Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Aspire PHEV 2024 Review

The three plug-in hybrid all-wheel-drive variants of the 2024 Mitsubishi Eclipse sit right at the top of the range and the $51,740 Aspire we’re testing here is located between the $47,790 ES and $56,490 Exceed (all pricing is plus on-road costs).

There are much cheaper 1.5-litre turbo-petrol front-and all-wheel drive Eclipse Cross variants that start at $31,990 for the FWD ES – it just shows much cost is added along with two electric motors and a battery pack!

But at least the Eclipse Cross PHEV (or Plug-in Hybrid as Mitsubishi officially calls it – note the huge EV badges on the front doors) qualifies for the fringe benefits tax discount until at least April 1 2025.

Peruse the short list of logical rivals for the Eclipse Cross PHEV and you’ll see that pricing’s a common issue for plug-ins.

The BYD Sealion 6 looks to be pretty good value starting at $48,990, the new Jeep Compass 4xe $61,990 and the Cupra Formentor VZe is $64,990. There’s a new MG HS on the way that could be a pricing challenger, while Mitsubishi’s own Outlander is in this price range too.

Abandon the plug and hybrids like the Toyota Corolla Cross and RAV4, Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage and Nissan X-Trail are all worth a look.

The 2024 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross PHEV range is mechanically identical so the three models are differentiated by equipment. The Aspire walks the middle ground.

Above the ES it adds privacy glass, seats trimmed in micro-suede and artificial leather rather than fabric, a powered driver’s seat and heated front seats.

But compared to the Exceed which includes a power tailgate, power sunroof, leather-trimmed seats and heated rear seats – it misses out on comfort equipment.

Gear all three Eclipse Cross PHEVs share include keyless entry and push button start, dual-zone climate control and a leather-bound steering wheel with multifunction controls.

Unlike the petrol models, the Eclipse Cross PHEVs come without a spare tyre. As hard as it would be to package given the e-motor under the rear floor, it’s a disappointing omission considering this is nominally an off-roader.

Mitsubishi offers a five-year/100,000km warranty for the Eclipse Cross, extendable to 10 years and 200,000km if all scheduled services are performed at an authorised dealer.

The battery pack is warrantied for eight years/160,000km and Mitsubishi guarantees it will retain 66 per cent of its useable energy capacity.

While the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross PHEV dates back only to late 2020 on-sale in Australia, the petrol models first turned up in 2017. As a result, the five star ANCAP rating that covered the range has lapsed.

Driver assist systems included with the 2024 Eclipse Cross Aspire PHEV are autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection and lane departure warning, blind spot warning, lane change assist and rear cross-traffic alert.

It also includes seven airbags, two outboard ISOFIX mounts, LED headlights, a 360-degree camera view and front and rear parking sensors.

Usually, the technology section is focussed on stuff like touchscreens and Apple CarPlay, but we’ll head off in a different direction with the 2024 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Aspire PHEV.

That’s because it’s fitted with innovative charging tech called V2L (Vehicle to Load) and V2G (Vehicle to Grid).

V2L taps into the vehicle’s high-voltage traction battery to charge simple items like laptops, while V2G can integrate your Eclipse Cross into your home’s electricity network and is far more complex, expensive to make happen and not really up and running in Australia yet. That situation is changing though.

Anyway, back to the orthodox stuff. Yep, the Eclipse Cross does come with an 8.0-inch infotainment touchscreen in the centre stack, and it also gets CarPlay and Android Auto connection and AM/FM and digital radio.

It misses out on the Exceed’s head up display and satellite-navigation, but upgrades from the four-speaker audio system in the ES to eight speakers.

The powertrain in the 2024 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Aspire PHEV really is the star of the show.

It combines a naturally aspirated 2.4-litre petrol engine with front and rear e-motors fed by a 13.8kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Sophisticated electronics manage the show.

Power and torque outputs for the engine and two motors are each quite modest (see specs below), but the driving makes it obvious they work well when combined. The trouble is Mitsubishi doesn’t offer a combined output number arguing it’s too hard to calculate.

If there is enough charge in the battery, the Eclipse Cross can run as an EV alone up to 135km/h.

Below 70km/h the system can also use the engine to charge the battery leaving the e-motors to drive the wheels via a single-speed transmission.

The battery is also refurbished by regeneration when coasting or when the brakes are applied.

Above 70km/h the engine chimes in, to directly drive the front wheels in tandem with the front e-motor, leaving the rear e-motor to worry about the rear wheels.

The official fuel consumption claim for the 2024 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross PHEV is a startling 1.9L/100km. But this is a purely theoretical number that emerges from government testing.

If you can get the battery charged, the Eclipse Cross PHEV will drive up to a claimed 55km on electricity alone.

Then when the petrol engine chimes in, fuel consumption will be recorded equivalent to an orthodox petrol compact SUV.

This was determined by our testing - a 140km loop that included 60km/h urban, 80km/h exurban, 100km/h undulating country highway and 110km/h freeway driving.

It took 37km for the battery to run out of charge and for the petrol engine to kick in. From that point on the fuel consumption climbed to 6.5L/100km. Electricity consumption was reported at 21.4kWh/100km, which is also a lot higher than the 16.8kWh/100km claim.

That range was a reassuring 640km when we started and still over 500km when we finished up. Most affordable EVs can’t touch that.

The trip computer also estimated the Eclipse Cross drove on electricity alone for 55 per cent of the total journey. So even when the battery was depleted the powertrain was feeding regenerated energy to the e-motors.

There are various ways to influence how the Eclipse Cross drives. There’s the zero emissions EV mode, Save Charge mode which preserves battery life and Brake mode which maximises regeneration when you lift off and brake.

They all have some sort of influence, but it’s really EV mode that you want to run in as much as possible if you want to save fuel. So, keep that battery charged!

And what about plugging in? The Eclipse Cross has the usual AC recharging capability, but it can also DC fast charge via its CHAdeMO plug at up to 22kW. That equates to a refill in around 25 minutes.

Just as the powertrain is the most impressive piece of technology in the 2024 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Aspire PHEV, so it’s the best bit of the driving experience.

And the best bit is undoubtedly the quiet and strong response delivered by the e-motors at tip-in throttle.

Compact SUVs with orthodox petrol engines can feel pretty weak accelerating away from the lights and have to be revved pretty hard for performance. But not the Eclipse Cross PHEV.

Look, there are stronger PHEVs and EVs out there – no surprise because this thing is not that powerful, and it weighs in at 1890kg (the PHEV adds about an extra 300kg over the petrol powertrain) – but it does the job effectively. You won’t feel like you’re the weakling about to get sand kicked in your face.

But beyond the powertrain, the Eclipse Cross PHEV does little to rise above the ordinary.

It feels a bit underdone in terms of ride and handling. There’s plenty of roll in corners, not much in the way of steering feel and an entirely understandable safety-first determination to slip the front tyres first in corners if grip gives way.

Road crags and corruptions can be telegraphed quite obviously into the cabin, making progress somewhat jiggly. It’s not downright uncomfortable, just a bit soft and kinda uninspiring.

The 2024 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Aspire PHEV signals some sort of off-road ambitions with its immodestly titled S-AWC (Super All Wheel Control) all-wheel drive, specific snow and gravel powertrain modes and an extra 13mm of ground clearance (188mm v 175mm) compared to the petrol models.

But really, this is an urban commuter compact SUV that does its best work saving fuel on the school run rather than getting ambitious off-road.

Gravel and snow roads are about right.

There is nothing cutting edge about the interior of the 2024 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Aspire PHEV. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Many of the latest generation small SUVs eschew hard buttons and stick all their controls within the infotainment touchscreen.

It looks good - all colours and lights and 21st century sitting there on the dashboard, but the reality is the amount of drilling into sub-menus required to execute simple - and frequent changes – like volume and temperature can drive you mad. Utterly mad.

So the Eclipse Cross with its small, simple touchscreen, hard buttons to control audio and air-conditioning and even analogue dials in the instrument panel (albeit a charge/power meter alongside the speedo rather than a tacho) will delight crusty old buggers like, er, me.

Other good bits of the interior include soft and sizable seating up-front, reclining seatbacks in the rear along enough space back here to accommodate two taller (180cm+) adults.

Amenities in the rear seat are less impressive. There’s only one map pocket and no air-con vents. There are USB ports though.

Storage throughout the cabin is adequate rather than memorable. That includes the luggage compartment which reduces in size from the petrol’s 405 litres to 359 litres because of the e-motor under the floor. Folding the rear seat expands the space.

The interior of the Eclipse Cross also presents a bit busy. There’s lots of intersecting lines and different trims in here. It’s a bit like the sharp and edgy exterior in the way the designers seemed to just have kept fiddling for too long.

The 2024 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Aspire PHEV makes some sense as an electrified halfway house between hybrids like the Toyota RAV4 and EVs like the Tesla Model Y.

It delivers an indication of what our automotive future looks like without giving up on the range security provided by internal combustion engine.

But to really benefit from the Eclipse Cross it’s important to keep that battery charged up and do a lot of short-hop commuting.

Do that and the environment and your wallet will benefit from zero fuel consumption.

But be lax and rely on the petrol engine to constantly motivate the Eclipse Cross and you’re just paying extra up-front and in running costs to drag around a heap of extra metal for no good reason.

2024 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Aspire Plug-in Hybrid at a glance:
Price: $51,740 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol-electric
Output: 94kW/199Nm (front electric motor: 60kW/137Nm) (rear electric motor: 70kW/195Nm)
Combined output: Unstated
Transmission: 1-speed automatic
Battery: (13.8kWh lithium-ion)
Range: 55km (ADR)
Energy consumption: 16.8kWh/100km (ADR)
Fuel: 1.9L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 43g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Lapsed