Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Delayed by Battery Shortage
The U.S. launch of the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV will be delayed until 2015 because of a bottleneck in battery production.
Originally planned to be introduced for the U.S. market next year, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV will be delayed by a year as the company tries to ramp up battery production. Up until this fall, Mitsubishi was only receiving 2,000 battery packs a month from Lithium Energy Japan, but in September, LEJ shifted production of its EV batteries to a separate plant in order to increase capacity for the Outlander’s plug-in hybrid battery.
SEE ALSO: Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Battery Flaw Found
Currently, Mitsubishi is getting about 4,000 plug-in battery packs a month and hopes to increase that number to 5,000 by April 2014. The standard gasoline Outlander went on sale earlier this year in July.
So far this year, Mitsubishi has sold 8,100 units of its plug-in hybrid variant of the Outlander in Japan while 3,200 units have been sold in Europe. The gasoline Outlander on the other hand has seen 74,400 units sold worldwide.
GALLERY: 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
[Source: Automotive News]
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Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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