Mitsubishi Triton hybrid in “advanced development”, electric or plug-in hybrid version due later
Hybrid and electric versions of the new Mitsubishi Triton are on the cards and in early development. However a plug-in hybrid looks unlikely – for the time being.
Hybrid power is in line for the new 2024 Mitsubishi Triton ute as a "short-term" solution before a full battery-electric version arrives closer to the end of the decade – or a plug-in hybrid.
Mitsubishi executives told Australian media the company is considering Toyota-style hybrid power as the first – and easiest – form of 'electrification' for the new Triton ute in the next few years.
If it gets the green light, it would precede a full battery-electric variant – on a modified version of the new Mitsubishi Triton's frame – closer to the end of this decade.
However plans for a plug-in hybrid – a technology Mitsubishi has largely pioneered in family SUVs – appear to remain on the back-burner until newer, more energy-dense battery technology is ready.
"We are studying both of those, battery EV [electric vehicle] and HEV [hybrid electric vehicle], for the future," Mitsubishi's global chief of engineering and product strategy, Hiroshi Nagaoka, told a roundtable of Australian media.
"We are at an advanced engineering phase for those developments. We have not decided yet which technology we should take at a fast pace, but we are of course exploring."
While an electric Triton is under consideration to launch later in the model's life cycle, Mitsubishi is exploring hybrid technology as a way of reducing emissions and fuel use in the meantime.
"We are considering another [form of] electrification, HEV [hybrid]. If it's a HEV we can use the current frame. So in the short term, that would be a very good solution," said Nagaoka-san.
"Our competitors are also doing the same [planning electrified utes] in the future, so we definitely need to consider that. Hopefully we will not be behind, then at least we can catch or even get ahead of them."
Ford is preparing a plug-in hybrid Ranger ute due next year, Volkswagen has expressed interest in an electric Amarok, and hybrid power is expected to come to the next Toyota HiLux due in 2025 – after a 'mild-hybrid' system with far smaller fuel savings arrives for the current model early next year.
Mitsubishi head office in Japan has previously published plans to launch a "BEV pick-up" in the next five years, which executives later clarified would likely be a version of the new Triton.
The company now says an electric Triton would not be as straightforward as first anticipated, and would require modifications to the frame to accomodate a large-enough battery – but it would still use as many diesel Triton parts as possible.
"If we want to create a battery EV on this current platform, that will be not enough. So if we want to deliver battery EV in the future, we must modify the frame," Nagaoka-san said.
"But even in that case, we want to carry over some parts from the [new] Triton frame platform, then we will modify [for a battery EV]."
Compared to hybrid or electric power, Mitsubishi has expressed less interest in a plug-in hybrid Triton.
Nagoaka-san explained the plug-in hybrid battery – which is about 10 times the capacity of a hybrid's battery – would be difficult to package with the fuel tank, and may require the 75-litre tank capacity of the new Triton to be reduced.
The company may instead wait for more advanced – and more energy-dense – battery technology to become available before introducing a plug-in hybrid option.
Nagoaka-san told media the electric Triton would also use the newer battery technology, citing the Ford F-150 Lightning electric pick-up sold in the US, and the 131kWh battery – 100 times the size of a Toyota Corolla Hybrid hatch – it needs for about 500km of claimed driving range.
The Mitsubishi executive ruled out the use of Nissan's e-Power hybrid system – as seen in the X-Trail and Qashqai family SUVs – and said the Triton hybrid would use the company's own technology.