Mitsubishi's Eclipse Cross Plug-in Hybrid also comes with an app.

It is primarily used to call up vehicle settings, for example to check whether the doors are locked.

The most important task of the app, however, is to control some functions related to electric driving.

So you can heat or cool the interior in advance and program a charging timer to use cheap night electricity tariffs.

It takes around six hours to charge the battery at a household socket, and four hours with the wallbox with 11 kW and a type 2 charging cable.

The Eclipse Cross then drives a little more than 40 kilometers purely on electricity, the battery has a capacity of 13.8 kWh.

Interestingly, there is a 230-volt socket in the trunk, which can be used to operate devices up to 1500 watts.

Michael Spehr

Editor in the “Technology and Engine” section.

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To connect the app, smartphone and car, you have to alternately press the vehicle lock and unlock key on the key ten times within ten seconds so that the Mitsubishi's WiFi is activated.

A somewhat unusual procedure.

The remote control is part of the standard equipment in the three upscale model variants; it is not available for the cheapest version called Basis.

The infotainment of the base also has to do without navigation.

You get an on-board monitor with smartphone connection via Bluetooth, hands-free and media playback as standard.

The reception of the digital and analog radio programs is also included.

If you want to navigate, use Apple Carplay or Android Auto.

Tomtom navigation is also available in the three more expensive model variants.

The on-board system is kept simple, four softkeys below the display lead to the respective menus, two rotary knobs are used to set the audio volume and control the cursor.

A simple program is offered around telephony and media playback.

The voice control, on the other hand, is astonishing: it is not possible to use it to call a contact from the smartphone phone book without prior training.

And in the navigation department, it is not suitable for entering destinations, but can handle some commands such as the map zoom after announcement.

In order to get real-time traffic information into the system, another app with a vehicle connection is required.

Tomtom then does its job with the usual aplomb and reliability.