Hybrid or PHEV towcar

No, but I have taken the trouble to speak to several owner/drivers of the PHEV.   The general consensus seems to be that although they liked the vehicle for local journeys it had a very poor range and they didn't like it for towing.

Two actually told me that It was a company car, and had it been their own choice it would not have been staying long.

To some up the remarks, it clearly does some things very well. Its very quiet, has sparkling acceleration and initial and for local journeys it is great.  BUT its fuel consumption is no where near as good as is claimed, and it cannot tow a heavy caravan for any distance.

I think the concept has great potential, but at the moment for caravanning purposes its just not there yet.  Very much work in progress!

Needless to say, it was not on my list!

TF

Topic for the Club Magazine?????

I agree that reports so far show they are only of benefit on short or in some cases very short journeys. After that you return to the petrol or diesel engine and you are just the same as the rest of us. Some do apparently tow well including the Mitsubishi but others having a smaller engine lacking the power needede. They are probably not worth the extra for most of us but a lot depends on what day to day driving you do and what you want to tow.

A fair bit of research would be needed before taking the plunge.

If you can afford a range Rover or Cayenne hybrid then go for it, otherwise wait for another 5-10 years for the market to offer more and better options. The Mitsubishi is limited to a max towing weight of 1500kg's, is underpowered and uneconomical for towing. My local Mitsubishi dealer advised against buying an Outlander PHEV for towing, and that was from the owner himself. 

Hi John C, I have an Outlander PHEV. It suits us solo, as our commute and daily tasks take up about 20 odd miles. We usually get a battery range of at least 25 per day, so rarely use any petrol.

When towing the van, the battery runs out really quickly, say 10 - 15 miles. After that, it's not quite as simple to say that we have a normal 2litre petrol engine, due to the way the engine works, by charging the battery rather than driving the wheels. 

You don't to worry about pressing buttons to change to the engine and back to the battery etc, the car does all of this itself, seamlessly.

The car is more than heavy and stable enough for a 1500kg van. But when you put the foot down, the response is a bit gutless. The engine revs quite high and is noisy when under hard acceleration or going up a steepish hill etc.

Having towed with various 4wd, for ability, this would be the worst.

We chose it, as it is very cheap to run, when not towing. Most of the time we are around town, but it also suits us  by having 1 car that does both jobs.

I hope this helps, cheers, Alex.

Thanks everyone, sorry I'm a bit late in replying. The general concensus seems to be that it's not a great tow car. Maybe one for the future.

John C

Re PHEV look a t the tow car report by the 'Friendly Club' 2016. Fuel consumption 16mpg starting with a fully charged battery and 11 mpg starting with a flat battery. Official 152 mpg.

I am so glad someone asked the question - I have been toying with the idea of swapping my diesel Outlander for the PHEV - doesn't sound like a great idea yet! I nearly bought the PHEV in the first place but had my doubts about the towing ability.  Thanks everyone.  The diesel one is great by the way for my Abbey. 

Interesting Reading. Tks all.  The only people I have talked to on site have been PHEV owners who professed to be happy but had only travelled short distances to the 2 sitesAnybody any experience with the Toyota Rav4 H7ybrid??

No experience with a Rav4 Hybrid, but I had a Lexus RX400h hybrid (also from the Toyota stable) with which I towed an 1800kg caravan for six years. A great car which I enjoyed driving and very economical for its size when solo, but there were no fuel consumption benefits when towing.