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Mitsubishi Pajero hybrid ‘advancing’, but release not locked in
Development work on hybrid or plug-in hybrid versions of the new Mitsubishi Pajero and its Triton ute sibling is "advancing", according to the Japanese car giant.
However, there is still no firm timeline for when they are due in showrooms, and Mitsubishi says they must meet tough criteria for capability and durability in off-road conditions.
Nikkei Asia reports the Triton and Pajero are the focus of the investment, but executives for the Japanese marque declined to commit to hybrid versions of the four-wheel-drives when pressed by Drive.
"Future electrification, including hybrid and the PHEV system, [we] will consider in line with market conditions, customer needs, infrastructure and regulations in the countries," Mitsubishi Pajero chief product specialist Kunitoshi Itagaki told Australian and Thai media.
"Pajero is being launched with [an] ICE [diesel] powertrain only.
"However, Mitsubishi Motors, of course, we are actually advancing research and development into electrified ladder-frame vehicles, including hybrid-electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle technologies for products such as Pajero and Triton in the future."
Any future electrified versions of the brand's off-roaders must deliver dirt-road and rocky-track capability in line with the standards used to develop its diesel models, however.
"To meet Mitsubishi Motors' standards, future electrified models must deliver not only strong on-road performance but also the off-road capability, strong performance, durability, or reliability expected of authentic Mitsubishi Motors vehicles," said Itagaki-san.
"Ensuring that the electrified models can maintain these characteristics while delivering the distinct Mitsubishi Motors driving experience requires further development, so market introduction will therefore take additional time."
"First, we have to work on hybrid, not the way of plug-in hybrid," Mitsubishi engineering fellow Kaoru Sawase told Australian media including Drive at the Tokyo motor show in October.
"In the past, we have announced [plans] to launch BEV, [a] battery-electric vehicle Triton. But now that the direction has shifted a little bit, we are now trying to quickly launch electrified [hybrid] vehicles."
Sawase-san said Mitsubishi would "have to launch as soon as we can", before indicating it would be "great" if a hybrid Triton could arrive within the next few years.
The Triton hybrid – and presumably by extension, a future Pajero hybrid – would use what is known as a P2 hybrid system, where the electric motor is placed between the engine and gearbox.
It is presumed to be simpler and cheaper to engineer into a conventional petrol or diesel vehicle than to integrate electric motors into the axles, and allows for mechanical four-wheel drive to be retained.
A P2 electric motor is used by hybrid four-wheel-drives from brands such as Ford, GWM, Toyota and Land Rover, with and without a plug.
"We have been working on advanced developments from a few years ago," Sawase-san told media through a translator last year.
"But in order for us to launch vehicles that meet the value that attracts customers, that's the challenge that we are currently studying, whether that is actually going to be wanted by customers.
"From the viewpoint of needing to quickly launch the vehicles, then we will have no choice but to go for the P2 hybrid way like the Land Rover, LandCruiser."
The BYD Shark 6, Australia's top-selling hybrid ute, places one electric motor on each axle for all-wheel drive, and does not have a mechanical 4WD system with differential locks, a transfer case, or low-range gearing.
Mitsubishi has tested a Shark 6 at its Japanese proving ground, Sawase-san said, where engineers found a willingness for the Chinese offering to enter "system protection" mode in extreme off-road driving.
"They can climb uphill, but it doesn't last very long," said the engineer.
"For a while they climb it up, but they then stop; the system protection kicks in. My feeling is that the electrified off-road vehicle development is a challenge."
Sawase-san said: "Personally, for the next five years, I believe that for pure off-road, we should go for the way of mechanical 4WD.
"... After five years, there's also a good potential that the EV can also do the pure off-road 4WD, [in] an off-road vehicle. We are watching other technologies' development."