The 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid makes its debut featuring a 2.5-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine, dual electric motors, and a 0.7-kWh lithium-ion battery. The hybrid model of the compact SUV offers significantly improved fuel efficiency compared to its non-hybrid counterparts, achieving an EPA-estimated 35 mpg combined, as opposed to up to 29 mpg combined. When it launches this spring, the new Forester Hybrid lineup will begin at $36,415 for the Premium trim and reach $43,115 for the fully equipped Touring model. Soon, people in this country will be able to buy a cross between the Subaru Forester and another car. There were some hybrid Crosstreks, but their engines weren’t powerful enough to power the bigger Forester. In 2014, the Crosstrek XV hybrid only made 160 horsepower, and the 2019–23 Crosstrek Hybrid (a plug-in hybrid) only made 148 horsepower. The 2026 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid, which was just reported to have 194 horsepower, will use the same hybrid drivetrain as the 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid. The Crosstrek Hybrid came out in 2026, but the Forester Hybrid came out in 2025. Yes, that is a puzzle. The Forester Hybrid won’t come out until the spring of 2025, but it will be available for the first year of the new model. At Last, a True Hybrid Just like the Crosstrek, the Forester Hybrid has everything it needs to be a real hybrid. It now has a 2.5-liter boxer engine, which should have enough power to handle the Forester, which is longer and bigger. The motor by itself only makes 162 horsepower because it is built to run on the Atkinson cycle. However, the total 194 horsepower puts it slightly ahead of the Forester, which isn’t hybrid, which only makes 180 horsepower and 178 pound-feet of torque. It has a strong electric drive engine that makes 118 horsepower and 199 pound-feet of torque on its own, which might not be enough to make it very fast. This should make the car look faster off the line and make it easy to drive around town. It’s a series-parallel hybrid because the Forester Hybrid has a second motor that isn’t used for straight propulsion. This extra motor-generator does more than just start the car. It also manages the speed of the digital continuously variable automatic transmission and charges the battery. The battery can only hold 0.7 kWh of energy, which is more than enough to gather and use energy in a hybrid situation. Also, it uses a lot less gas than regular cars; the EPA says it gets 35 mpg total, with 35 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway. Plans call for up to 33 mpg on the highway, 26 mpg in the city, and 29 mpg altogether. Authentic Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive Unlike other hybrids, Subaru’s is located before the symmetrical all-wheel-drive transfer case. This ensures that the hybrid engine mechanically drives all four wheels. Subaru uses the same method for both hybrid and nonhybrid cars, so the output is always the same. A third electric motor powers the rear axle when needed, while the hybrid system powers the front wheels. This is not the case with other companies all-wheel-drive hybrids. It also has an EV driving mode, X-mode, SI-Drive performance control, and a six-speed manual shift mode. The manual mode only has six speeds instead of eight, and the X-mode is not the dual-function type that you can find on some nonhybrids. However, these small differences are linked to the main differences between hybrid and nonhybrid e-CVTs. Of course, only the hybrid has an EV mode, but with a 0.7 kWh battery, it’s mostly just for show. Additional Differences The Forester Hybrid’s specially tweaked dampers are mostly meant to make up for its slightly heavier weight. Subaru hasn’t told us how much the mass rise is yet, but they will soon. Some of the rise comes from more sound-deadening material, which is meant to make the ride smoother and the NVH a little better. For now, the cargo lift-over is the same because the hatch lip is the same, even if the battery is hidden under the deck. But there is no extra tire for the same reason. Every 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid comes with a 12.3-inch digital set of gauges that show the driver their own maps. It also has a high-resolution tablet that works with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and the Subaru 11.6-inch Multimedia Plus system. All but the Touring have upholstery made of non-animal fur, and all of them come with Subaru’s panoramic sunroof. When it comes out this spring, the base Premium form of the hybrid Forester will cost $36,415, which is about $5,000 more than the least expensive nonhybrid car. The Forester Hybrid also comes in the Sport ($39,415), the Limited ($40,830), and the Touring ($43,115).
