Subaru Forester to go electric – report

A battery-electric version of the Subaru Forester SUV is in the works, according to reports out of Japan.

As Subaru Australia’s best-selling model, the Forester is currently available as a hybrid but the new generation may include a battery-electric version in 2025, according to website Best Car.

While an electric Forester has not been confirmed by the company, Subaru has said it plans to offer four electric cars by the end of 2026, growing this to eight by the end of 2030.

The car maker is spending ¥1.5 trillion ($AU15.2 billion) on electric vehicle development, aiming for half of its annual global sales – approximately 600,000 vehicles – to be electric by the end of this decade.

The new Forester was revealed at the 2023 Los Angeles Motor Show and uses a revised – as opposed to all-new – version of the Subaru Global Platform (SGP) used on almost every model currently sold by the Japanese car maker.

The one exception is its first battery-electric vehicle, the Subaru Solterra, which is a twin of the Toyota BZ4X, both due in Australian showrooms in February 2024.

Toyota and Subaru have also collaborated on hybrid development, the Subaru Crosstrek – formerly named ‘XV’ in Australia – using Toyota’s hybrid technology while the Solterra adopts Subaru’s all-wheel drive system.

Subaru has confirmed it will also tap Toyota’s hybrid tech for the new Forester to counter customer criticism of its own system.

Yet Best Car suggests Subaru – which Toyota owns a 20 per cent stake in – will develop an electric Forester independently of Toyota in order to kick off its broader range.

The Forester’s product cycle timing also makes it ripe for electrification, with the Crosstrek (formerly XV) updated in 2023 and the Outback in 2021.

The Forester is a significant seller in Subaru’s global line-up.

The US is the car maker’s largest market by far, where the Outback and Crosstrek relegated the Forester to third in the Subaru sales contest in 2023.

All three were relatively close in sales numbers, though, and made the Top 25 best-sellers, with Toyota the only brand boasting more than three cars in the list.

In Australia, the Forester was the best-selling Subaru in 2023 ahead of the Outback and Crosstrek.