Mitsubishi PX-MiEV II: 2nd Gen PX-MiEV Plug-in Hybrid Crossover at Tokyo

Mitsubishi PX-MiEV II at Tokyo Motor Show

As you’ve no doubt realised over the last year or two, Mitsubishi is trying to change from the maker of very able SUVs and quick saloons in to a fluffy bunny car maker by embracing hybrid and electric technology. Which is why we’re getting a second version of the Mitsubishi PX-MiEV at Tokyo.

The original PX-MiEV from Mitsubishi arrived two years ago at the Tokyo Motor Show. On the face of it the PX-MiEV was a crossover / SUV from Mitsubishi – just what we’d expect – but dig under the skin  and there was a hybrid setup promising a 30 mile EV range.

Mitsubishi also said that the PX-MiEV – which sported a 1.6 litre four-pot and a pair of electric motors – could deliver 200bhp and utilise both electric motors – one at each end – and the ICE engine to deliver maximum power when performance was required, on or off road.

We’ve not seen a lot of Mitsubishi’s plug-in SUV / Crossover since, but Mitsubishi has had a fiddle with the original to come up with the logically named PX-MiEV II for this year’s Tokyo Motor Show.

It’s not clear what exactly Mitsubishi has done with the PX-MiEV in the last two years, as the setup seems to be much the same, with an electric motor on each axle and a small 4-pot engine.

Mitsubishi do say the PX-MiEV II gets a newly developed twin-motor four-wheel-drive system mated to Mitsubishi’s S-AWC from the Evo and has a range of 800km. Economy is said to be 60km per litre (which is about 140mpg – back to daft hybrid/plugin economy figures) and has power and performance comparable to a 3.0 litre V6.

And we must assume that as this is the MK II version of the  PX-MiEV, Mitsubishi are closer to production than before.

By Cars UK