TOKYO, Sept. 5 (Kyodo) — Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Wednesday it will unveil its new Outlander as the world's first plug-in hybrid sport utility vehicle during the Paris motor show starting Sept. 27.
Carrying a 12-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery, the model has a cruising range of over 880 kilometers and a fuel economy of 61 km per liter, the automaker said.
Depending on driving conditions and remaining battery charge, the Outlander automatically selects drive modes between an all-electric mode, a mode under which the gasoline engine operates as an electricity generator and another mode where the gasoline engine provides most of the motive power.
The four-wheel-drive Outlander also has two separate motors for front and back wheels and is equipped with a newly developed active safety system that uses millimeter-wavelength radar and camera, it said.
The system prevents collisions by automatically applying brakes when distance with the vehicle in front suddenly shortens and alerts drivers when the vehicle drifts from its lane.
The automaker plans to introduce the Outlander in the Japanese market early next year and sequentially roll out the model in Europe, North America and other markets.
