For a company that has been building cars for almost a century, that’s audacious. Yet, considering how popular it is around the globe, it’s a statement that might just fit the 2018 Outlander PHEV. “We have watched the success of the Outlander PHEV in country after country around the world,” said Juyu Jeon, Mitsubishi Canada’s vice-president, sales and marketing.

“It’s the best-selling plug-in hybrid in the world. The first Outlander PHEV was launched as a 2014 model, but this latest one has undergone some significant revisions. As with the gasoline version, the chassis has received plenty of much-needed upgrades. Earlier versions of this crossover started to get squirrelly at the limits, feeling almost as if the wheels on the outside of the corner were folding under the car. This new version has none of that.

The body gets some small tweaks, bringing to Outlander chief designer Tsunehiro Kunimoto’s Dynamic Shield design philosophy, marked by the prominent, trapezoidal chrome accents cutting through the front bumper. The front fascia is the only change for now. Outlander PHEV moves the bar on hybrid SUVs, in a number of ways. First, it’s primarily an electric vehicle, with 35 kilometres of electric-only range from a full battery.

Second, when it does fire up the gas engine, it is most times only to power a generator that powers the electric motors. At speeds above 120 km/h, and under certain torque conditions, it engages a wet clutch between the gas motor and the front wheels, though the electric motors are always assisting.

The motor is a 2.0-litre MIVEC four-cylinder. Two 80 horsepower electric motors — one up front and one at the rear — provide most of the propulsion. It is a full-time four-by-four, with the electric motor at the rear always in operation. It is also, according to Mitsubishi, the only hybrid SUV that’s 100-per-cent electric even in four-wheel-drive.

As part of Mits’ four-wheel-drive system, super all-wheel control has been adapted from the Lancer Evolution to the PHEV, able to transfer torque not only front to back but also side to side. It transfers torque to the outside in a turn, helping with handling and helping to negate body roll.

Lastly, it’s not just a runabout. Even as a hybrid, it can tow 1,500 pounds, enough for a pair of snowmobiles, personal watercraft or lightweight tent trailer. How does all this electrification affect fuel economy, Well, it runs at the equivalent of three litres per 100 kilometres in electric-only mode and the official numbers for the vehicle in hybrid driving are 9.4 in the city, 9.0 on the highway and 9.2 combined.

My drive partner, Clare Dear, and I managed to keep the vehicle in EV mode for most of our drive. Not doing anything extraordinary, our 40-kilometre round trip averaged 2.1 litres per 100 kilometres, enough to win the fuel economy challenge on this event. Charging is done either by the supplied level-1 charger (13 hours), a level-2 charger customers can install in their homes (3.5 hours) or by a large-capacity DC quick-charging station (about 25 minutes to charge to 80 per cent). Total range, including the 35 km of EV driving plus the remainder on gasoline, is 499 km.

Don Ulmer, senior manager, product planning for Mitsubishi Canada, said the presence of a quick-charging port is unusual for hybrids, as such a port typically is restricted to pure EVs. There are some nifty features on hand, too. You can select a battery-save mode, which will reduce the use of the electric motors.

This is handy on the highway when you want to save battery power for when you enter a city, which is where the EV mode will be most thrifty. If your battery is depleted, you can run the car in battery-charge mode, which uses the gas motor to charge the battery.