums to talk to others to get ideas and help. Thanks.

 

[Hasenphever]

Welcome! Thanks for sharing your experiences. I have not heard of an accessory battery heater; I assume you mean the drive battery and not the aux. IME keeping it plugged in even with a level 1 evse will provide some warmth to the drive battery when it is really cold, like less than minus 20 C.

Hopefully Mitsu will add a faster charger on the next gen. For now though, at least the slower charger is better for battery longevity.

 

[Ernest Grolimund]

Welcome! Thanks for sharing your experiences. I have not heard of an accessory battery heater; I assume you mean the drive battery and not the aux. IME keeping it plugged in even with a level 1 evse will provide some warmth to the drive battery when it is really cold, like less than minus 20 C.

Hopefully Mitsu will add a faster charger on the next gen. For now though, at least the slower charger is better for battery longevity.

All batteries degrade. Read that 240V chargers with new technology degrade only slightly more. Not sure of anything. But planning to buy a reconditioned battery when needed for $2,000 +/-. This will be after 10 years or more, I guess. Reasonable for a $40,000 vehicle. I get 24 miles range, double 2018 range with OEM charger. OK for retired person around town. But I want more for commuting wife. Think I will get it, but would like to hear from others as the manual is poor. A good dealer recommended contacting people on forums as they do not know everything. I am just learning about this new technology. It's not easy learning but charger companies are helping me and the dealer is trying too. Dealers are apparently using 240V, 40 amp chargers with smart technology and not caring about the increased degradation or decreased battery life. So I am doing what the dealers are doing. Believe we all have to get away from gas consumption as much as we can to help decrease climate change. $.25/mile capital and fuel cost is better than average cost of $.32/mile, while I figure out this new technology. The Outlander is better than my wife's Clarity as it has a smooth transition from electric to gas. Easier to get in and out of too for a retired person. The car is good. Happy with it. Just trying to maximize range for wifes commute. Few people have the PHEV's in Maine, so there is no one to talk to about it. I Will let everyone know about my experiences so we all can learn and teach each other.

 

[vipmk]

As a new Outlander PHEV owner myself, I too am still figuring things out and as for the dealers, good luck - I'm amazed at how little the dealers knows about the vehicle (from an in depth technical perspective), as they normally tell me, "have you read the manual?" Any way, a couple of thoughts come to mind. Firstly, the display is a "rough guess" of possible mileage. Given we are in the great white north, I'm happy so far, as we are actually exceeding the recommended kms for the Cdn market. When we first got the car in late Nov 2022, we were getting over 100kms on a full charge, whereas now, in Feb, closer to 70kms. Keep in mind, I've never let the battery go to it's perceived empty. From an engineering perspective, I can also tell you that most batteries reach peak levels, with a slower charge, i.e., we were debating getting a 240V outlet installed, but thus far, as we tend to only let the battery go to 25-50% of residual value, it easily charges full in ~ 8-12 hrs. On another note, I'd be interested in your experience with the actual cabin heating capability, which from a post I put forth in this forum yesterday, completely sucks (compared to an ICE). Cheers.