Japanese automaker Subaru announced on Monday that it will release its first all-electric mid-size SUV made in collaboration with Toyota in Europe.
In a 125-word statement released on Monday, Subaru weren’t offering up much in the way of specifics. The company’s first all-electric vehicle is set for launch in Europe and will be a mid-size SUV similar in size to the Subaru Forester.
Most interesting is the fact that Subaru is building their new all-electric SUV on a platform shared with Toyota.
This could mean that the car in question is the suspected Subaru Evoltis which was teased earlier this year and which, according to some reports, will share much of its SUV body with a mystery fully-electric Toyota SUV.
Toyota and Subaru announced that they would team up to jointly develop an electric drivetrain platform for pure battery electric vehicles (BEV), starting with a C-Class SUV that each carmaker will sell with their own badges, back in mid-2019.
In their terse statement, Subaru explained that their move to deliver a fully electric vehicle sometime in the first half of this decade was part of the company’s “efforts to reduce its environmental footprint in Europe and satisfy a growing demand for alternative powertrains.”
The move also marks the company’s second major electrification step in Europe following hot on the heels of its recently launched mild-hybrid variants of three core models – the Impreza e-BOXER, Subaru XV e-BOXER and Forester e-BOXER.
Subaru announced in early 2020 that it had set a target to sell 100% electric vehicles by mid-2030. As part of that larger commitment, Subaru confirmed plans to begin delivering a “strong hybrid” model for release in the latter part of the decade, in addition to the all-electric SUV it was building with Toyota.
“Although we’re using Toyota technology, we want to make hybrids that are distinctly Subaru,” said chief technology officer Tetsuo Onuki at the briefing as reported by Reuters.
“It’s not only about reducing CO2 emissions. We need to further improve vehicle safety and the performance of our all-wheel drive.”
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.