No ETA for Mitsubishi Triton PHEV

A plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version of the new Mitsubishi Triton pick-up has already been confirmed but fresh intel suggests the Japanese brand’s answer to the BYD Shark and inbound Ford Ranger PHEV is still a fair way off.

Speaking to carsales at the local media launch of the facelifted Pajero Sport, Mitsubishi Australia CEO Shaun Westcott said an electrified version of the Triton needs to be a fully-fledged workhorse in order to appeal to an audience “conditioned” to accept nothing less than a 3500kg towing capacity.

That’s part of the reason it’s taking longer than expected to deliver a plug-in – or battery-electric – Triton, a product Westcott said would need to deliver the same utilitarian capabilities as the established turbo-diesel versions.

“I can’t give you the exact [reveal or release] date and put a peg in the ground to say it will be then,” he said, “but other than to say that various forms of powertrain are under study and that’s not limited just to PHEV; it’s other forms of hybridisation, other forms of electrification, BEV. There's a lot happening in that space.”

Quoting the brand’s global product strategy boss, Koichi Namiki, Westcott said wedging a battery pack into the current Triton’s ladder frame chassis was difficult.

“It’s challenging and that’s exactly what Namiki-san did say … any vehicle with a ladder frame where you have to mate a petrol engine or a diesel engine with a battery of some sort, space is always the challenge, because with the pick-up and a ute, towing capability and load capacity become essential items,” he said.

“There are some competitors out there globally who have, what I call show ponies. They have these fantastic one-tonne pick-ups and they let you tow 3.5-tonnes, but the minute you tow something, the range drops to next to nothing.”

“Australia is a country of small businesses and the majority of those use a pick-up as their workhorse; they load tiles and bricks and drums of paint and ladders, and all kinds of stuff on their utes; they want a workhorse.

“So they need a vehicle that has both the towing capacity and capability. Now the problem with a BEV, with a current battery technology, is that the size of the battery relative to the lack of ability that it gives you becomes a problem.

“So battery size is the big challenge. You can stick a battery into anything, some of our competitors are doing it.

“But if you put a tonne of concrete or something on the back, and you go, ‘okay, now, what’s the real range?’, that’s a different equation.

“We are very conscious that our core market is tradies and small business owners. We are really conscious of load and towing capability.”

In the same conversation, Westcott admitted the towing figure has become somewhat of a ‘mental yardstick’ for Aussies, some of which will never need that level of capability from their ute.

That sentiment was shared by local product and marketing manager Owen Thomson, who added the “incredibly complex” ute market “has so many different users, so many different requirements” which can almost conflict with one another.

“At the moment, the market is demanding good payload particularly, and the capability to tow. And the market, to be honest, has been conditioned [to expect] 3.5-tonnes [towing],” he said.

“It’s been conditioned to that [number] so we have to have 3.5 tonnes, otherwise if we don’t, people criticise us and say ‘your car’s not capable’. The reality is, we know majority of people don’t tow 3.5-tonnes. Some do, but not many.”

The potential success of the new BYD Shark 6 – a Chinese-built PEHV pick-up – will be a good indication of whether the Australian market is accepting of lower towing capabilities since it’s only rated to 2500kg, and has a maximum payload of 790kg.

It’s something Thomson said Mitsubishi, like every other ute maker, will be watching.

“It will be really interesting to see how the market receives that around the towing and the payload,” he said.

“We’ll be watching very carefully.”

Join the conversation at our Facebook page
Or email us at editor@carsales.com.au