In our last video on the Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Electric Vehicle we highlighted how easy the vehicle is to drive, even in the crowded city streets of Auckland, and also how little fuel it uses in the city environment.

In fact, if you re-charge your PHEV at home you can travel around 50km on electric power alone before it needs another charge.

At the same time, during driving the batteries are constantly being topped up as you slow down or brake. And if it’s necessary, the 2-litre MIVEC petrol engine will kick-in to add charge as necessary.

In addition, if it's right for economy, on long trips the petrol engine can directly drive the front wheels, so you’re not getting any transmission losses.

Most important, you can launch your boat, or go off-roading with it, without having to worry about water getting into the electric motors or battery.

To prove this, Mitsubishi has just entered one in an Australian off-road rally, and encountered no problems despite having to barge through lots of deep water.

However, our video this time around isn’t about any of those things; instead we toddled along to  the Mighty River Power headquarters in Auckland, where fleet manager Peter Corner told us about why the company has bought Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles.

He also allowed us a cheeky little free battery top-up at the company's quick-charge station!