Mitusbishi’s North American dealers have been working with a range of aging, badged models for years – but overseas? That’s another story, and the 459hp all-wheel-drive ASX VR-e electric hot hatch shown here is plug-in-proof.
Let’s get the technical details out of the way: the Mitsubishi ASX VR-e is not built by Mitsubishi. It is built in Taiwan by phone and TV manufacturing giant Foxconn under its Foxtron automobile brand. If you’re cynical, you might argue that the ASX VR-e is just another example of a product designed with a badge intended to fill dealer showrooms.
But for a romantic? Someone whose idea of Mitsubishi has more to do with turbocharged rally monsters and sleek, high-tech GTs? That no one could argue that Magna Steyr builds the iconic G-Wagen for Mercedes-Benz, and that doesn’t make it any less of a Mercedes. Likewise, Porsche built Harley-Davidson’s V-Rod and neither Mitsubishi nor Chrysler built the OG Eclipse or Talon models – Diamond Star Motors did. Through these rose-colored lenses, I tell you that this ultra-fast, all-electric Taiwanese hot hatch built by Foxtron is well-equipped to be the spiritual successor to the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4/Lancer EVO.
As such, this is my story.
Glad to see you again
Featuring a relatively small and, therefore, relatively lightweight 57.7 kWh Li-ion battery, sending power to a pair of electric motors delivering a combined 459 hp (342 kW) and around 516 lb-ft (700 Nm) of torque – good enough to crank the new EVO ASX VR-e nothing to sixty in less than 4.0 seconds. (!)
For those of you keeping score, that’s considerably more power than the most powerful combustion engine Lancer EVO ever built, the UK-only Evo less lb-ft of torque.
Currently on sale in the Taiwanese and Australian markets, the ASX VR-e, like the Lancers before it, comes in slower, more pedestrian versions with less performance and more range. But since we probably won’t get one here either, let’s focus on the one we really, really, really want and hope that someone (Santa? Krampus? Bezos?) decides to park one under a tree this year.
You can check it out for yourself in Mitsubishi’s official reveal video below, then let us know what you think of the ASX VR-e in the comments.
Presentation of the Mitsubishi ASX VR-e
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