There are those little surprise and delight moments in life. Like eating mussels for the first time. Or watching that Kevin James movie, Solo Mio. 

Another is taking a drive in Mitsubishi’s newest, surprisingly delightful, Outlander plug-in hybrid SUV, or PHEV for short. 

While this roomy compact crossover has been around since 2022, it’s just had a mid-life refresh that adds to its already considerable appeal.

It’s got a bigger battery for starters, with a 15 per cent increase in capacity. Plug it in, charge it up, and it’ll now push the Outlander along in silent, zero-emission electric mode for up to 45 miles. That’s up from 38.

And if the ohms and watts run out, and you have to get to grandma’s house, there’s a Teflon-smooth, gas-sipping 2.4-liter four-cylinder motor under the hood to come to the rescue. 

With that new 22.7 kWh battery and electric motors front and rear, the combined output jumps from 248 hp to 297 hp. Enough to punch it from stoplight to 60 mph in a zippy 6.5 seconds.

At the end of the day, plug it in to a regular 240-volt Level 2 home charger – using the same juice that powers your washer-dryer – and it will top-up the battery pack in around six and a half hours. 

Alternatively, find yourself a DC fast-charger and the Mitsubishi can ingest up to 50 kilowatts of power, charging its latest lithium-ion battery pack back up to 80 per cent in under 30 minutes. Sadly, the Outlander still won’t connect to a Tesla plug.

But what I love about this new Outlander is that, unlike its rivals, it drives as an electric car first, and a hybrid second. So, around town it’s always gliding along on battery power alone, with right-now response and near-silent running.

Need more thrust to accelerate out of that freeway on-ramp, or scoot past that 18-wheeler, and the gas motor kicks-in seamlessly to deliver that combined 297-horseys and meaty 332 lb-ft of torque. 

OK, the single-speed transmission for the gas motor does make for a droning sound not unlike an outboard motor on wide-open throttle. But it’s generally well-muted and disappears the instant you ease off the throttle. 

What the Outlander also does extremely well is one-pedal driving. Setting the level of regenerative braking to its highest level lets you drive without almost ever touching the brake pedal. 

Add to that the traction-enhancing benefit of all-wheel drive, a nicely-smooth, refined ride, precise and nicely-weighted steering and a generally solid, confident feel.

But there’s so much more goodness to this three-row compact SUV than just an innovative hybrid powertrain.  

For starters, it looks terrific. In a world of generally tofu-bland SUV design, the Outlander stands out with its bold front-end, cool LED lighting, dipping-and-diving waistline, and good-looking wheel design. 

For 2026, that mid-cycle refresh included a few subtle design changes, to the grille, front bumper and taillights. To my eyes, it looks cooler and classier than ever.

The interior is equally stylish. Spacious too, with terrific second-row legroom, a PODS-like 65 cubic feet of load space with second and third row seats folded, and lots of headroom. Yes, there’s a flip-up third row seat, but no one over five-feet tall is going to fit back there. 

I’ve just spent a week with a high-luxe Outlander PHEV SEL Premium, base sticker $54,590, or $56,375 loaded. Standard features include lovely diamond-quilted leather, massaging front seats, a full-length panoramic glass sunroof and head-up display. The Outlander PHEV range itself starts with the ES at $45,040.

Yes, there’s huge competition in this compact hybrid SUV segment, with Honda’s CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Hyundai’s Tucson PHEV, Kia’s Sportage Hybrid and Mazda’s CX-50 Hybrid heading the list. What surprised me though is that the Outlander PHEV, while the best-equipped, is the priciest of the bunch. 

But it does come with a true peace-of-mind warranty. In addition to the five-year, 60,000-mile new-vehicle coverage, the powertrain has a 10-year, 100,000-mile guarantee, and five years of free roadside assistance.

That’s a whole lot of surprises and delights.