DETROIT -- When I opened the charging door on the passenger side of the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV plug-in hybrid crossover, I found a charging port and a large empty space covered with a flat slab of plastic.
The charging port is the same SAE-standard version I have on my Chevrolet Volt. The empty space? That’s where a large CHAdeMO port should have been.
CHAdeMO is a high-speed direct-current charging protocol for plug-in vehicles being promoted by Japanese automakers and power utilities. U.S. and European automakers have lined up behind another high-speed charging protocol, in a standards battle that inevitably draws Betamax vs. VHS comparisons.
The Outlander PHEV was on display here at a reception Mitsubishi held ahead of the Detroit auto show. Mitsubishi won’t be taking part in the Detroit show, and the Outlander PHEV’s official auto-show debut will be in New York this spring ahead of its sales launch in August.