Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

Unfortunately, the average Chelsea tractor isn’t top of the Green Party’s Christmas list.

Those brick-like aerodynamics combined with all the four-wheel drive gubbins and a good deal of weight makes the average SUV expensive to run and bad for the planet.

Until now.

The new Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV may be the first SUV you can drive with a clear conscience. The secret’s in the PHEV initials because the Outlander is a plug-in hybrid.

That means you can hook your Outlander up to the mains electricity supply (at home, at work or wherever you can find a charging point) and charge up a battery that will supply the juice for 30-odd miles depending on the conditions and the weight of your right foot.

The Outlander’s powertrain works intelligently – switching between the petrol engine and the electric motor seamlessly without any intervention on the driver’s part.

And when the batteries are depleted the engine kicks in to keep you motoring and charges the cells up again. At a stoke, all your fears about being stranded by the side of the road with a flat battery are solved.

In theory you could potter backwards and forwards to work (topping up the battery on a night) and never have to darken the forecourt of your local filling station again.

Indeed, a friend was telling me last week that his in-laws have spent a very pleasant six weeks in France doing just that. They didn’t have to fill up with petrol until they headed back to the UK.

That’s why Mitsubishi can claim this big butch SUV can return some astonishing mileage figures (148mpg anyone?) – it all depends on your driving style.

But even if you do drive further than the local shops, and require some petrol assistance, it’s quite possible to average 50mpg which is about as good as a diesel gets these days.

Mitsubishi has cleverly fitted two electric motors to the both axles so the Outlander is an authentic four-wheel drive SUV. Handy if you live in the Dales when the mercury starts to plummet.

But the really smart move on Mitsubishi’s behalf was the decision to price the plug-in Outlander the same as the diesel version.

This is a radical departure. Until now, if you wanted to go green you had to pay a hefty price. Cars like the Nissan Leaf are thousands more expensive than their petrol-powered cousins.

But Mitsubishi’s brave decision means there’s no longer a penalty for doing your bit.

Even better, if it’s a company car you’re after, the favourable tax regime for hybrids means you’ll save a fortune by going green.

And what could be better than that?