Mitsubishi’s exhibition booth at the ongoing Japan Mobility Show features Elevance, a hybrid AWD crossover with a trailer that the company bills as the perfect camping vehicle.
The SUV isn’t based on any current platform and instead looks like it comes from the future. It has a three-row cabin with two seats per row and a steering wheel that retracts into the dashboard when not in use. The front seats swivel around to face the rest of the cabin. A giant display spans the dash panel from pillar to pillar, displaying the gauges, the infotainment system output and the rearview camera feeds. A mode selector dial can be seen to the left of the steering wheel.
On the outside, the vehicle sports overlapping body panels, slim lights and additional LED stripes at the front end. Squared wheel arches with rugged extensions and generous ground clearance suggest that the vehicle is envisioned as a fairly capable off-roader. It also sheds some light on Mitsubishi’s design language moving forward.
Despite being a one-off creation, the Elevance has some actual drivetrain specs to show. For one thing, it features the company’s signature S-AWD (Super All-Wheel Control) system. It receives power from an IC engine and three electric motors mounted one at the front and two at the rear end. Their specific output isn’t available, and the only thing the automaker says about the battery is that it is enough for turning a patch of wilderness into “a luxurious glamping retreat.”
The theme of this year’s Tokyo show is “intelligent mobility”, so the prototype comes loaded with smart tech features. These include AI Co-Driver, an artificial intelligence system that studies the driver’s preferences and proposes routes based on them.
Accompanying the car is a trailer in the same style, designed to provide nighttime accommodation for two adults.
