Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross 2023 review: Plug-in Hybrid EV Exceed

The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross looks a lot smarter than its smaller ASX sibling, and has a lot more bells and whistles inside.

The hybrid’s design is essentially the same as the petrol-only version, but you do get the 18-inch two-tone alloy wheels on all PHEV models.

The curved chrome accents under the headlights and the two smaller LED lights tie in well with the small front grille, creating a mildly aggressive looking front end which helps the car stand out.

The ‘Red Diamond’ paint option for the review car is striking, but also one of the most expensive optional colours at $940. From the back the rear spoiler and tail-light design gives it a bit of extra oomph.

Inside, the Eclipse Cross has a lot going on. It looks very high tech and modern with the different gear shift and displays. There is also a decent amount of leather and black gloss to break up the black plastic.

All PHEV models receive 18-inch two-tone alloy wheels. (Image: Tom White)

From the back the rear spoiler and tail-light design gives it a bit of extra oomph. (Image: Tom White)

From the front, the Eclipse Cross looks mildly aggressive. (Image: Tom White)

Inside looks very high tech and modern with the different gear shift and displays. (Image: Tom White)

Around the suburbs it’s a lovely car to drive in the EV mode because it feels really light and smooth and responds well to those conditions.

When it switches over to petrol it also provides a decent driving experience on the highway but lacks the grunt of a normal petrol engine.

It’s easy to park thanks to the 360-degree camera view and the steering is predictable which is what you want, particularly for the size of the car and parking in electric charging bays.

It has a 2.4-litre non-turbo petrol engine and two electric motors, meaning it can power the battery pack in the hybrid driving mode.

I don’t like the design of the gear shift. I found it clunky and it kept missing the gear, but the park button is separate to the others which takes a while to get used to.

You can see on the display as the car automatically switches between the petrol engine and electric motor, and as it charges when you brake, particularly when you are driving at high speed, which is pretty cool to watch.

Up front you have a lot of space for the driver and front passenger. I didn’t feel cramped at all.

In the back it’s a bit of a different story, I’m 178cm and had an okay amount of room sitting behind my driving position.

But it feels a bit cramped for the size of the car due to the EV tech that’s packed in, and the double sunroof eats up space, too.

Up front you have a lot of space for the driver and front passenger. (Image: Tom White)

In the back, it feels a bit cramped for the size of the car due to the EV tech that's packed in. (Image: Tom White)

You can fit a rear-facing child seat in the back and there is a surprising amount of room for the front passenger when that’s fitted.

But it would be a tight squeeze for three car seats across that row, and not particularly comfortable for three adults.

The boot space is fairly generous, especially considering all of the charging equipment in the underneath compartment so you can charge the car at home.

The Eclipse Cross receives electric seat controls for the driver and front passenger, and all window seats are heated, which is rare for this class.

I found the lumbar support to be fairly average on a long road trip but the seats are comfortable enough for around town. The leather steering wheel heats quickly and matches the leather appointed seats.

The ‘3D cockpit’ instrument cluster is great visually but the EV information seems fairly convoluted, so you need to get to know the different display screens that show your petrol and electric range.

There are bottle holders in all four doors, plus two cupholders and a main storage area up front.

In the rear, there’s an armrest and cupholders, plus my niece was very impressed with the seat warmers and the fact the dual sunroof lets her control her own sunroof section from the back.

The car doesn’t come with a spare tyre (not even a space saver), it’s just a repair kit with tyre foam.

There is a range of charging equipment in the boot, including a Type 2 plug that can charge the battery in as little as 3.5 hours depending on the charging source.

Home charging is an option, of course. Easy for someone living in a house with a plug-in point in their garage. But it was challenging for me because I live in an apartment building and could not run a lead from my flat to the car.

This meant I was a regular at the local charging stations, instead. I used the DC fast charging with a CHAdeMO plug and even though it should fill from zero to 80 per cent in 25 minutes, with a maximum charge input of 3.6kW, I found it often took a bit longer, depending on the charging station.

During my road trip up the north coast, I also found the charging stations were often in use or broken, which meant I needed to rely on the petrol engine.

The Eclipse Cross received a maximum five-star ANCAP rating in 2017, for the earlier model, and features seven airbags, including dual front, driver’s knee, front side and side curtains for both rows.

The safety features aren’t standard across the range, but as the top-spec model, the Eclipse Cross Exceed receives a solid offering including front and rear parking sensors, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.

The car has forward autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with forward collision warning (operates from 5.0-80km/h) and the AEB includes pedestrian detection (15-140km/h). There are also two ISOFIX points in the back which are easy to access, and the three top tether anchorage points.

The 8.0-inch media touchscreen has a lot of features but the main issue is it doesn’t integrate very well with Apple CarPlay, which is a pain on the highway.

You need to use the touchscreen to access a lot of the driving information including different air conditioning controls, but if you get a phone call or use voice command the tech seems to reset and you have to navigate your way through the interface again, which isn’t very user friendly.

One stand-out feature is the Tom Tom satellite navigation. It’s one of the best in-built systems available because it feels similar to Google and Apple Maps.

It’s intuitive, really easy to program and offers relevant locations which a lot of systems struggle to do. Other tech features include Bluetooth, digital radio and a great eight-speaker sound system. Plus, you get a head-up display.

Mitsubishi offers the longest warranty available in Australia at 10 years/200,000km (five years/100,000km if you choose not to service the car at a Mitsubishi dealer).

Capped price servicing is also offered over 10 years or up to 150,000 kilometres, again if you have the car serviced with the brand.

The Eclipse Cross PHEV needs a check-up every 12 months or 15,000 kilometres, and the annual cost averages $479 over 10 years, which is starting to get up there.

The battery is only covered for eight years/160,000km, no matter where you have the car serviced. Roadside assist is complimentary for the first year of ownership.

I think the value for money equation is challenging for the Eclipse Cross PHEV because of the price difference between it and the petrol model.

That is, you might be saving on your petrol bills when you are around the suburbs, but you’re paying a lot more for the vehicle in the first place.

Compared to cheaper PHEV models in the range, the top-spec Exceed receives extras like the dual sunroof, heated steering wheel and leather appointed seats. But overall, I think it’s based on the driving you are going to do.

Its efficiency around the suburbs is great. If you keep it charged, it will do around 45km before using any petrol.

But it was hard to find working electric charging stations along the highway, meaning I had to fill up with petrol more than once on the eight-hour trip to Byron Bay.

Once I found somewhere to charge when I arrived, it was great around town. The official consumption figure is 1.9 litres per 100km (for the first 100 kilometres).

But for the highway trip with intermittent charging my petrol usage averaged 7.6L/100km.