Toyota RAV4 Hybrid v Nissan X-TRAIL e-POWER v Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV 2023 Fuel Economy Comparison

Hybrid cars have proved to be a popular stepping stone for many of us in search of better fuel economy and a taste of electrification.

In the top-selling mid-size SUV segment, the 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander, Nissan X-TRAIL and Toyota RAV4 all offer different variations on the petrol-electric theme.

The Outlander PHEV is a plug-in hybrid, the X-TRAIL e-POWER is a range-extender hybrid and the RAV4 is both a parallel and series hybrid.

To try and figure out which of the threesome delivers the best fuel economy, we compared them back-to-back over the same varied course.

This is not a traditional comparison review assessing all aspects of the three cars. In this test, we are only interested in the powertrains’ fuel efficiency.

The three models driven here are similarly priced – the Mitsubishi Outlander ES PHEV (from $57,290 plus on-road costs), the Nissan X-TRAIL Ti e-POWER (from $54,690 plus ORCs) and the Toyota RAV4 Edge Hybrid AWD (from $58,360 plus ORCs). There’s also a 2WD RAV4 Hybrid, but the other two only come with four-wheel drive.

The objective of the 177km route was to test the three vehicles in a wide variety of driving circumstances.

It started with a top-off of fuel tanks near Melbourne airport and then worked its way eastward across the northern suburbs of Melbourne, including the stop-start infamy of endless Bell Street.

The second leg began where the suburban fringe petered out at Yan Yean reservoir and included the steep, twisting and demanding climb north from St Andrews to Kinglake.

Leg three headed west and then dropped down off the Great Dividing Range into Whittlesea, before an undulating drive to Wallan.

The final 53km leg joined the Hume Freeway for the run back into Melbourne, joining the Melbourne ring road before exiting at Sharps Road to return to the starting point for refuelling and calculations.

The overall consumption figure was based on our final refuelling total, while intermediate numbers from each leg were based on trip computer readings for each vehicle.

All three cars were driven one-up with tyres set to standard pressures.

There were no sneaky tricks like turning off the air-con to improve the fuel numbers and cruise control was engaged where appropriate.

Weather and external temperatures were consistent across the drives, being overcast and mid-teens.

Obviously, there are holes that can be punched in this process – but it’s intended as a real-world everyday guide and not an instrumented scientific test.

The 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, Nissan X-TRAIL e-POWER and Toyota RAV4 Hybrid all offer different variations on the petrol-electric hybrid theme.

The Outlander is a plug-in hybrid that combines a 2.4-litre fuel-saving Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder petrol engine and an e-motor on each axle (fed by a 20kWh lithium-ion battery pack) to produce a meaty 185kW and 450Nm.

Driving via a single-speed automatic transmission, the Outlander PHEV is claimed to run solely on electricity up to a range of 84km, but can also drive via petrol alone or a combination of both electricity and petrol. Mitsubishi says the petrol engine only directly drives the wheels above 70km/h.

The X-TRAIL e-POWER is what’s known as a range-extender hybrid. It combines a variable-compression 1.5-litre turbo-petrol three-cylinder engine, an e-motor on each axle and a tiny 1.8kWh lithium-ion battery pack to produce 157kW and an unstated amount of torque.

Unlike the Outlander’s system, e-POWER is not designed to allow the petrol engine to drive the wheels. Its job is to generate the electricity that allows the e-motors to do that via a single-speed auto.

The all-wheel drive version of the RAV4 Hybrid employs a 2.5-litre Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine and no less than three e-motors for a combined output of 163kW and an unstated amount of torque. Drive is transferred to the front wheels via a CVT.

One e-motor joins the engine in powering the front wheels, another drives the rear wheels on-demand and the third starts the engine and then employs it to recharge a tiny 1.5kWh nickel-metal hydride traction battery.

All that means the RAV4 can drive the wheels via electricity alone (series hybrid) or work in combination with the petrol engine (parallel hybrid).

All three hybrid SUVs on test come with a certain amount of adjustments that can have an impact on their economy.

The Outlander PHEV offers by far the most choices. It has Normal, Eco, Tarmac, Power, Gravel, Snow and Mud modes that affect the powertrain, transmission, steering and traction systems.

But there are further EV-specific adjustments on offer. Charge mode starts the petrol engine to recharge the battery. EV Priority mode tries to keep the petrol engine turned off and run on electricity as much as possible. Save mode reduces battery consumption in situations such as high-speed freeway driving where it is least helpful and fuel consumption usually the lowest.

Regenerative braking effect can be adjusted via paddles on the steering wheel. Innovative Pedal Operation is essentially regen maxed out to provide single-pedal driving.

Of course, the Outlander can also be plugged in to recharge its battery, something the other two don’t do.

The X-TRAIL e-POWER has an EV mode as well as regenerative and single-pedal braking modes which aid recharging. Eco, Standard and Sport powertrain modes also impact on economy, while there are specific off-road modes as well.

The RAV4 Hybrid also comes with an EV mode. It has regenerative braking but no way for the driver to adjust its levels. It also comes with Eco, Normal and Sport modes and an off-road specific Trail mode.

With its substantial traction battery, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV had the capability of running in pure-electric mode for almost the entire urban leg of the test.

In fact, it ran out of juice just 500m short of the finish line after 55.5km, only then turning its petrol engine on to start recharging. While it was well shy of its claimed EV range it still offered up a decent amount of emissions-free running.

There was much interaction on offer here with so many modes and constant on-screen feedback about how many kilowatts were being consumed and what element of the powertrain was doing what.

With the petrol engine silent, the Outlander was unsurprisingly the quietest vehicle and most indicative of an EV life.

In these predominantly low-speed and stop-start conditions, the quality of the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid’s system was underlined, as it clearly bested the X-TRAIL e-POWER in average consumption according to their respective trip computers.

It was the transparency of the Toyota’s system that was especially impressive. It really was the set-and-forget option.

In both the Toyota and Nissan, the pure EV mode had been pretty much a bust, only running briefly at low speed and then expiring quite quickly as the batteries drained.

Once that happened, both cars were switched to their most frugal petrol-electric Eco mode and the X-TRAIL’s Brake and E-Power modes selected as well.

This enjoyable country driving leg was predominantly uphill on an entertaining road. So it was Tarmac mode in the Outlander, Sport mode in the RAV4 and X-TRAIL and don’t spare the throttle.

And checking out those average fuel consumption numbers recorded across the leg you can see the impact.

The X-TRAIL’s slightly better performance could be down to the fact its engine was not revving as hard as the other two as it continued to focus solely on recharging the battery and not driving the wheels directly.

Still, it’s an experience that takes getting some used to. Hitting the throttle hard accelerating out of a corner produced a strong response, but the engine hardly changed its revs or sound.

On these types of on-off throttle roads it became obvious how stultifying the X-TRAIL’s regen modes were. Turning them off made acceleration crisper.

With a significant downhill run in the middle of this stage there was a chance for the Mitsubishi Outlander – in particular – to refill the battery using regeneration.

So, Charge mode was selected for the run from Kinglake West down to Whittlesea. It certainly worked, but also meant the engine used a bit of extra fuel to top off the battery.

That meant the X-TRAIL was the most economical on this leg, its engine again focused on just one job. And it did it well, the battery never draining completely.

Weirdly, even with the battery full and the driver’s foot off the throttle, the internal combustion engine still revved noticeably going downhill to consume excess electricity.

No petrol is consumed in this function though.

The challenges for the RAV4 Hybrid’s engine were obvious on these varied roads as it tried to provide both motive and charging power and used more fuel in the process.

The final leg on the gradual ascents and descents of the Hume with the powertrain in Eco and the cruise control set to 110km/h was a triumph for the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.

Just as higher revs in the hills hurt the RAV4, so low revs on the freeway helped it. The X-TRAIL wasn’t far behind, its system also appreciating the low-stress environment and Eco mode.

The plug-in hybrid Outlander dropped to the tail-end. This was the environment where pure-electric running delivered the least gain, so the Outlander’s Store mode was engaged to preserve charge for the heavier traffic expected back in town.

Back at the servo for the top-off and it was the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV that delivered the best average fuel consumption.

That first leg in town running purely electric delivered the edge it needed to negate increasing consumption in the country and on the freeway.

The Outlander was miles off its ADR combined-cycle fuel consumption average, which is typical of PHEVs.

The Nissan X-TRAIL e-POWER finished commendably close to its average but was the thirstiest of all three overall.

Which means despite Nissan’s bullish proclamations when the X-TRAIL e-POWER was launched in Australia – particularly in relation to the RAV4 – the Toyota SUV’s hybrid system emerges (at least, based on our specific test) as the more economical of the two.

It further helps save cost that the Toyota runs on 91 RON regular unleaded – as does the Mitsubishi – while the Nissan prefers premium 95 RON.

So where does that leave us?

If your driving includes a fair portion of urban stop-and-go and you are diligent with your plugging in then the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is clearly the best choice.

Overall though, the other two hybrid systems are not that far behind and are fuss-free ways to lower fuel consumption and bills.

2023 Mitsubishi Outlander ES PHEV at a glance:
Price: $57,290 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol-electric
Output: 98kW/195Nm (electric motors: 85kW/255Nm and 100kW/195Nm)
Combined output: 185kW/450Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Battery: 20kWh lithium-ion
Range: 84km (ADR)
Energy consumption: 19.2kWh/100km (ADR)
Fuel: 1.5L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 35g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2022)

2023 Nissan X-TRAIL Ti e-POWER at a glance:
Price: $54,690 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol-electric
Output: 106kW/250Nm (electric motors: 150kW/330Nm and 100kW/195Nm)
Combined output: 157kW (torque NA)
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Battery: 2.1kWh lithium-ion
Range: Not applicable
Energy consumption: Not applicable
Fuel: 6.1L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 139g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2021)

2023 Toyota RAV4 Edge Hybrid AWD at a glance:
Price: $58,360 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol-electric
Output: 131kW/221Nm (electric motors: 88kW/202Nm and 40kW/121Nm)
Combined output: 163kW (torque NA)
Transmission: Continuously variable automatic
Battery: 1.5kWh lithium-ion
Range: Not applicable
Energy consumption: Not applicable
Fuel: 4.8L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 111g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2019)