Just picked up a new 2018 Outlander PHEV GT today. Black ruby pearl. We settled on this car after checking out what's available in the market at pluginamerica.org. Not quite ready to go all electric and an AWD SUV will really come in handy in Michigan. Although the rated EV range is low, it's replacing a 2014 C-Max Energi, so I'm expecting it to beat that car with the added bonus of being much roomier and have AWD besides. In 4 years of C-Max use, we had a lifetime average of 65 MPG. (Would have been much higher if we could have charged at work). The performance specs (0-60mph etc.) are even worse than the C-Max which concerned me. Thought about waiting for the 2019 refreshed model but after a test drive determined it was good enough. Not "peppy" but has enough pep for our needs. Even though it's new to the U.S. market, it's an "old" model which is should be good from a build quality and reliability standpoint. Also like the fact that it's built in Japan (shhh I shouldn't say that in Michigan). Don't like the fact that it doesn't have a TCU so the remote app is not really a remote app at all. The vehicle is has a wifi hotspot so as long as you're within range of that, you can use the app to access the vehicle after connecting to the vehicle's wifi. I don't know, we'll see. It may end up being workable. Depends if my wife can warm up the car from the window of her office or not. I do like the LDW & ACC. I haven't had cars with those before. Also the surround-camera. Plus FCM gives some peace of mind; hopefully we won't need it but nice to know it's there. Losing the automatic parking feature the C-Max had but we don't parallel park that much around here. I'm a bit puzzled by the inclusion of the fast charge port. It's a hybrid and the EV range is so minimal who really cares? Plus using it damages the battery pack so even if I had access to one I probably wouldn't use it. Oh I take that back. This is a lease car and I'm unlikely to keep it after 3 years so I guess I can use it after all. Just need to see where they are. Speaking of looking for charge stations, oddly, the Outlander PHEV II app doesn't have a charge station search feature. I'd have expected that to be a basic feature of a EV/PHEV app. Not sure I understand the point of all the engine braking levels. (Why not just use the regenerative brakes?) But it seems like it adds some fine control and I'm sure it will come in handy at some point. I'll add more notes as I think of them.
"Depends if my wife can warm up the car from the window of her office or not." I agree that the wifi hot spot is a pain - my husband used it the first few weeks, but had to drop off our home wifi to get on the car's wifi, then switch back when he was done. We got new phones a few months ago and he never set up his new phone to use it. What he had done, however, was schedule it to pre-cool starting at 4:50pm every day. That has made the drive home much nicer this summer. Back in February and March he had it set to pre-heat in the morning too. In the mornings the car is still plugged in to a 110v outlet, but in the afternoon it's using the battery. Hopefully your wife has a set schedule and can use the timer instead of the wifi to preheat and cool the car.
