Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid To Appear in L.A.
The stereotypical Subaru customer has always been overly concerned with Johnny Polar Bear, so it’s been a bit of a surprise that the company hasn’t had a plug-in hybrid offering in their lineup.
That changes next year, with the introduction of the 2019 Crosstrek Hybrid. Subaru must be employing a few wizards in the engineering department because despite the new hybrid producing less power and weighing more (a lot more), the company is claiming the electrified Crosstrek is a full second quicker to sixty than the standard car.
It’s a tough claim to figure out, at least for this decidedly non-engineering minded human. If someone else has a different take, please chime in.
Subaru says the hybrid will make a total system output of 148 horsepower, with the gasoline engine good for 137 horses and 134 lb-ft of torque, peaking at 5,600 and 4,400 rpm respectively. The electrified bits are said to contribute 118 horsepower and 148 lb-ft of twist. Its curb weight bends the earth to the tune of 3,726 lbs.
Compare those stats to the standard car, a unit which weighs as little as 3,113 lbs. Its 2.0-liter fuel-swiller makes 152 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 145 lb-ft of torque at 4,000 rpm.
Armchair bench racers will point to the inherent ability of an electric motor to provide peak torque at almost zero rpm as the reason why the hybrid version outscoots the gas-powered car. This is certainly true, and Subaru points out in the spec sheet that the motor generators provide all 148 lb-ft of torque from rest to 1,500 rpm. Still, it’s tough to imagine such a marked improvement in acceleration given all that extra weight. We look forward to driving one and experiencing it for ourselves.
Electrification comes from a series-parallel plug-in hybrid system combining gasoline engine and two electric motor generators. The 2.0-L boxer-four remains on board, as does the Lineartronic CVT which integrates the motor generators in this application.The hybrid battery is a 8.8-kWh lithium-ion unit that can be fully charged in a couple of hours using a 240v power source. It’ll take five hours from a standard plug.
Digging into the spec sheet reveals the hybrid has larger rear brake discs than the standard car, 11.2-inch vented units vs 10.8-inch solids, perhaps to handle the extra 500 lbs of largesse. Ground clearance is the same (a remarkable 8.7 inches, the Suburban only has 7.9) but approach and departure angles are slightly affected if you care about that sort of thing. Notably, cargo volume shrink from 20.8 cubic feet to just 16.9 cubes.
Priced at $34,995 plus $975 for destination and delivery, the 2019 Crosstrek Hybrid will arrive at dealers later this year.
Images: [Subaru]
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The acceleration difference, if it indeed is as they claim in this press release is due to the difference in the area under the curve in engineering speak. Peaks typically don't mean that much though a CVT does increase their importance. Because their peak outputs don't align you get a bit of a double hump curve that has more area under it that the single peak you get out of an ICE by itself. The battery pack's max safe discharge rate also comes into play. The fact that they say that the electric motor has the same torque from 0-1500 rpm indicates that they are limiting the current to the motor until the rpm is high enough that enough back EMF is generated to limit the current.
"The stereotypical Subaru customer has always been overly concerned with Johnny Polar Bear, " Maybe concerned with appearing to care. Until very recently Scoobie mileage was atrocious.