Forester hybrid coming to Oz, XV likely to be first plug-in

Subaru has confirmed both the Forester and XV will come with electric drivetrains to Australia by 2020 but the Forester won't be a plug-in.

Speaking to Drive at the reveal of the fifth-generation Forester in New York, Subaru America COO Tom Doll confirmed the new SUV would not be a plug-in hybrid.

"We're not saying what it [which model will be the plug-in hybrid] is yet. Wait, no it's not the Forester. Oh I can say that? Ok I didn't know if you could say that or not," he said when finding out the Japanese brand can now confirm its future electric plans further.

Subaru has not said which vehicle will be its first plug-in hybrid though speculation is that it would be either the Forester or XV which is sold as the Crosstrek in the US. But Doll would not divulge which car it will be.

"We can't say what it is yet. The 2.5-litre engine is the powertrain for this vehicle. I can't say for the future but I can say right now that's the powertrain it has."

However, Subaru Australia GM of sales Colin Christie added afterward that both the Forester and XV will arrive in Australia in electrified form. In light of the Forester not being plug-in it is likely that the XV will be the brand's first plug-in with the Forester adding a mild hybrid option by 2020.

"There's definite plans for a hybrid and Tom was talking about the plug-in hybrid that they are getting to market so we don't have an exact time frame yet, but there will be a hybrid for both XV and Forester in the next period of time," Christie told Drive.

"Not for the next model but this model generation Forester. We don't have exact details, but it will be some form of hybrid model."

The new Forester has ditched its manual transmission and diesel and turbocharged petrol drivetrain, coming with only a naturally-aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine mated to a CVT transmission. It leaves a gap at the top of the range where it was previously motivated by a more powerful turbo model.

While there's no plans yet to bring a turbo back into the stable, the new hybrid could replace it as the sportier option.

"There will be no diesel and at this point in time there's no turbo version," Christie said.

"I could see it in the future [hybrid being the more powerful model] and the hybrid brings that off the mark initial electric speed, but we're still working through that and what it might look like for these products and what the base engine is.

"Acceleration is generally better on those sorts of cars."

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