It’s the era of the hybrid, with everything from the Ford F-150 to the Kia Sportage offering electrified power without the need to plug in as a way to boost fuel economy. Now that the tech is cheap, it just makes sense, and the time feels right for automakers currently out of the hybrid game in America to try again. Case in point: A brand new Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid will soon go on sale in Japan, and while it isn’t yet confirmed for America, it has some precedent.
Subaru has actually offered several electrified Crosstrek variants in the past, but each previous one had its own quirks that may have limited mass appeal. This latest electrified Crosstrek, on the other hand, seems like it could tick the right boxes.
The first-generation Crosstrek Hybrid used a minuscule 0.6-kWh battery pack and an electric motor integrated into a conventional CVT. The result? A not entirely impressive 30 mpg city, 34 mpg highway, and 31 mpg combined using the EPA testing procedures of the time. Considering a regular first-generation Crosstrek with the CVT was rated at 26 mpg city, 34 mpg highway, and 29 mpg combined, an increase of four city MPG is an improvement, but definitely isn’t world-changing on its own.
Sold in America for model years 2014 through 2016, the original Crosstrek Hybrid is a rare sight in the wild, but you can tell it apart from the regular Crosstrek thanks to clear-lens taillights. Get lucky, and you might even be able to spot one in the launch color of Plasma Green Pearl. Very nice.
Fast forward to 2018, and not only was a brand new generation of Crosstrek in showrooms, Subaru needed a compliance car for North American electrification initiatives, specifically in states that follow California’s emissions standards. The solution? A plug-in hybrid called, somewhat confusingly, the Crosstrek Hybrid. It didn’t quite work like the previous Crosstrek Hybrid. Instead of cramming an electric motor inside a regular CVT, Subaru developed a substantially more conventional hybrid transmission with two motor/generator units, then fed it with both a detuned two-liter flat-four engine and an 8.8 kWh battery pack. The result? If you plugged this PHEV in, it could theoretically travel 17 miles before the gasoline motor kicked in. Not brilliant range, but not nothing either.
However, between only being sold in CARB states and carrying an MSRP of nearly $36,000, the second-generation Crosstrek Hybrid also didn’t move in huge numbers. However, maybe the third time would be the charm, because although the incoming third-generation Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid isn’t confirmed for America just yet, it seems like it might be just the ticket.
Instead of a two-liter flat-four engine, the new Crosstrek Hybrid features a more powerful 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine making 160 horsepower and 154 lb.-ft. of torque on its own. Then Subaru added a planetary CVT with two motor/generator units, with the traction motor pumping out 118 horsepower on its own. That electric motor gets fed by a 1.1 kWh battery pack, and the result is a conventional hybrid with a bit of a twist. While some automakers like Toyota like to put an electric motor on the rear axle to create an all-wheel-drive hybrid, the new Crosstrek Hybrid uses a conventional coupling in its transaxle so it has a conventional all-wheel-drive system — part of Subaru’s DNA.
As for efficiency, Subaru claims the new Crosstrek Hybrid can travel more than 621 miles on a single tank of gas on the admittedly lenient WLTP cycle. Oh, and that 16.6-gallon tank comes courtesy of some repackaging, taking advantage of the low profile of a flat-four engine to put the high-voltage controller under the hood.
Add it all up, and the third-generation Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid finally looks like the right package for America. People love their Subarus (except Matt), people love their hybrids, so it would only take the right product to make people love Subaru hybrids. Let’s keep our fingers crossed, shall we?
(Photo credits: Subaru)
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How is Subaru going to meet CARB’s “Advanced Clean Cars II” requirements? Sell many more Solterras?
That under-hood power control unit might need some extra cooling, they should probably put a little hood scoop up there.
I’m very interested in this. I daily drive a ’23 Crosstrek Sport currently, and while the mileage isn’t bad for a lifted awd hatch on Method rally wheels and all-terrains, it could certainly be better. My wife and I have one child, and don’t plan on having any more, so her FXT and my Crosstrek are both the perfect size for our little family.
Anxiously awaiting to see if/when it becomes available, and what those real world numbers look like if so.