The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV could be getting some
serious competition as spy photographers have caught what appears to a plug-in
hybrid Toyota RAV4. The model doesn’t look too special at first glance, but a closer
inspection reveals what’s believed to be a charging port on the passenger side
rear fender. There doesn’t appear to be any other changes, but that’s not too
surprising as this appears to be a powertrain testing prototype.
Little is known about the model, but it will likely
use the same 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that powers the RAV4 Hybrid. That
engine produces 176 hp and 221 Nm of torque. While the engine should
carryover, we can expect more powerful electric motors and a larger battery
pack. Speculation suggests this could enable the crossover to travel around 48 km on electricity alone.
A lot of details remain unclear, but the model could
eventually become one of the most popular plug-in hybrids on the market. That
remains to be seen, but Toyota sold more than 427,000 RAV4s in the United
States last year and there isn’t much competition when it comes to mainstream
plug-in hybrid crossovers.
The exception, in the United States at least, is the
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV which features a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, a 12
kWh lithium-ion battery pack and two electric motors. This setup enables the
crossover to have a combined output of 190 hp and an
electric-only range of 35 km.
