Following the discovery of the Outlander PHEV battery fire issue back in April, Mitsubishi has now officially announced a recall of the i-MiEV and Outlander PHEV in Japan.
A small number of affected i-MiEVs were sold in Europe and the United States.”We are preparing appropriate measures for markets outside Japan, but this is not the appropriate time to give details,” Mitsubishi spokeswoman Namie Koketsu said.
Mitsubishi will recall around 4000 vehicles total starting in Mid June and hopes to resume production of new i-MiEVs and Outlander Plg-in hybrids by the end of August, after the recalled vehicles are fixed. The Outlander is set to launch in the US early next year, so production will be well under way by then.
In Japan, Mitsubishi recalled 4,313 Outlander plug-in hybrids that potentially have the defective batteries, as well as 17 i-MiEVs and 98 Minicab i-MiEVs, a electric commercial minivan. Mitsubishi has said in the past around 50 i-Miev vehicles sold oversees were affected, but most of those were in Europe.
The recall and battery issues hasn’t seemed to affect demand for the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Mitsubishi has an estimated 15000 order backlog and plans to double production of the Outlander PHEV from 2000 a month to 4000 a month in the fall.
Can’t wait for the Mitsubishi Outlander to come to the U.S; there aren’t many SUV hybrids around so it will be the first of its kind.