Electrified Mitsubishi Triton: Hybrid, electric and PHEV vie for supremacy

Since we last spoke to Mitsubishi Japan, the battery-electric or hybrid Triton ute story has developed. Every strategy for electrification is on the cards for the sixth-gen ute, including an in-house developed plugless hybrid.

“To answer you technically”, said vice president engineering and product strategy, Hiroshi Nagaoka, “packaging a PHEV is really difficult because we have to build the frame so that it can also fit the battery and fuel tank.”

Essentially, batteries need to get smaller before plug-in hybrids can work for utes. A pure battery-electric Triton would be simpler to package, as would a ‘plugless’ series-parallel hybrid.

“[Hybrid] is really important because maybe we can rework our current frames, so that in the short term [HEV] can fit. It would be a very good solution for electrification and CO₂ reduction”, said Nagaoka-san.

Packaging a PHEV is really difficult, it has to fit the battery and fuel tank

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Despite being an alliance partner with (theoretical) access to Nissan’s e-Power technology, Mitsubishi says this hybrid system is not ideal for heavier vehicles.

While there were suggestions that Nissan would persevere with e-Power versions of the next Navara and Patrol, it sounds more like the 4x4s will go straight to solid-state battery-powered EVs.

“As you know, e-Power is actually running as a battery EV," explained Nagaoka, "so there’s no gearbox which is kind of a problem in a bigger car. That is the reason, e-Power for a small car is fine, that’s a really good solution, but not for trucks.”

Instead, Mitsubishi will develop its own technology, with Nagaoka confirming his engineers are working with suppliers at the moment to come up with a solution that may be shared with The Alliance in future.

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Mitsubishi could build a hybrid around the Triton's existing diesel mill

It's likely to be a diesel-electric hybrid, potentially based around the new Triton's worked over '4N16' twin-turbo diesel four-cylinder that produces 150kW/470Nm. The exact configuration, whether it's like Outlander PHEV or more like Toyota and Honda's systems, was not revealed.

“So, we are not decided yet, which technology should take first place”, he continued, ensuring us all three options remain on the table. Mitsubishi also remains committed to PHEVs – even if its mid-term plan doesn’t reveal that – and the executives remain optimistic about a plug-in hybrid ute.

“But battery technology will improve, and then we can have more efficient, smaller batteries to package a plug-in hybrid. I think that’s really better than a battery EV because BEV pick-up trucks use so many batteries – think about the Ford F-150 – so we are also studying that solution”, said Nagaoka.

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Our original story, below, continues unchanged

April 2023: Electric Mitsubishi Triton imagined!

An electric version of the Mitsubishi Triton has been a hot topic following last month's XRT Concept unveiling and mid-term plan – we grilled Mitsubishi's top powertrain and product managers on the Triton’s electrified future.

General manager, EV powertrain engineering, Takashi Shirakawa confirmed an electrified version “is under development,” though exactly what flavour of electrification is “not decided yet”, though further discussion suggested a battery electric variant is up first.

“You can consider [the pick-up BEV] is a version of Triton. We can’t produce too many vehicles based on the size of the company, but we do have a plan to electrify the pickup truck in the future. We are not sure if we will call that the Triton,” said Koichi Namiki, general manager product strategy division at Mitsubishi Motor Corporation.

Plug-in hybrid is a possibility, but we consider BEV may be a better fit in a pick-up truck

Catch up on Triton

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Mitsubishi Triton EV speculative rendering | Wheels Media

We’ve had our own thoughts and commissioned some impressions by rendering guru Theottle.

The 'Triton EV' (pictured) maintains the basic sheetmetal of our previous Triton renders, but with aerodynamic detailing in the form of a largely blanked-off grille, streamlined sports bar, and drag-reducing wheel covers.

“As I mentioned before, a battery is heavy, and a bigger vehicle has a huge penalty from weight. So, basically, a battery EV is not such a good solution for a bigger vehicle… however, some customers need to drive a completely emissions-free car.”

Building a battery ute won’t be plain sailing – as Shirakawa-san said above, weight will be an issue. An electric Triton would need at least 500km driving range, load-lugging capability in the vicinity of 3000kg for braked towing, and circa-1000kg payload to resonate with private buyers.

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Mitsubishi Triton EV speculative rendering | Wheels Media

Four-wheel drive will be essential, as will enough power to get out of its own way. We’d expect 200kW/600Nm at a minimum from twin electric motors, given the BEV’s added mass.

But the initial Triton BEV may not even be targeted at recreational ute owners. Shirakawa-san pointed to fleets and increasing regulations. Australian mining companies, for example, are already trialing BEV utes, including electrified 70 Series, the exorbitantly expensive LDV eT60, and SEA electric’s converted HiLuxes and Rangers.

It’s also important to remember that, while Mitsubishi is a significant player in Australia (the seventh biggest brand), in Japan it’s a comparative market minnow next to Nissan, Subaru and Suzuki.

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Mitsubishi Triton speculative rendering | Wheels Media

“Plug-in hybrid is a possibility, but we consider BEV may be a better fit in a pick-up truck. As you might know – maybe in Australia too – some of the fleet companies require a battery EV, they require pure electric models for these,” said Namiki-san.

“We understand that there is a demand [for BEV], but for PHEV pick-up trucks, at this point in time we don't see a lot of demand… we might come up with a PHEV for frame-based vehicles but in [the mid-term plan], it’s excluded,” Namiki-san added.

The combustion-engined Triton ute is gearing up for a market launch towards the end of this year, and if the mid-term plan’s timing is to be believed, a BEV ute – which is sounding increasingly like a Triton EV – should arrive by 2025, with a PHEV version remaining a further-afield proposition, perhaps with Ralliart performance aspirations.

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