2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Aspire PHEV review
More technology, more equipment and more space for this perennially popular small SUV that can also power your house, as Glenn Butler discovers.
Introduction
The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross five-seat, five-door SUV has been a long-time favourite of Australian new car buyers that prioritise value and peace of mind over frills and thrills.
This small SUV competes for consumer attention with the likes of the MG ZS, Mazda CX-30, Subaru XV, Hyundai Kona, Toyota C-HR and 19 other small SUVs.
The reason the small-SUV market is so crowded is because Australians love them. Well, we love dual-cab utes and medium SUVs more, but small SUVs are the third most popular vehicle genre in 2021.
So, with so much competition, you might think that the newest offering would have an advantage. If that’s true, then this 2022 Eclipse Cross range update, which brings fresh styling inside and out, more technology and more room, should be a winner.
The one we’re testing today is one of the more expensive Eclipse Cross variants, priced from $49,990, but there’s a very good reason for that hefty price tag: it’s a plug-in hybrid EV. Before we dive into this PHEV in detail, it’s worth understanding where the Eclipse Cross sits in Mitsubishi’s range.
The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross fills a gap between the ASX city-SUV and the Outlander mid-size SUV. There are nine different Eclipse Cross variants on sale at the moment, priced from $30,990 for the ES 2WD 1.5 CVT up to $53,990 for the Exceed PHEV – both before on-road costs.
The core mechanical package at the lower end of the range is a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine with a continuously variable transmission and either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. At the top of the price range sit three plug-in hybrid variants that – as the name suggests – combine a less powerful 2.4-litre non-turbocharged petrol engine with rechargeable electric propulsion to drive all four wheels.
The exact variant we’re dealing with here is the Aspire middle child of Mitsubishi’s three Eclipse Cross PHEV variants, which is priced at $49,990 plus on-road costs. If you want to read more about the most expensive PHEV Exceed, we’ve got that covered here too.
From the outside, there’s little to distinguish the plug-in hybrid Eclipse Cross from its regular petrol siblings, apart from a ‘Plug-in Hybrid EV’ badge on its rump and doors, and a unique 18-inch wheel design.
Standard equipment across the Eclipse Cross range is plentiful. Highlights include 18-inch alloy wheels, an 8.0-inch infotainment touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, DAB radio, LED daytime running lights, dual-zone climate control, a rear-view camera, a rear-mounted roof spoiler, autonomous emergency braking and lane-departure warning.
The mid-spec Aspire variant adds LED headlights, active safety tech (adaptive cruise control, rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot monitoring, front and rear parking sensors, surround-view cameras, and lane-changing assist), as well as some interior niceties like a power-adjustable driver's seat, suede/synthetic leather seat trim, an eight-speaker sound system, heated front seats, and synthetic leather door inserts.
Key details | 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Aspire PHEV |
Price | $49,990 plus on-road costs |
Colour of test car | White Diamond |
Options | Premium paint – $940 Carpet floor mats – $144 |
Price as tested | $51,074 plus on-road costs |
Rivals | Hyundai Kona EV | Kia Niro PHEV | MG HS PHEV |
Inside
To anyone familiar with non-hybrid Eclipse Cross variants, there’s little to distinguish the PHEV beyond a unique gear selector that takes some getting used to, and various hybrid-related information pages on the infotainment screen and instrument binnacle.
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The Aspire’s seats are a combination of suede-look inserts and synthetic leather bolsters. The driver's seat electrically adjusts for slide and recline, but the passenger's seat retains manual adjustment, and the steering wheel also adjusts for reach and rake, making for a relatively comfortable driving position.
The cabin is best described as functional rather than fancy, and makes no real attempt to impress. For an example of what I mean, you only have to hear the loud, plasticky ‘clunk’ every time you activate the indicator stalk.
There are splashes of piano black, brushed alloy and faux carbon fibre to break up the otherwise black cabin, but it comes off feeling piecemeal.
The centre stack is topped by a smallish 8.0-inch touchscreen that houses phone connectivity (Bluetooth or Apple CarPlay or Android Auto), DAB radio and other functions, but there’s no satellite navigation in this $50,000 car.
Below that are the dual-zone climate controls, which pleasingly are old-school dials and buttons, and therefore second nature to adjust quickly while driving.
Front-seat occupants have two cupholders between them and bottle holders in each door. There’s a tiny oddments bin below the centre stack that doesn’t fit much beyond the car’s key. Back-seat occupants are well catered for in terms of legroom – the new Eclipse Cross is 140mm longer overall than the old one, which frees up some extra rear seat space – and headroom, and there are two cupholders in the fold-down leather armrest (otherwise known as the middle-seat backrest), but there are no air vents or USB ports. Just a solitary 12V port.
Because this is a hybrid vehicle, the cargo area is smaller compared to its petrol-powered siblings. Mitsubishi claims 359L of storage (compared to 405L in the petrol-only Eclipse Cross, but just larger than the 341L boot of the old petrol Eclipse Cross), but it feels smaller than that because of the high floor that offers no storage underneath – except for a bin taken over by one of the two recharging cables.
The other cable lives in a large briefcase that seems to have no home in the boot, meaning it slides all over the place during driving. If Mitsubishi had made the case slightly smaller, it could have fit snugly in one of the pockets on either side of the boot floor. Or Mitsubishi could have put Velcro on one side of the case so it ‘sticks’ to the boot floor, like some other manufacturers do.
The back seat folds 60/40 to liberate more cargo space when needed. There are two ISOFIX anchor points in the outboard seats, and all three back seats have top-tether anchor points.
The Eclipse Cross Aspire PHEV does not have a spare tyre of any kind.
2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Aspire PHEV | |
Seats | Five |
Boot volume | 359L seats up |
Length | 4545mm |
Width | 1805mm |
Height | 1685mm |
Wheelbase | 2670mm |
Infotainment and Connectivity
As mentioned above, the heart of the Eclipse Cross’s infotainment system is a basic 8.0-inch touchscreen that houses phone connectivity controls, DAB radio and media playback, and Android Auto/Apple CarPlay connectivity. Satellite navigation is not standard on the Aspire variant.
The Eclipse Cross’s sound system is a basic eight-speaker system that does the job but won’t impress those with a fine ear for sound.
In the instrument binnacle, there are two dials – one for vehicle speed and the other telling you where your power is coming from (instead of a tachometer). This dial swings wildly around during driving as it tries to keep up with battery drain/charge and petrol engine assistance, and can be distracting.
In between these two sits a small and basic screen for displaying trip data, driving range, fuel reserve and battery charge, and digital speedo.
Safety and Technology
The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross range was deemed a five-star car in 2017, and earlier this year that was updated to cover PHEV variants as well.
ANCAP scored the Eclipse Cross 97 per cent for adult occupant protection, 78 per cent for child occupant protection and 80 per cent for vulnerable road user protection.
Not all variants, however, are fitted with the full complement of safety technologies. The entry-level ES PHEV is fitted with autonomous emergency braking and lane-departure warning only, while cruise control is of the static, non-adaptive, variety.
The mid-range Aspire brings added features like adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go function, rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot monitoring, front and parking sensors, surround-view camera, as well as lane-changing assist.
A near full complement of airbags covers both rows of occupants, although the second row misses out on side chest protection ’bags.
2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Aspire PHEV | |
ANCAP rating | Five stars (tested 2017) |
Safety report | Link to ANCAP |
Value for Money
According to Mitsubishi, owners of the larger Outlander plug-in hybrid (which has been on sale here since 2014) spend up to 84 per cent of their time driving in pure electric mode. That can be interpreted to mean that four out of five round trips are less than the Outlander’s 55km pure EV range.
Or, to spin that data another way: 10,500 of the 12,500km the supposedly average Australian drives each year could be conducted on electric power alone. So, if you have a solar array, that adds up to hundreds of litres of fuel you don’t have to buy each year.
For the record, Mitsubishi claims the Eclipse Cross will do 55km in pure EV mode fully charged. Charging the 13.8kWh battery takes seven hours on a domestic plug or as little as 25 minutes via a CHAdeMO Mode 4 DC charger.
The Eclipse Cross also has Vehicle to Everything (V2X) capabilities, which means it can be used as a power source to charge other cars or feed electricity into your dwelling. This might come in handy during a blackout, but other than that, I don’t see a lot of point.
The Eclipse Cross’s official fuel-consumption rating is 1.9L/100km on the urban/country combined cycle. During our test week, we covered 250km and charged it each night, so the fuel tank indicator hardly moved. I won’t be able to say the same for my electricity bill, though, because I don’t have solar.
All Mitsubishi models come with a conditional warranty of up to 10-years or 200,000km, when serviced through the Mitsubishi network. Outside those conditions, the warranty may only cover a more industry-standard five years (or 100,000km). There’s an eight-year/160,000km warranty on the EV drive system and battery.
Servicing intervals are 12 months or 15,000km, and Mitsubishi’s Diamond Advantage capped-price servicing plan says you’ll pay $1695 for the first five years’ servicing. The next five years, however, will cost $3095 for a total of $4790 over the 10-year warranty period.
At a glance | 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Aspire PHEV |
Warranty | 10 years/200,000km (conditional on servicing at Mitsubishi dealers) |
Service intervals | 12 months/15,000km |
Servicing costs | $997 (3 years) | $1695 (5 years) | $4790 (10 years) |
Fuel cons. (claimed) | 1.9L/100km |
Fuel cons. (on test) | 2.0L/100km |
Fuel type | 91-octane regular unleaded petrol |
Fuel tank size | 45L |
Driving
First up, the plug-in hybrid Eclipse Cross has the same driving controls as a conventional petrol- or diesel-powered car, so it’s easy to just jump in and drive. But if you want to make the most of your EV, you’ll need to learn how to extract the best from the drivetrain.
For starters, there’s an EV mode switch that tells the petrol engine to take a holiday and leaves the battery and motors to do all the moving (as long as you stay under 135km/h). Next to that is a ‘save charge’ button that does the opposite. This button is handy in Europe where owners need to safeguard their electrons for use in EV-only built-up areas, but not so handy in Australia unless you’d prefer to consume fuel.
In between those two buttons is the most confusing part of driving the Eclipse Cross PHEV, but it doesn’t take much to master.
Instead of a conventional automatic gear selector, this car’s selector needs to be pulled right before going down into drive or up into reverse. And, once you’re in drive, you can pull it down to go into B mode.
B mode allows you to adjust the regenerative braking function, which basically captures kinetic energy that’s usually lost during deceleration and braking, and channels it back into the battery to be deployed the next time you accelerate.
B mode has six sensitivity settings from 0 to 5, the latter being the most aggressive, which can be changed using the gear selector paddles mounted on the steering wheel. Confusingly, you use the minus paddle to go up the numbers, and the plus paddle to go down.
During our test drive, we left it in ‘5’ to recapture the most energy. But, even in ‘5’ the ‘braking’ effect is not very strong. This is not a car you can drive on a single pedal like some other EVs.
Apart from all that, the Eclipse Cross is competent to drive, though it does suffer from a little wind noise kicked up by those big wing mirrors.
At times the suspension is harsh, and the steering wheel can load up during fast three-point turns, but in general, it’s hard to fault this little Mitsubishi. Probably the most interesting thing about the way it drives is the spaceship-like electric whoosh it makes as it drives by.
But hey, not everyone wants cars that put a smile on their dial. Some want transport that gets them reliably, safely and comfortably from A to B, and back to A. The Eclipse Cross does most of that.
Key details | 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Aspire PHEV |
Engine | 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol / electric motors front and rear axles |
Power | 94kW @ 4500rpm / 60kW (front electric motor) / 70kW (rear electric motor) |
Torque | 199Nm @ 4500rpm / 137Nm (front electric motor) / 195Nm (rear electric motor) |
Drive type | All-wheel drive on-demand |
Transmission | Multi-mode front transaxle (petrol), single-speed (electric) automatic |
Power to weight ratio | 48.7kW/t |
Weight | 1895kg (kerb) |
Tow rating | 1500kg braked, 750kg unbraked |
Turning circle | 10.9m |
Conclusion
Whether the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross inspires you to go for a drive or not is a moot point. This is yet another competent car from the Triple Diamond Team that, while it may lack for polish in a few areas, nails the brief and really doesn’t do anything wrong.
For those who want fuss-free small-SUV motoring with a long warranty, and who don’t often drive more than 50km each trip, the Eclipse Cross makes sense.
For some, it could be hard to stomach a $50,000 car that doesn’t have a full leather interior or satellite navigation and has a smallish infotainment screen. But in this case, Mitsubishi has spent the money giving you an EV without range anxiety. And that has to be worth something.
Just don’t think you’re buying this to save money on fuel. If that’s the case, buy the non-PHEV Eclipse Cross Aspire for $15,000 less and put those savings towards 15 years of fuel instead.
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