Subaru details its new-generation hybrid powertrain

Subaru has detailed its new-generation boxer hybrid system – the first powertrain shown as part of its ‘multi-pathway’ collaboration with Toyota and Mazda.

The recipe in this instance is refreshingly simple: retain the Japanese car-maker’s signature horizontally-opposed ‘boxer’ engine and employ it as a generator as well as a drive unit, creating what it calls a series-parallel hybrid system similar to Honda’s e:HEV system.

Unlike the current ‘e-hybrid’ mild-hybrid system used in the Forester hybrid and new Crosstrek, the new series-parallel powertrain will package the internal combustion engine, electric motor, transfer case and transmission together at the front of the vehicle, with a drive shaft stretching back to a small rear differential in order to provide all-wheel drive.

The power control unit sits on top of the arrangement, freeing up room at the rear to offer a traditionally-sized fuel tank.

Subaru chief technical officer Tetsuo Fujinuki said the flat engine configuration and all-wheel drive system are the two signature hallmarks of the brand and the main reasons customers are drawn to its cars, making their retention crucial going forward.

“If you were just going for efficiency, horizontally-opposed engines are not necessarily always the best option,” he said.

“But what would Subaru be without them? The basis of our focus is the differentiation.”

Specific details of the internal-combustion element like capacity, power outputs and fuel consumption haven’t been announced yet, but Fujinuki said the unit was smaller than Mazda’s prototype rotary range-extender and would be compatible with carbon-neutral fuels as of next year, as well as plug-in hybrid applications further down the line.

The system will send drive to the wheels via a transaxle – as opposed to the traditionally favoured continuously variable transmission (CVT) set-up – production os which will start later this year at Subaru’s recently renovated Kitamoto Plant.

With working prototypes already on display and the mass-market transaxles going into production soon, it shouldn’t be too long before the new series-parallel hybrid system is available to consumers.

Judging by the camouflaged Subaru Crosstrek prototype on display alongside the static powertrain during Fujinuki’s address, we anticipate the system to launch globally under the bonnet of the facelifted Crosstrek in 2025.

Subaru says it has no plans to abandon purely internal-combustion engines in favour of hybrids and even teased the prospect of an upcoming concept that’s set to showcase carbon-neutral fuel technologies in a high-performance application.

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