DEFRA grows its fleet of Mitsubishi hybrids

The government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is growing its fleet of Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Commercial vehicles as it strives to lower its transport emissions and set a positive example for other fleet operators.

Having originally ordered 16 vehicles in April 2020, the ministerial department then increased its order by another 20 vehicles before recently upping that number by another 60 vehicles, bringing its total order of Mitsubishi Outlander PHEVs to 96 to replace its fleet of diesel vans.

With a fuel economy of 139.7 mpg and emissions of 46g of co2 per km, the deal is seen as a stop-gap on the way to fully electrifying the DEFRA fleet. Operators will be required to charge the vehicle every evening to ensure they are relying on the 372 electric range, rather than the diesel engine.

The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Commercial was the UK’s best-selling plug-in hybrid commercial vehicle last year. On-the-road prices currently start at £24,699 excluding VAT and with government grants.

David Rodriguez, sales and marketing director at Cirencester-based Mitsubishi Motors in the UK said: “We are very proud that DEFRA chose the Outlander PHEV Commercial for its fleet and that it has substantially increased its initial order demonstrates that used correctly, PHEVs can significantly lower any business’ carbon footprint and its running costs.

“While Mitsubishi Motors fully supports the move to carbon-neutral transport in the future, it has pioneered and championed the PHEV as an important transitional technology. Recent studies have shown that 70 percent of Outlander PHEV owners are now considering a fully electric vehicle for the next purchase, compared to just 27 percent of surveyed drivers of conventionally-powered Mitsubishi vehicles.”

Last July, Mitsubishi announced it would be withdrawing from the UK and European markets. It said stocks of its existing models, including the Outlander PHEV and L200 pick-up, would continue to be sold until they no longer meet emissions regulations.