2024 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV: A Value That Comes At A Price

I've never driven a Mitsubishi. I became an automotive journalist too late to experience the Evos in their heyday, and the Mirage has never been a thing I've wanted to spend any time with. In all honesty, I did not think much of the Japanese brand at all, until I drove the 2024 Outlander Plug-In Hybrid.

This, my friends, is a good car, and not just by Mitsubishi standards. I spent about a week with the Outlander PHEV, putting over 560 miles on it while doing everything from hauling people and things, to road tripping and blasting down a few backroads. All I found was that the Outlander PHEV is a really solid vehicle at an even more solid price.

Even if spending $51,835 sounds like a lot of money for a Mitsubishi (it is), the whole thing becomes a lot more palatable once you realize just how expensive new cars have gotten, and how many features are packed into the Outlander PHEV.

$52,000 isn't cheap, but that's only a few grand more than the average new car, and I'm willing to bet the average new car doesn't have even half the stuff this Outlander does. Oh, and it looks really sharp to boot.

Full Disclosure: Mitsubishi was kind enough to loan me a 2024 Outlander PHEV with a full tank of gas to do whatever I wanted for a week.

I absolutely hate four-spoke steering wheels, but everything else about the inside of the Outlander PHEV is super nice and very well thought out. There are no gimmicks in here, just stuff that works. With this lovely peanut butter-colored leather accenting, the Outlander PHEV looks like a much more expensive car than it is. We're going to break down the interior more coming in, so don't worry.

The Outlander PHEV also looks super crisp from the outside, doesn't it? A lot of cars do floating rooflines, but few do it this well. It's just a clean piece of design that flows well from the front to the back. I honestly did not know Mitsubishi had it in 'em.

The front end of the Outlander is super distinctive. In a world of crossovers that all look pretty much the same, it's nice to see something that stands out, even if it isn't that flashy. The LED lights were also very solid on even the darkest rural Pennsylvania back road.

These doors may look nice, but there is a slight cheapness to them. It didn't feel like there was much going on behind the doors, and the lower-door cards were very hard plastic. That being said, the armrest was wonderfully padded, and I am a sucker for quilted deviated stitching on a non-luxury vehicle.

I guess this would be a good time to mention the only fault I had with this car: every once in a while the driver-side mirror wouldn't fold in automatically. I do not know why. It was super intermittent though.

The center console is another example of a clean design. I very much appreciate that Mitsubishi kept the piano black plastic to a minimum. Instead, it went with this interesting metal-look finish. Granted, it's still not actually metal, but that's OK. The switchgear here has a very nice, quality feel to it. Eagle-eyed readers will also recognize the digi-stick shifter is right out of Nissan and Infiniti products.

We've got an over-12-inch infotainment screen (that's lifted straight out of a Nissan), but luckily the HVAC controls do not live within it. No, sir. We've got hard buttons here for all of our climate control needs!

The Outlander PHEV in SEL trim gets a really nice digital gauge cluster. It comes with a really solid amount of customizability that lets you display anything you could ever really dream of. I usually left it on the power flow mode because I'm a dork.

You can even change the layout of the screen, going from regular gauges to these meter things. They're funky, but end up a tiny bit more pixilated than you'd probably like. I don't know, maybe I'm looking too closely.

The second row of the Outlander PHEV is a genuinely nice place to be. You've got heated seats at the corners and manual sunshades to block out the haters. The quilted leather and contrast stitching also continue back here, even if it doesn't feel like the most quality material ever. If I had one gripe, it would be the center armest/cupholder situation. Rather than a small console flipping down as in other cars, the whole middle seat backrest flips down, which means your shit in the trunk can come through the little passthrough.

That's a lot of acronyms on one corner of the car. All you really need to know is this is the most expensive Outlander (and Mitsubishi) you can currently buy with a $51,935 price tag.

Does the Outlander PHEV have a third row of seats for two more passengers? Sure. Should you put anyone who isn't a small-ish child back there? Absolutely not. With the third row down, you get plenty of cargo room to hold whatever you need. I suppose it's nice to have the third row in a pinch, but beware all ye who enter.

A naturally aspirated 2.4-liter four-popper powers the Outlander PHEV, mated up to an electric motor that delivers a combined 248 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque to all four wheels through a CVT and a whole slew of drive modes. If you don't push too hard, you'll easily get over 40 miles of all-electric range, and (depending on how often you plug in), you can get well over 400 miles to a tank and nearly 30 mpg.

My one gripe with the drivetrain is it's a bit loud, probably because there isn't a ton of sound deadening. Even in EV mode it makes a ton of noise from the electric motor whining, and the 2.4-liter I4 isn't exactly refined. For the price, it's certainly not bad though.

Charge it however you want, baby. Get those sweet, sweet miles. If you use DC fast charging, Mitsubishi says the 20 kWh battery pack will charge to 80 percent in just 38 minutes. Not too shabby.

There are little clues that the Outlander PHEV isn't exactly a premium product. Take this area where the door meets the dashboard for example. In a more premium vehicle, the design of one would probably flow into the other. At the very least, the materials would match up. That is not the case in the Outlander. Is this a very big deal? No, but it shows where this crossover's priorities lie.

The Outlander PHEV has a handsome face if you ask me. At the very least, you cannot deny that it's distinctive. The large chrome accents may not be for everyone, but I like 'em, and that's what counts here.

The sound system isn't anything to write home about, but it's still fairly solid, and it comes as part of the $2,700 SEL Premium package.

Does this leather feel particularly nice to the touch? No. But does it look nice and have a massage function? You bet your sweet, comfortable ass it does. Hell, it's even got four-way lumbar! As far as comfort goes, these seats are fantastic. Just don't look out for the most expensive-feeling materials.

The massage function is also pretty solid. There are no modes or anything, just on and off, but that's okay. If I'm not mistaken, this is the cheapest new car you can buy with massage seats. That's pretty sweet at under $52,000.

Don't be fooled. Everything here (including the silver window switches) is made of plastic, but it sure looks like metal and carbon fiber, doesn't it? Why would a 4,600-pound crossover need carbon fiber bits? Your guess is as good as mine, amigo. That being said, it's a nice touch to have all four windows to be automatic up and down.

So, folks, there you have it. The 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is a very impressive car, especially when you consider its price. Yes, I know, $51,835 is a lot for a Mister Bishi, but you've got to look at this thing in context.

The average new car costs over $48,000, and I bet that vehicle isn't going to have nearly as much equipment as this fully-loaded Outlander PHEV has for just a few grand more.

With a really solid drivetrain, excellent comfort (unless you're in the third row) and a great asking price, the Outlander PHEV is a real winner if you can look past the badge.