Did Mitsubishi Motors Philippines just hide another electrified vehicle in plain sight? While all the attention has been focused on the Outlander PHEV, it looks like the carmaker is also going to showcase the Xforce HEV as well.
It what could be one of the cheekiest teasers ever, the Japanese carmaker added the Xforce as a reflection to the Outlander PHEV—a vehicle that has already received both its LTO and DOE homologation papers. That doesn’t mean that they’ll stop just there.
Flipping the image around (see lead photo) shows this: the Xforce and it could very well point to a local market sneak peek of the Xforce HEV. You can see the original photo below.
The Xforce HEV was launched in March of last year and adopts a HEV system derived from Mitsubishi’s renowned plug-in hybrid technology.
The e:Motion system, as it is officially called, uses a 95-horsepower, 134 Nm 1.6-liter MIVEC 4-cylinder engine (4A92) running on the Atkinson cycle at its core. This engine alone is 10 percent more fuel efficient compared to the current 1.5-liter engine. Mated to that is a high output electric motor and 1.1-kWh lithium-ion traction battery located under the front seats. Combined, the generator (aka the engine) and electric motor produce a total of 85 kW or about 116 horsepower and 225 Nm. The transmission is essentially a direct drive with one fixed ratio for the internal combustion engine and one fixed ratio for the electric motor.
Although the Xforce HEV is currently being assembled in Thailand, it could be a prime candidate for local assembly, perhaps alongside the Xpander HEV?
Apparantly, the Xforce HEV is also going to be built in Indonedia also. The Xforce HEV is already confirmed to be sold in New Zealand as the Outlander Sport HEV and confirmed to be made in Indonesia.
ReplyDeleteWhat is also interesting is that no other markets, aside from Thailand, has confirmed building or marketing the Xpander HEV. This makes me think that the Xpander HEV is the incomplete version of the Xforce HEV's powertrain.
Such a laughable HP & Torque numbers. Chinese carmakers will eat these for lunch.
ReplyDeleteTeaser image shows the mags of pure ICE Xforce 🤣 I bet it would be a special edition, like a Black Edition, to get rid of their overstocked units.
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