Subaru has recently installed a large printer into its U.S. headquarters in order to press out millions of dollar bills that will result from the sale of this: The 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid. I could go on about how ridiculous it is that Subaru has waited this long for a hybrid version of its non-Crosstreks, but what matters is that the Forester Hybrid is here, and it’s going to be everywhere very soon.
I generally don’t like the stereotype the types of owners who own certain cars, but there is a common thread among Subaru Forester owners. Typically they’re in a small family household, they care about sensible things like safety and snow performance, and they bought a Subaru wagon/crossover because a real SUV is just too thirsty. Again, it’s not always the case, but in general, I’ve always seen Subarus — especially Foresters — as cars purchased by sensible minds and not necessarily hugely enthusiastic ones.
Few things are as sensible as hybrid powertrains. They’re for folks who aren’t quite ready to take the full-EV step (for financial reasons or otherwise), but who just want a safe car that won’t beat them up at the gas pump. Anyway, all I’m trying to say is: This Subaru Forester Hybrid is going to be on every suburban street in America very soon.
Let’s get straight to the 194 horsepower mid-size SUV’s numbers:
With up to 581 miles of range on a single tank of fuel, the 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid earns an EPA-estimated rating of 35 mpg city, 34 mpg highway, 35 mpg combined, which is an improvement of 10 mpg in city fuel economy. The 2025 Forester Hybrid will arrive at retailers nationwide in spring 2025, starting at $34,995 MSRP.
Hot damn! That’s a huge improvement. And a good price!
The base 2025 Forester costs $29,810, but given that the hybrid is only available on Premium (which starts over $32,000), Sport, Limited, and Touring — it’s closer to a $3,000 delta. Subaru told me over the phone that if you factor in other standard features, the hybrid really only adds about $1,300, which would be an absolute no-brainer. In fact, let’s just look at some numbers.
Here’s the non-hybrid Forester’s fuel economy:
That $1,600 annual fuel cost for the non-hybrid is for folks driving 15,000 miles a year and paying $3.13 a gallon, assuming 55% city driving and 45% highway driving. If you were to plug the same parameters into the hybrid Forester, you’d come out to about $1,350, or a savings of roughly $250. If the delta is $3000 between hybrid and non-hybrid, that would take 12 years to pay off, but at $1,300 similarly-equipped, buying the hybrid would pay off in just over five years.
But $3.13 is cheap gas! Here in California, where gas is $4,50 a gallon, if you drove 15,000 miles a year you’d pay about $2,330 in fuel for the non-hybrid and $1,950 per year on fuel for the hybrid. That’s saving you about $380 per year getting ~35 mpg instead of 29. If we compare the two Premium spec models, the $3000 gap would go away in eight years, and if you consider the delta to be $1,300, the hybrid would pay off in 3.5 years!
That’s not even considering the drivability benefits of a hybrid or the joy of being able to drive longer without refilling. As you can see in the EPA screenshot above, the standard Forester will go 481 miles on a tank; the hybrid? 581.
This thing is going to sell like crazy.
All Images: Subaru
Yeah the only thing that will be holding back their sales is how many batteries and other components they ordered. So yeah these will have waiting lists, I also expect they will be sporting big fat ADP stickers, at least initially.
I am on my 3rd Subaru right now, and I can’t disagree with you more. The Forrester was never a great vehicle, it always felt cheaper than the rest of the lineup, and it costs the same as an Outback, which is far superior. Keeping it In the family, the Impreza wagon gets that same mileage with no hybrid nonsense, for $15k less. The Outback gets almost the same highway mileage, and costs the same, and is a far better vehicle. Going to the extended family, RAV-4 Hybrid gets almost 41MPG for the same cost, and is also more comfortable. Subaru is so far behind the trend here.
A massive improvement that makes this the no-brainer of the lineup. For once, the wheels aren’t heinous which seems to be a recent Subaru hallmark.
200ish hp in something this large in 2025 is not enough.
I’d still buy a Mazda.
If only Mazda would come out with more hybrids
Good lord does that car look underwheeled.
Wait until you see it in the Wilderness edition.
It’s like the boats (cars?) from Spongebob; tiny little wheels. Crazy enough, they are freakin’ 19″ wheels too!
I thought it was on the spares.
Our Dark Lord of aesthetics speaketh! When do we get another long-read out of you, Adrian? Been a minute.
Coming. I’m working on three pieces concurrently and will soon be chasing a fourth. Stuff has been going personally which I mentioned in the members Discord a while back.
Or another way to look at it… it’s over-wheel-welled
As someone who has never been afraid of trying new technology, I am somewhat baffled by the fact that hybrid technology has been around for close to 25 years and has only in the past five years or so become popular enough that most people seriously consider buying one when they’re car shopping. Does it just take a generation or so for most people to get comfortable with new automotive technology? I still regularly see people
…refer to EVs as new, unproven technology. Do we simply need to wait another half generation or so for them to become mature enough to be widely adopted?
I think some of it is the proliferation of hybrid options, for a while they were their own vehicle (Insight, Prius) and later an option on some vehicles (RAV4 Hybrid showing up for the 4th gen) and now it’s pretty much available in some form, in almost every segment.
Granted there’s some folks you have to explain that Toyota’s been actually making hybrids for 25+ years and NiMH is very safe chemistry (no the 4Runner hybrid battery isn’t going to burn you to a crisp) but I think the price delta generally shrinking plus more vehicles coming in hybrid helps.
Most unproven technology worries for EV’s are probably a combination of them being “different” than gas cars (and different must be bad!), how automakers can’t resist turning EV’s into poorly-coded rolling tech demos more often than gas models (see: Ford Mach E or Lightning OTA update failure meaning car won’t move), and varying degrees of worry about long-term battery health.
I know battery degradation has a lot of history to look at but it seems to vary widely, air vs. water cooled packs vary (People point at earlier Nissan Leaf degradation) and repair/computer concerns. (1st gen Outlander PHEV’s computer intentionally reduces usable capacity over time unless a special procedure is performed at a Mitsubishi dealer, plus degradation – Toyota batteries can be redone aftermarket, but finding Outlander PHEV pack service seems tougher but I could be wrong now)
I would say yes, it takes time for people to accept new technology AND personally know people that have the tech and like it. There is very little trust in experts in the USA – people don’t change opinion until someone they know and trust gives them data to change their mind.
The same FUD being talked about today with EVs was said about hybrids 25 years ago. Thing like batteries only last 5 years, cost a fortune to replace, and a V8 actually consumes less resources than an EV / Hybrid due to the battery. (Remember the “study” that said a Hummer was better for the environment than a Prius)
Today that FUD has been disproven with hybrids. People know people (friends, coworkers, family) that have owned hybrids and are happy with them. The batteries didn’t fail and most go to the scrap yard with the original battery. It is hard to ignore the real lived experience of someone you personally know.
This was how it worked for me as well. I was the first in my family / friends group to buy a hybrid – a 2005 Prius. I drove it for years and many miles and it returned the advertised fuel economy, never broke, and went to the another owner more than a decade later with the original battery in good shape. After seeing my experience with my Prius my father (who was dead set against “complicated” hybrids) bought a Prius and had zero issues with it and got great fuel economy for more than a decade. Based on their experience several people in their church bought Toyota hybrids and now my parents just replaced their Prius with a RAV4 hybrid.
I’ll just leave this here, since Bend is overrun by Subarus and Sprinter Vans
https://thatoregonlife.com/2025/01/subaru-shortage-bend/#google_vignette
I bought a Forester because I wanted a small-ish, affordable, AWD SUV with at least 230hp (and a giant greenhouse). Alas, that version of the Forester is no longer available…
I acknowledge I am not the typical Forester buyer (which is why that version is no longer available).
Tires/wheels look way too small… no doubt improves the mileage, but would a bit more offset hurt?
Yeah they’ll sell all that they can build.
Does it use a planetary eCVT like a Toyota hybrid instead of the usual belt-and-pulley Subaru CVT? If so, that’s another boon toward long-term reliability and should make these a great used buy in a decade or so.
eCVT.
Foresters are everywhere already around here. Hell, my wife has a ’17 in the driveway. Been a great little family runaround even if the gas tank feels like it’s the size of a thimble.
This really would be a great dad car for me wouldn’t it? I’m going to need a bigger car sooner rather than later and had already talked myself into a 4Runner or the new Passport but if I want to be honest with myself (BIG if) this is probably all the capability I need and it will literally get 15 MPG better than I’m currently getting in my Kona….
I’m considering the Crosstrek Hybrid for my dad car. Perfectly capable and great on gas, justifies something small and sporty as a 2nd car
Exactly. It’ll be easier to sell a weekend car a few years down the road after we’ve paid our dues with the hybrid wagons.
The CRV hybrid is more economical. The CX-50 hybrid is prettier. Both are more compelling.
AWD for AWD, the Honda’s 40 mpg city rating is definitely going to stand out, but the combined rating of 37 is a lot closer. Personally I like that Honda does allow a FWD option, but for those set on AWD, they’re a little closer and they’re all in the shadow of the RAV4’s 41 city. The Honda is probably still a nicer vehicle overall but of course hasn’t stopped Subaru sales yet.
The Mazda is definitely nicer inside and out, but the big advantage the Forester has is space. (True of the CR-V over the Mazda too.) The Subaru has 6 more cubic feet of passenger space than the nonhybrid Mazda, and nearly 10 more than the hybrid, with more space in basically every dimension. The hybrid Mazda has a couple cu. ft. more cargo space with the seats up, but seats down max volume the Subaru has 13 more. And the Mazda is longer and wider too, so not a case of the Subaru just being bigger (it is taller).
I would have mentioned the RAV4, but close the doors on the CRV and the RAV and you’ll notice that the CRV feels more solid. Same with the interior. The RAV will last longer, but the CRV feels better.
Oh definitely – I brought up the Toyota just since the average customer is likely to shop it too and presents better on a spec sheet, like a “have your cake and eat it too.” Though if you really need AWD the Toyota e-AWD is likely less compelling although IMO it covers what most people actually need from an AWD system.
Like the Crosstrek Hybrid, the Forester Hybrid will have the same symmetrical all-wheel drive system as conventionally-powered Subarus. Whether or not that will make much real difference to drivers remains to be seen.
Not if you live in Subaru country. Here in the Pacific Northwest Suburus have almost a cult like following.
That’s true. I lived in Denver too, where Subarus were ubiquitous. That being said, I have never been compelled to own a modern Subaru, as they are quite annoying and soulless. The AWD is impressive (or Imprezzive) but the Old quirky Subaru is long gone and the competitors are better.
Why don’t they just call it a 2026? 😛
Probably late enough to start the 2026 model year anyway…
Jan 1 it can be called a 2026 in America.
It doesn’t have the stupid raised cargo floor of the Hybrid Crosstrek! Credit where credit is due Subaru!
But turns out still no spare! Darn!
:'(
I would struggle to get 15,000miles (25,000km) in a year in my car.
I’m averaging somewhere around 5,000miles (8,000km).
I’m probably a solid case for an EV based on my daily driving habits, but I’d never be able to get it to pay off. I could easily justify horrendously bad vehicle guzzling premium fuel and still be, financially, well ahead of a decent EV – but I’m just too cheap for that.
Take it from a real Green Guy – at 5000 miles/yr, drive whatever you want. You can’t save gas you’re not already using.
A Toyota Sienna Hybrid AWD somehow also gets 35mpg combined. I get that this Forrester Hybrid gets better MPGs than the gas version, but it’s not very impressive when you consider what else is out there.
I think it’s a decent compromise due to the symmetrical all wheel drive. All of the non iForce Max Toyota hybrids have an eAWD system that’s literally just a small electric motor over the rear axle that has no physical connection to the drivetrain. It’s enough to get you out of a pickle but if you need actual all wheel drive for whatever reason it isn’t going to cut it.
Subaru’s engines are quite thirsty for their size, and the AWD doesn’t help, either.
They can’t achieve 30 mpg without a CVT, for example.
35 mpg is actually excellent for a big SUV with AWD as capable as the Forester
It’s about the same as the hybrid Highlander gets which is a similar package
Actually, the non-hybrid Forester gets 26/33, the CR-V gets an inferior 26/31 with 4WD. 26/33 is just fine and not “thirsty”. Subarus current line of direct injected engines are competitive. I recently bought a ‘25 Forester and it actually achieves its rated mileage.
As many of you know I have a weird appreciation for perfectly executed appliance cars. In a way they’re not that different from great sports cars in that there’s a ton of extra engineering and thought that goes into them. A truly bad appliance car is a dreadful experience that can make your days worse. A truly good one fades into the background completely, and in that way it’s almost a luxury good, especially if your commute sucks ass or you don’t enjoy driving.
Anyway, on paper this is pretty much a perfect appliance car. It has tons of space, is usable in all seasons (the actual all wheel drive is a really nice feature, especially considering the eAWD systems in a lot of the competition are not very good), is highly efficient, can go a long way without gas, and I’m sure this will be a nice upgrade from a refinement perspective because those naturally aspirated Subaru boxers are um…quite a sensory experience, and not in the good way.
And as everyone is saying I can’t imagine there are very many members of Subaru’s usual demographic that would say “no thanks” to a hybrid. Anyway if you want one of these or the Crosstrek hybrid get a hold of your local Subaru dealership now and get your name on the list because you will not be able to buy one off the lot for the first year at least.
I would think a hybrid falls solidly into their traditional buyers. It’ll sell, even if it’s unreliable for the first year/two.
(if only we could imagine a hatchback WRX w 6MT as a performance hybrid)
Out of all the outlandish enthusiast dreams I’ve come across lately a hatchback manual hybrid WRX is one of the most enthusiast-ey
You’re welcome.
My wife and I have a bit of a vendetta against Subaru, but this new Forester as a hybrid is really hard to argue with.
We’re still mad because our 2011 Forester had its engine out twice (once for replacement!) before 150 thousand KM. That car was simultaneously such a piece of shit, yet so adequate- It is conflicting.
The tall, spacious greenhouse and interior are really like no other in the segment, and the AWD system seals the deal. I’d recommend a CRV to most SUV buyers 9 times out of 10, but if you live in true rural snow country, slip n grip AWD just doesn’t cut it. That leaves you with body on frame SUVs and trucks, some permanent AWD EVs and… Subarus. The packaging of the Forester with it’s midsize space on a compact platform make it the pick of the litter.
Saw the headline and assumed Matt wrote this.
For me, the draw with hybrid powertrains is more about–as you mentioned–a premium driving experience versus the non-hybrid models. Drive a gas-only RAV4 (whose displacement and characteristics are alarmingly similar to those of an old GM Iron Duke, in my opinion) and then a RAV4 Hybrid, and tell me which you would rather have, fuel-economy benefits aside. No wonder Toyota is considering going hybrid-only for the next RAV4, as it did with the ’25+ Camry.
That said, short-lived or low-volume hybrids make me nervous, especially when it comes to future battery support. The prior Crosstrek Hybrid is one such example. So I hope that this is an initiative to get this powertrain into other Subarus, like the Outback and Ascent.
It’s the same equipment that’s in the new Crosstrek hybrid as well, for what it’s worth
Hybrids give a better driving experience, better fuel economy, and save money long term. There is no economic reason to not buy the hybrid in most regular vehicles.
Speaking from the manufacturer side, there are also good reasons for Toyota to go all-in on hybrids in their bread and butter cars. That 2025 Camry meets 2032 CAFE requirements today so Toyota is booking LOTS of credits to offset their Tundras and other guzzlers.
To elaborate on the features – seems like the hybrid versions include the respective option package available on Premium, Sport, and Limited trims. Which I suspect Subaru builds most of them with it anyway.
I don’t know that they’ll follow the exact same structure for the Crosstrek hybrid, but does seem like pricing of that may end up very close to the Forester.
According to Matt, I thought the only Forester I should consider is No Forester.
It would be nice to see a base model hybrid for only $1300 more. It’ll still sell like hot cakes though.
I suspect they’ll have fairly limited availability for the first year or two relative to demand, heck even Toyota can’t seem to build Rav4 Hybrids fast enough, so if you can only make so many, do it on higher trim cars. Sucks for the consumer but makes plenty of business sense.
In general the base model is one of the worst selling trims AND is sold at almost no profit or sometimes at a lost. They are there to get people into the dealership not to be a volume seller. They also usually leave out key features specifically to get most people to buy a higher trim with a better margin.
481 mile range without the hybrid? How big is that gas tank?
My wife’s Outback has a 17 gallon tank which as a Fiesta guy with an 11 gallon tank always seems massive to me. In the city the range is about 400 miles and that bumps to 500 on the highway. That wild swing in range drives me nuts.
My old van had a 33-gallon tank, and got roughly 11 city and 17 highway. (~363-561 miles, albeit I never actually got much over 500 in practice)
Username checks out. I’ve always owned 4 cylinder hatchbacks so anything getting less than 30mpg pains me.
Totally fair. Until the day the right conversion van shows up affordably and near me (which might never happen), I’ll be using far more efficient vehicles, like my Prius v. Or at least a Camry, Corolla, etc.
Buying my 2003 Jetta Wagon TDI that averaged 48 mpg opened my eyes to what good fuel economy can be. Since then I had a fuel efficient car: Prius, Spark EV, Bolt EV.
I also have some different vehicles in the fleet for different purposes. The 2004 Chevy camper van does high teens. It is being replaced by an Express 4500 Ambulance that does surprisingly good at 15 – 16 mpg with the Duramax. The 59 gallon tank gives me a 900 mile range – but a fill-up is more than $200
I hope you are or become a member, because I’d love to read your Members’ Rides!
Actually, it’s 16.6 gallons x 33mph highway = 547 miles.
I wonder how hard these and the Crosstrek Hybrid will be to find once they start hitting dealer lots. The average Subaru buyer is the perfect demographic for these hybrids and the hp bump is a welcome feature to boot
Yea I doubt you can find either of these at MSRP. They probably aren’t going to make enough to meet demand.
It’s a competitive segment. If I missed out on one of these the CR-V, RAV-4 and CX-50 hybrids would all be solid fall back options.
Aren’t those also hard to find?
The Mazda’s still pretty new but they’re out there, I’ve seen them on dealer websites in my area with actual pics (so not just a sold unit hitting the site while it’s in transit).
RAV depends on what Toyota seems to feel like allocating that day but seems like they’re ready to go all-in on hybrid as they did the Camry.
Honda has been pretty committed to half of all CR-Vs being hybrids so that’s probably the easiest one to find. Dunno what Subaru plans for the model mix with all their upcoming hybrids.
44% of Toyotas sold in the USA were hybrids in 2024 and towards the end of the year they were close to 50% hybrid.
I suspect going forward any bread and butter model is going to be hybrid only when it gets redesigned just like the Camry and Sienna.
My parents had no trouble getting a regular RAV4 hybrid last August. The Prime is still in short supply.
I’ve been in contact w/my Subaru salesman at a local dealership. Today he sent me the SOA webpage link with the announcement of trims, specs and pricing and asked which one I wanted. Yeah, they’re gonna’ move a lot of these.