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What's the difference?
The Mitsubishi ASX ES is the baby SUV from the Mitsubishi stable. It has a great kerbside look and the dimensions that makes it your best friend in the city but it hasn’t had a true redesign and that means it has some solid competition from other compact SUVs, like the Kia Seltos, MG ZS and Suzuki Vitara.
In a market where technology and style are at the forefront, how does the ASX hold its own and what does it get right? This week, my family of three has been finding out for you!
We might have been excited to see the new generation Ford Ranger and Ford Everest models in 2022, but the real star of the show for the Blue Oval brand could well be this - its first electrified model to make it to Australia, the new Ford Escape PHEV.
If you’ve seen the letters PHEV before and not understood what it meant, don’t stress - you’re not alone. It stands for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle. And what that means is that this car comes with a battery bank and electric motor, a port to plug it in and recharge it to drive on EV power only, and it also has a petrol engine to make sure you’re not stuck when you run out of charge.
I’ll run through all the details on the drivetrain below, but think of it this way - if you want a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid but want the possibility to drive on dedicated electric power for up to (and in excess of) 50 kilometres on a charge, this could be the right car for you…
The Mitsubishi ASX ES is a compact SUV that, surprisingly, can fit its occupants with relative comfort. The boot is a good size and you have just enough up front to satisfy a driver for everyday use.
The size makes it perfect for urban dwellers and the ongoing costs are fantastic. But by current standards its safety is lacking a fair few items for me.
The Ford Escape PHEV is a good option for a customer who knows they’ll live within the parameters set by the car. That’s the case with any plug-in hybrid, really, so in that regard, this new model is hardly a standout.
And it isn’t particularly outstanding in any other way either. I personally would have appreciated it if Ford had decided to add the plug-in powertrain to the Vignale flagship model instead - that model is more about luxury than sportiness, and would better fit the character of this powertrain in my opinion.
It’s a decent addition to the brand’s SUV range, and a welcome one to the segment, though it won’t be on its own for long.
I love how the ASX looks. It has a wide stance and enough squared edges to not look too cute but its compact size should appeal to urban dwellers where space is at a premium.
The two panels at the front, which sandwich the chrome grille and house quad LED lights, add a lot of personality to the ES.
As do the 18-inch alloys and the way the lights jut out at the rear. There are multiple bright paintwork colours to choose from if you want to add your own flair.
Once inside, you’re reminded that you’re in a base-type model with the analogue instrument panel, traditional gear-shifter and handbrake, but I have fallen in ‘like’ with how old-school it is.
The fabric trims feature a nice lattice-pattern and the dashboard is simple with just three climate dials to navigate.
Overall, the interior is no-nonsense but that might appeal to drivers who don’t want to be overwhelmed by their car and its tech.
I haven’t really warmed to the “I wish I was a hatchback” styling of the Escape, which has a softer-edged look to it than most of its rivals. I mean, compared to a Hyundai Tucson or Toyota RAV4, the Escape looks like a blob.
That mightn’t be an issue for you, and it’s hardly a reason not to buy the car, but I was also a bit disappointed that there’s no real specific highlights to make you realise you’re buying the PHEV model, which - at $15,000 more than the equivalent petrol version - should have something to differentiate it other than the addition of a small badge and the additional filler cap on the front quarter panel for the plug.
Even a different set of wheels would have sufficed. Alas, it’s an identical looking Escape to the petrol. That means the ST-Line trimmings, such as black highlights on the grille and bumper, side skirts, a rear spoiler, and those 18-inch wheels and lowered sports suspension.
The interior, as mentioned in the pricing section, does have a few changes over the petrol version, but they’re hardly game-changing additions.
The ASX is roomier up front than in the rear, and taller occupants will be most comfortable in the front row. There is plenty of head- and legroom, and surprisingly for this class, there’s also a good amount of elbow room!
The front seats are comfortable and well padded and adjust manually but I miss having lumbar support on longer trips.
The fabric trims look nice and it’s great that carpet mats come standard in the ES.
The back seat offers an okay amount of room for my 168cm (5'6") height but taller occupants may feel squished.
My son struggled at times to fit his large school bag through the smaller door apertures, as they are not as wide as the front. However, its 205mm ground clearance makes it an easy car to slide into most of the time.
The back seats aren't terribly comfortable because you feel like you’re perched on top as they sit straight like a church pew. Expect a few 'oomphs' from passengers when going around corners.
Individual storage options up front are good for this class with a deep middle console and glove box, two cupholders and two drink bottle holders. Plus, there is a little cubby in front of the gear shifter which is the perfect size for a phone.
In the back, there is a single map pocket and two cupholders but I would have liked to have seen at least one USB port, too.
As you might expect at this grade level, the amenities are very basic throughout the car. It takes a while for the air conditioning to hit the back row because of the one-zone climate control and lack of directional air vents back there. This is something my son reminds me of on hot days.
The technology matches the amenities with the 8.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system being super simple on graphics and options. It is responsive but basic to use.
There are two USB-A ports and a 12-volt for charging and it’s easy to connect to the wired Apple CarPlay. There is wired Android Auto for those users, too.
The instrument panel has a small digital screen that shows your trip information and average fuel usage but is otherwise analogue and easy to read. There is digital radio and Bluetooth connectivity but that’s it for the tech.
The boot is a good size at 393L and you get a temporary spare tyre underneath the floor. The load space is level and while the tailgate isn’t powered, it’s not a heavy lid to operate.
The Ford Escape looks like it has all the bits to make a midsize SUV buyer happy. And while a fair few of the boxes are ticked, there are some elements that could be better.
The big party trick is that the second row is on rails, so you can slide it forwards or backwards to improve the space for receipt occupants or improve your boot space. The maximised cargo area is 556 litres to the ceiling, while if prioritise second-row occupant space there is easily enough room for a 182cm / 6’0” adult to fit behind someone of a similar size.
In the boot there are remote levers for the second row seats to fold down, a 12 V outlet, and a soft parcel shelf which is easy to remove, too.
During my time with the car I had the seats slid back as far as they go to maximise cabin space, though I did test out whether it was worth having them forward and the boot space was appreciably better especially for a pram and some baby stuff.
The second-row is a 60:40 split for the backrest, with the smaller portion on the driver’s side. That may sound trivial, but we had our baby seat set up behind the passenger, and had to move it to the driver’s side when we picked up a large parcel as it wouldn’t fit with the smaller portion folded down. There are dual ISOFIX child seat anchor points for the outboard positions, and three top-tether hooks.
The boot space is good too, considering it has some extra hardware to contend with under the body, there is also a space-saver spare wheel under there which is nice. However, there is no dedicated hidey hole for the charge cable, and it doesn’t come in a nice stowable bag either - just a plastic ziplock thing.
Perhaps the biggest letdown of the interior is the fact that you still get the tiny little tablet-style 8.0-inch touchscreen media display, despite there being a big 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster. The two screens almost look at odds with one another, and what’s even more frustrating is that the driver information screen cannot be configured to include the energy flow screen that you see on the smaller tablet style unit.
That means you can’t watch what’s happening between engine, electric motor and battery, or a combination where you might expect to see that - instead it can only be seen in illustrative form on the smaller central screen. Big issue? Maybe not, but if you’re an eco-conscious customer who wants to know what their car’s high-tech powertrain is doing, while also wanting to use sat nav, or Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, or change the radio station… Well, you’re out of luck.
There is a much more basic and rudimentary display on the driver info screen that shows a small icon of an engine and battery and illuminates them when each part is in use, but really, Ford should have used the real-estate of the big driver info screen better. Toyota, Kia and Hyundai know how to do it better.
The material quality is okay, but it certainly doesn’t feel like a very special environment.There are rubberised liners on the doors which don’t look terrific or feel fantastic, and why there are soft plastic elbow pads, and up high on the dashboard, it is not of the most pristine quality.
Storage is pretty good. There are bottle holders in the doors and two cupholders in the centre console, and the storage nook in front of the shift dial houses a wireless phone charger and two USB ports, plus a 12-volt plug. There is a strange little shelf section in front of the centre console bin, which is not fantastic in terms of size. There are rear bottle holders in the doors, map pockets and a flip-down arm-rest with cup holders.
That rotary dial shifter which does take a little bit of getting used to. Unlike some others, there is no ‘P’ for park button - instead you have to dial it all the way left.
There are six models for the ASX and ours is the second-from-the-bottom ES grade, which will cost you $27,990, before on-road costs. Let’s check out some of the features you get for the price tag.
Being at the lower end of the line-up means your specifications are a bit slim in the ES but you do enjoy an 8.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system, fabric trims, wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as full LED exterior lights.
Other items include 18-inch alloy wheels, one-zone climate control, two USB-A ports, Bluetooth connectivity, rear parking sensors, dusk sensing headlights, rain sensing windscreen wipers, carpet mats, automatic high beam function, and a digital radio.
The price point for the ES places it as one of the more affordable options compared to its similarly specified rivals with the Kia Seltos S coming in at $29,500 and the Suzuki Vitara sitting at $31,490.
However, the MG ZS has a before on-roads cost of just $22,990 and you get a fair few more features than our test model. Some extra standard specification in the ES would make it stand out against its competition.
It’s hard to consider the Ford Escape ST-Line PHEV to be tremendous value with a price tag of $53,440 (MSRP), especially considering it attracts a circa-$15k premium over the equivalent petrol-powered ST-Line version of the Escape. And that price will rise once more from July 1, to $54,440, as Ford says it will increase the ask due to “continued material and freight cost increases”.
But it does offer a few little extras over that petrol model in terms of standard gear, including partial-leather seat trim, a 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, and a 10-speaker sound system. That’s in addition to the standard kit you’d find on any ST-Line Escape, which includes 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, sporty-looking front and rear bumpers, lower suspension, keyless entry and push-button start, wireless phone charging, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, flat-bottom steering wheel, Ford’s 8.0-inch touchscreen media system with sat nav, digital radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, and also a reversing camera and front and rear parking sensors.
There are plenty of other safety inclusions that you’d expect at this price point - check the safety breakdown below for more info.
If you need additional gear to make your ST-Line feel even more special, you can choose the ST-Line Pack option, which adds a power tailgate, heated front seats and matrix-style adaptive LED headlights. That pack costs $1950. Really, it shouldn’t be an option on this top-dollar Escape.
Other plug-in hybrid models close to the Escape PHEV include the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Plug-in Hybrid EV (starting from $46,990), but it’s a fair bit smaller, and so is the Kia Niro PHEV (from $46,590).
In the same size bracket as the Escape, there’s only the still-to-arrive Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (likely to be $60,000 or more) and the MG HS Plus EV, which kicks off at $46,990 drive-away. Soon there’ll be the Mazda CX-60 PHEV, but it’ll likely play closer to the Kia Sorento PHEV (which kicks off at $80,330).
In short, there’s not too much competition, and that could play to the Escape’s advantage. But does it deliver real-world fuel economy savings that you can’t get with, say, a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid (from $36,900)? More on that below.
If your curious about colours, there are three no-cost options - Frozen White, Blazer Blue and Agate Black - while the optional premium paint options include Blue Metallic, Magnetic grey, Solar Silver, White Platinum and Rapid Red, as seen in this review, all of which will add $650 to the bill.
The ES has a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine with a maximum power output of 110kW and 197Nm of torque. It is a front-wheel drive and has a continuously variable automatic transmission.
For manual enthusiasts, you can option a five-speed gearbox on the base GS model but I find the ES to be perfectly adequate to run about town in. And while it’s lacking a little in power, it has enough punch for open-road driving if need be.
The Escape PHEV is the only model in the range to get a 2.5-litre petrol engine, which runs on the more efficient Atkinson cycle, and has a continuously variable transmission feeding power to the front wheels - that’s right, this Escape is 2WD/FWD.
The tricky bit is that it also houses a clever electric motor and generator, which is teamed to a 14.4kWh battery pack - which is big for a plug-in hybrid car.
The electric motor is capable of 96kW of power, while the petrol engine can produce up to 112kW. All told, the combined system output is pegged at 167kW, though there is no peak torque output figure. Even so, that amount of power is a sizeable number for any midsize SUV, even if this particular one weighs in at more than 1800kg.
Speaking of weight, the PHEV is the least capable towing vehicle in the Escape range. It has a maximum braked towing capacity of 1200kg, where all the others can tow up to 1800kg. Unbraked capacity is unchanged, at 750kg.
The ES has an official combined cycle fuel economy figure of 7.7km/100km but my real-world usage came to 8.6L.
This is a disappointing figure considering how much open-road driving I do, so I would expect that figure to be higher in the city. Unfortunately, the ES isn’t as economical as I was hoping.
Based on a 7.7L/100km fuel cycle and the 63-litre fuel tank, expect to see a driving range of around 829km.
Beware the PHEV fuel consumption figure. That’s a great thing to keep in mind if you’re shopping for one of these cars.
That’s because the combined cycle official figure only takes into account a mix of conditions across 100km of driving. That’s right - only the first 100km. So the best case scenario, for a car that is designed to use its battery to run emissions free until it runs out, before sparingly using the petrol engine to keep going.
As such, it is no surprise that the official combined cycle fuel consumption is just 1.5 litres per 100 kilometres, with CO2 emissions claimed at just 33g/km. That takes into account the WLTP battery range of 56 kilometres stated on Ford’s website.
For reference, I completed my test of the car with a total of 462.7 kilometres travelled, of which, the trip computer stated 292.3km was fully electric. Meaning the remaining 170.4km was driving using petrol.
The indicated energy efficiency was 20.0kWh/100km, which isn’t great against a claimed EV driving efficiency figure supplied by Ford, of 14.8kWh/100km to 15.6kWh/100km.
While the indicated fuel consumption average was 3.1L/100km, so more than double the windscreen sticker’s indicated economy.
However, when I did the maths, I used a real-world average of 3.9L/100km of petrol ($36.15 worth of petrol) and 43.2kWh of electricity (meaning a cost of $9.82 based on the NSW average energy price of $0.2274c/kWh).
So, to do 462.7km I paid $45.97. I think that’s okay, but bear in mind I included several longer trips (Sydney to Glenbrook, Glenbrook to the Southern Highlands and back, and Glenbrook to Sydney and back).
As is always the case, if your intended operation for a PHEV is to use it primarily for urban running within its EV range capabilities, you will be better off than if you push it beyond and use the petrol engine excessively.
For reference, the fuel tank size is 45 litres, which is 12L less than the petrol-only versions. It can run on E10, but only if you can find E10 that is also 95RON premium unleaded.
If you wish, there’s also an app called Ford Pass Connect, which allows you to monitor your car’s state of charge, adjust its start and finish times for recharging and even works as a key for the car to allow remote access, too.
Worth noting the maximum charge rate on a 10-amp plug at home is 2.3kW, while on public charging (which typically runs a higher amperage rate) the max rate is 3.7kW.
I feel like I’ve gone back to basics with the ASX ES. I’m much more alert in it because it doesn’t have the same standard safety tech that I’m used to (more on that below) and it took me a few drives to stop throwing my keys into the cupholder because you need the key to turn on the ignition.
I've missed the good old-fashioned turning of a key. It’s a lot more satisfying than pressing a button.
Overall, the ES is an enjoyable little SUV to drive and there is enough power to allay any worries about whether it will make it up a hill.
The ES is solidly placed on the road and handles corners well but the steering is not exactly razor sharp and you have to make big adjustments. But you get used to that pretty quickly.
In terms of ride comfort, the suspension is adequate for the smooth stuff but you’ll know it if you hit a bumpy road. The cabin noise also creeps up, which is annoying on a longer trip.
It’s certainly compact with its 4365mm length and 1640mm height but that makes the ASX easy to park. The sloping bonnet and relatively flat behind also make it easy to determine where the car starts and ends.
This is very handy because the reversing camera is a bit blurry and you miss out on front parking sensors at this grade level.
Being the ST-Line grade, you - like it or not - have to deal with the lowered ride and sportier suspension, which makes this car ride a bit more firmly than you might want.
I found the suspension to be the biggest detracting element in terms of the drive experience – the suspension picked up a lot of the small inconsistencies in the road surface and transmitted them into the cabin. It was fidgety a lot of the time, and on road surfaces with very poor quality, it could be a bit uncomfortable.
The steering was also bit too tuned for sportiness for a car that doesn’t really need to be quite so aggressively angled that way. It took a bit of getting used to – it was somehow both twitchy on centre but not quite as responsive across the radius of lock to lock as I’d thought it might be, given the initial steering response.
Having said all that, I threw it through a couple of twisty corners and there was a nice handling balance from the chassis and decent grip from the tyres, but I did notice that - being front-wheel drive, with all that power going through the front tyres, there were some instances of it scrabbling for traction, notably on wet roads and looser surfaces but also out of offset driveways.
Other gripes included brake pedal response that was quite abrupt and very sensitive to stopping inputs.
Now, let’s consider the driving modes.
There are different drivetrain setups depending on what you plan to do. EV Auto does the thinking for you, dipping between EV, hybrid and petrol modes. EV Now prioritises electric driving. EV Later saves your battery charge for when you think you’ll need it. And EV Charge means you’ll use petrol power to drive, and also to replenish the battery pack.
The throttle response was decent in EV mode, and in hybrid mode it is nice and quiet, and it drives in a very smooth way unless you really plant your foot hard, then it can be a bit vocal - but less raucous than a RAV4 under full throttle.
The transition between the different drive modes was relatively seamless, as it will readily go between petrol or electric as required, and the four-cylinder is mostly hushed enough so that you won’t hear it too much, especially if you’re driving at higher speeds when it does.
Indeed it was relatively quiet for the most part, though the tyre noise was quite excessive at higher speeds on very coarse-chip surfaces. And in those instances I noticed I could feel the road surface through the steering wheel and the suspension, as it was quite jittery at times.
There is a low speed warning sound that is omitted below about 25km/h and it was quite handy while driving in enclosed car parks - no more accusations of creeping around silently at the shops.
Further, there are multiple drive modes, including Normal, Eco, Sport, Slippery, and Snow/Sand Assist, all of which are designed to make different situations easier to deal with. They will adjust engine transmission and steering response as well as stability and traction control limitations. I kept it in Normal, though a dabble in Sport showed that you’re allowed a bit more aggression from the powertrain in terms of acceleration.
The ES has a basic safety package and it’s not until you’re in the higher grades that you enjoy items like rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure alert, or lane keeping assist.
It’s also missing a big-ticket item for me and that’s autonomous emergency braking.
The following safety features come as standard at this grade level, LED daytime running lights, forward collision warning, seat belt reminders, rear parking sensors, a reversing camera, dusk-sensing headlights and cruise control.
Models made after January 2023 are currently unrated by ANCAP but the previous ASX achieved a maximum five-star assessment back in 2014.
I’m not sure how relevant that is because it's unlikely this car would fare well with its current list of items against the updated ANCAP testing criteria.
It does have seven airbags, including a driver’s knee airbag but its rivals tend to have a few more safety features that come standard. The most similar rival would be the Suzuki Vitara S model.
If you need to fit a child seat or two (definitely not three), there are ISOFIX child seat mounts on the rear outboard seats and three top tethers across the rear row.
Standard safety equipment for the Escape PHEV is on par with the majority of rivals in the class.
It has front autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection (not cyclist detection, though), adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and lane-keeping assist, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, driver fatigue monitoring, traffic sign recognition and a rear-seat occupant reminder system that’ll chime in to tell you to check the back seat before you get out.
There are six airbags - dual front, front side and full-length curtain airbags, but unlike some newer rivals there is no front centre airbag to prevent head clashes.
The ASX comes with the ‘Diamond Advantage’ that Mitsubishi is well-known for and that means you’ll enjoy a 10-year, or up to 200,000km warranty, whichever occurs first.
What?! I know. Pretty great. In terms of duration, that’s much better than anything else on the market at the moment.
Worth noting, however, that a five-year/100,000km warranty is 'standard' and the 10-year cover only applies to cars serviced according to the factory schedule at an authorised Mitsubishi dealership.
If you do, you’ll also enjoy a 10-year or up to 150,000km capped-priced servicing plan.
And although the services average on the more expensive side for this class at $502 each, having those extra few years is a bonus.
Servicing intervals are reasonable at every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.
As with the rest of the Ford range, you get a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty on the car, while the battery pack has its own eight-year/160,000km warranty plan.
And just like most other models in Ford’s range, there is a lifetime capped-price servicing plan, with the first four maintenance visits (due every 12 months/15,000km, whichever occurs first) incurring a $299 fee, which is cheap for the class.
You also get up to seven years of roadside assist if you service your car with Ford’s dealers.