Subaru News: Subaru To Launch A Plug-In Hybrid This Year With Some Help

[William Maley]

Subaru will be launching their first plug-in hybrid for the U.S. later this year and plans on offering a full electric vehicle in 2021. But to pull both of these off, Subaru is enlisting various automakers to help.

Takeshi Tachimori, Subaru's chief technical officer said they are drawing heavily on partnerships with Daihatsu, Hino, Mazda, Suzuki, and Toyota to help with the upcoming plug-in hybrid and EV. The reason for using the expertise of other automakers is Subaru's r&d budget doesn't stretch to include in-house development of these models.

"We can't engage in a large-scale development," he told Automotive News.

As more stringent emission regulations come into effect around the world, Subaru is counting on this plan to meet them.

Tachimori also talked about the upcoming plug-in hybrid. While he wouldn't reveal what model it will be based on, he did say the model would use the powertrain from the Toyota Prius Prime with a twist: the gas engine will be one of Subaru's boxer engines.

"For our plug-in hybrid to be introduced this year, we have used Toyota's technologies as much as possible," said Tachimori.

The plug-in hybrid will be sold initially in states that have adopted California's zero-emission vehicle regulations.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

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[G. David Felt]

So Plug-In for Subaru is a compliance vehicle, with real hybrid / EVs to come later if they have too.