Battery Shortage Issue of Outlander PHEV by Mitsubishi
Outlander PHEV will appear in the USA not earlier than 2015 due to a delay in production of batteries.
A yearly delay faces those Americans who wait for the launch of the model because of the brand’s plans to expand the production of batteries. Japanese company Lithium Energy established the provision of only 2,000 packs per month to Mitsubishi until September. In the same month EV batteries production facilities obtained a separate site to raise the capacities of other type of Outlander’s batteries.
Meanwhile, the volume of packs per month has doubled, and by mid-spring 2014 Mitsubishi is planning to get 5,000 packs. Standard Outlander version working on gasoline was delivered to dealerships this summer.
8,100 crossover cars with plug-in hybrid batteries have been sold by Mitsubishi in 2013 in Japan. Europe bought 5,800 units less. Outlander working on gasoline has greatly outperformed the plug-in variant with 74,400 cars sold all over the world.