All of the rumors that Subaru is working on an electric vehicle have come from one source — Subaru. While many manufacturers are busy coming up with a plan as to when they'll release their first fully-electric vehicle, Subaru has been quite specific in announcing that their first offering will arrive in 2021. If you doubt the company's commitment to this, let me assure you the entirety of Subaru's sales and marketing divisions are focused on making this a reality. With all of these announcements dropping, I'm left wondering why all of the focus is on 2021?
Subaru is not talking about an electric vehicle. They are talking about a hybrid car that can run on gasoline and electricity. When the company says "electric vehicle," they are not just referring to a car; they refer to a whole category of products, including autonomous vehicles and electric buses and trucks. Since Subaru has promised to bring a "new model" every year, it's safe to assume that 2021 will be the year of the first hybrid car.
The first hybrid vehicles were launched in 1987. That was twenty-three years ago, but no one would call that a particularly innovative industry. The way cars get powered is simple enough: gasoline fuels an engine and goes into a tank. An electric motor turns an axle and drives it forward. And then the gas motor does it again, and you have a car that goes forward for thirty miles on one gallon of gas, then runs for another thirty miles on electric power.
Hybrid cars have been around for more than three decades now, but most people don't know about them because they never put any ads in magazines or anything like that. Hybrid cars are, in fact, fairly popular among people who drive them: close to 50% of all new cars sold in the United States these days are hybrids.
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The market is eagerly waiting to see what Subaru will do with their next vehicle launch. Will they move forward with the BRZ STI Sport, or will they launch an all-new vehicle using a completely different brand platform? The upcoming Tokyo Motor Show will provide the first glimpse of new vehicle development for the auto manufacturer. Until then, we can only wait for information to surface about Subaru's next steps. Be sure to visit our dealership for insights on when Subaru intends to develop their first EV.
