2026 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Exceed Tourer Review: Is It Worth $74,490?

On paper, the plug-in hybrid SUV is the perfect Australian family car: around 86 km of electric driving for the school run and the commute, and a petrol engine for the long weekend. So why aren't more families buying them? The 2026 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV in top Exceed Tourer trim makes the best case yet. Amelia took it to the Adelaide Hills with the toughest reviewers she knows: three boys, one boot and a full picnic kit.

Familiar face, new work underneath

If you think you have seen this car before, you have. This generation of Outlander has looked broadly the same since 2021. The 2026 update brings new bumpers, smoked tail lights, fresh 20-inch wheels on this grade and a two-tone roof on the Tourer. It was a good-looking SUV then and it still is. Just do not expect the neighbours to notice you bought a new one.

Under the skin is where the money went. The battery grows to 22.7 kWh, which is big for a plug-in, and Mitsubishi claims 86 km of electric range on the WLTP test. With the average Australian commute sitting around 30 km a day, most families would only wake the petrol engine on weekends. Two electric motors, one on each axle, give it proper all-wheel drive, and a 2.4 litre petrol engine either generates electricity or drives the front wheels directly. Combined output is 221 kW.

The claimed 1.2 L/100 km is a laboratory figure, and it only means something if you plug in. Charge at home every night and you will barely buy petrol. Never charge it and you are carrying a big battery around for nothing. Home charging overnight is easy, there is DC fast charging for top-ups on the road, and Save and Charge modes let you hold your electric range for the city and use the petrol engine on the highway. It can also power appliances at a campsite or, as here, a picnic.

How it drives

This is the bit Mitsubishi is proudest of, and it has earned it. The suspension and steering for this update were tuned in Australia, on Australian roads, and it shows. The old car felt heavy and a bit aloof. This one rides quietly, soaks up rough surfaces and the steering finally feels connected. On electric power it is near silent, and 221 kW gets it off the line far quicker than a family SUV needs to.

Two honest notes. On the 20-inch wheels there is some head toss over choppy urban bumps, the price of the pretty rims. And when the battery is flat and the petrol engine is working hard, it sounds more workmanlike than a $75,000 car should. Neither would stop us buying one, but both are worth knowing.

The cabin and the family test

Inside is where the Tourer earns its flagship badge. The Brick Brown semi-aniline leather is one of the nicest cabins under $100,000. The front seats are heated, ventilated and massaging, the 12-speaker Yamaha audio system is superb, and there is a 12.3-inch screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto plus wireless phone charging.

Baby seat first. The ISOFIX points are easy to reach, the rear doors open wide, and the seat went in without a single bad word, which is rare. The rear bench is long and well padded, the backrest reclines and the outer rear seats are heated. Three boys fit across the back, two comfortably with a baby seat in, and the middle seat works for short runs. The boot swallowed the whole picnic kit, a portable power station and everyone's bags.

One thing to know: the Exceed Tourer is five seats only. If you need a third row, the Aspire grade has seven.

Safety

The kit list is comprehensive: adaptive cruise with traffic jam assist, improved blind spot intervention, a sharp 360-degree camera, rear auto braking and a driver monitor. The Outlander carries a five-star ANCAP rating from 2022 testing. Some of the assists, the driver monitor and speed warnings in particular, can get chatty. You will be in the settings menu by day two.

The price problem

The Exceed Tourer is $74,490 before on-road costs, and the range starts at $58,990. The cross-shop is wild right now. The BYD Sealion 6 and GWM Haval H6 plug-ins start in the low $40,000s, about $30,000 less. The new Toyota RAV4 plug-in undercuts it, and the Kia Sorento PHEV is similar money with seven seats. On price alone, the Outlander loses.

It fights back with more electric range than almost all of them, genuine twin-motor all-wheel drive, the Australian suspension tune, a properly premium cabin, and the thing nobody else offers: up to 10 years or 200,000 km of warranty and 10 years of capped-price servicing when you service with Mitsubishi. If you keep a car for a decade, that changes the maths.

Cartell Assessment

Same familiar face, completely sorted underneath. This is the best Outlander Mitsubishi has made by a long way, and the plug-in hybrid has grown from an interesting experiment into a benchmark. It is just no longer the bargain it once was.

Buy it if you can charge at home, you keep your cars for the long haul, and you want the most polished premium plug-in family SUV from an established brand. Look at the cheaper Chinese plug-ins if budget is the whole story, because they are good now and the savings are big. And if you cannot plug in at home, buy the petrol Outlander, because without charging the PHEV maths does not add up.

AU Outlook

The 2026 Outlander PHEV range runs from $58,990 for the five-seat ES to $74,490 for the Exceed Tourer, all before on-road costs, with the seven-seat Aspire in between. See every grade, price and spec on our Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV page.