Every night around 9 p.m., Terry Krech sets out in her Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV to deliver an essential service to Twin Cities-area residents, and returns home around 3 a.m. She gives them a sober, safe and comfortable ride, a sounding board if they want to talk or a smooth jazz soundtrack if they do not, and keeps the streets safe for another night. If you ask her, she has found her calling in life – her dream job. If you ask her partner, children and grandchildren, she is a hero. If you ask her passengers, well, she maintains a five-star rating, so she must be doing something right.

In two short years, Terry racked up 160,000 miles in her 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, driving between 150-250 miles each day, averaging 35 MPG, and providing more than 10,000 rides. During that time, she says her Outlander PHEV only required standard maintenance and the addition of snow tires. As if chauffeuring Minnesota's stranded and impaired after midnight wasn't challenging enough, she loves driving her PHEV in the snow and using the PHEV's signature regenerative braking system to recharge the battery and maximize range.

Given that Terry's Outlander PHEV has an all-electric range of 22 miles, and the vehicle automatically switches to gasoline power when necessary, her trusted Outlander made those 160,000 miles as easy and efficient as possible. The vehicle chooses the most efficient mode of operation – electric, gasoline, or a combination of both – to ensure that driving is seamless, reliable and fun.

Why stop at 160,000 miles? She recently traded in her PHEV for a newer model, a 2019  PHEV, at White Bear Mitsubishi in White Bear, Minnesota. Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) talked with Terry to learn about her PHEV experience. She took our phone call from the PHEV, parked in the garage, so she could escape the hustle, bustle and noise of family life inside her home.

Thank you for keeping us safe, Terry, and for making grandmothers and grandchildren everywhere – and us! – proud.

MMNA: You say you have found your calling. Tell us about that.
Terry: I like to think that I have a purpose in my life and that is to help people get home safely. I mainly drive between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m., because that's when people need rides the most. I will say that it requires patience – and a sense of humor – but I have both! I worked as closing-shift manager for a drive-through, fast-food restaurant for almost 20 years. Been there, done that… had a few sandwiches thrown in my face!

MMNA: What is your most memorable experience in the PHEV?
Terry: Once, right around 5,500 rides, I picked up a group of guys in their mid-twenties, who were out having a good time. I like to listen to a local jazz station while driving. I find it relaxes people who are just coming out of a loud bar and may have been over-served.  Anyway, one of them asked me to turn it up. Turns out, he had never listened to jazz music, and man, did it blow his mind. I said, "what do you mean? It's jazz, man!" For the full 12-minute ride, we listened and laughed and had a great time. Best ride ever.

MMNA: You don't consider yourself to be tech-savvy. You don't even own a laptop. What drew you to an electric vehicle?
Terry: This is my full-time job, so fuel economy and efficiency are important to me. I typically get 35 MPG, often 38-40 MPG. I track everything in my notebook – expenses, dates, times, distances. I can switch back and forth between eco mode, battery-save mode, and battery-charge mode using the regenerative braking system, just by clicking buttons. That makes it easy (and fun) to operate, even for me. Reliability is also important to me, and electric motors tend to last a long time.

MMNA: And why the Mitsubishi PHEV specifically?
Terry: I feel incredibly safe in the vehicle, especially in the snow. It is solid and incredibly responsive, and I've never driven anything that felt so stable on a slippery on- or off-ramp in the winter. It's comfortable for me and for my guests. I regularly get compliments about the car from my riders.

MMNA: You mentioned reliability, but you only had your PHEV for two years. What prompted the trade-in?
Terry: I think my first PHEV could have made it to 600,000 miles! But the guys at White Bear Mitsubishi – shout out to Dave K.! – gave me the chance to get into a new model at almost the same payment, so I took him up on the offer. I picked up my 2019 on my birthday. They gave me a cake and sang and everything!

The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is the world's best-selling plug-in hybrid vehicle. On sale early this year, the 2021 model will see major revisions, highlighted by a completely new powertrain, and a host of updates to each trim level. The updated internal combustion engine has increased displacement and greater horsepower, and the larger and more refined electric drive system offers greater all-electric range and speed of operation.

About Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.
Through a network of approximately 330 dealer partners across the United States, Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc., (MMNA) is responsible for the sales, research and development, marketing and customer service of Mitsubishi Motors vehicles in the U.S. MMNA was the top-ranked Japanese brand in the J.D. Power 2020 Initial Quality study, ranking sixth overall and experiencing the greatest year-over-year improvement of any brand.

Located in Franklin, Tennessee, MMNA is a part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. Mitsubishi continues to lead the way in the development of highly efficient, affordably priced new gasoline-powered automobiles, while using its industry-leading knowledge in battery-electric vehicles to develop future EV and PHEV models.

For more information on Mitsubishi vehicles, please contact the Mitsubishi Motors News Bureau at (615) 257-2698 or visit media.mitsubishicars.com.

# # #