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Featured 2019 Subaru Crosstrek PHEV will be company's first plug-in hybrid

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by Tideland Prius, May 11, 2018.

  1. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Not true. The i3 REx had no problem(it might lose space for the engine). For a more contemporary example, the A3 E-tron loses maybe a few liters of space, and its battery is the same capacity as the Prime's. But yeah, packaging everything is a challenge for a PHEV. Some do it better than others.

    Toyota did a really poor job with the Prime's battery; there is a sizable, 4 inch tall void underneath it. Subaru just ported it over as is, and thus has the same issues. I'm sure some space could be reclaimed with a pack designed for the Crosstrek.

    You have to power that more powerful rear motor. The generator motor needs to be larger, which will lead to more gas burned to power the rear. A larger battery will help, but increases the costs for a non-plug hybrid. Without those upgrades, the power output of that more powerful rear motor drops after extended AWD use. That was the issue people had taking the RX hybrids off road, and it will still be an issue for the new Rav4 one.

    The Autoblog article I linked says 90mpge combined gas and electric. I take that to mean the engine fired up at some point during the EPA test cycle like the PiP.
     
  2. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    The BMW i3-REx fits in the rear motor, transmission, and REx space. There is no loss of cabin space.

    Bob Wilson
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    is that space unutilized in the non rex?
     
  4. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Correct. That motor/transmission/REx compartment is like the old VW MicroBus engine compartment. There are some excellent BMW i3 YouTube videos like this one:

    This is a BMW i3 with just the electric motor. The open space is where the range extender engine would fit.

    Bob Wilson
     
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  5. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    To be clear, you mean the empty space next to the motor?
     
  6. PriusV17

    PriusV17 Active Member

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    Impressive off-road capabilities but the cargo space is..

    subaru-phev-cargo-space.jpg

     
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    how do cubic feet compare with prime?
     
  8. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Prime passenger/cargo 91.5/19.8
    Crosstrek hybrid 100.7(97.4 with moon roof)/15.9

    The Subaru has more space overall, but it may not be where you need it.
     
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  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    our daughter is picking up a new impreza tomorrow, and selling her '08 prius. i can't wait to take it for a spin, i've never even rode in one.
     
  10. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Hey here's one I'm curious about- is it important to actually use the plug-in feature on these PHEVs?

    I'm contemplating the idea of one of these crosstreks to replace my Outback in a few years. But there are going to be times each year when I'll be away from any kind of charger for 3-4 weeks/1000 miles or so. Obviously I won't be able to use the car in all-electric mode... and I'm ok with it acting like a regular cordless hybrid... just as long as that is also ok for the car.
     
  11. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    Its fine for the car. Probably letting it sit for a year without pluging-in or driving may hurt the battery, but the idea of a phev is it is a true hybrid, you can use electricity from the plug and/or gasoline, your choice to use either or both. I assume that if the battery gets too low for acceleration it will charge from the gasoline engine, just as the prius does.
     
  12. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Just contacted several Subaru dealers asking when they expect to have Crosstreck PHEV in stock. No one around me has it in their lots yet. One dealer mentioned by the end of the month and another said in the lots around May, but one dealer told me following...
    the Crosstrek Hybrid is being built in very limited quantities (200 per year). If you are hoping to be an early adopter, you'll want to put in a retail order for one right away.
    Is there any truth to this?
     
  13. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Sounds like a bit of truth in each response, mixed with ‘dealer speak’:p
     
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  14. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    If the car is being rolled out to multiple states, I doubt Subaru only plans to make 200 a year, barring a supply limit on a component. Maybe only ship 200 to your state for the first year seems more likely.
     
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  15. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Subaru does their distribution and allocation a little different from everyone else.

    When the company was really strapped for cash in the 1970s, they sold off the distribution rights for CT, MA, VT, NH & ME. Ernie Boch Sr. bought it up. Later, Subaru of America sold off rights to NY & NJ in a second round.

    So today, Subaru Distributors Corporation covers NY & NJ, Subaru of New England (Ernie Boch Jr) covers the 6-state corner, and Subaru of America (SoA) handles the other 42 states.

    SoA handles all the warranty fulfillment coast-to-coast, but the new car allocations and spare part distribution are split between the three distributors. So I think it's likely what they told you was that 200 cars are allocated to SoNE.

    If you're talking to the people at Planet in Hanover, they usually have the straight poop.
     
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  16. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    At least they don't appear to be resisting the PHEV.
     
  17. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Is this going to be a repeat of the Altima Hybrid? (Where Nissan borrowed the Camry Hybrid's powertrain but didn't really want to sell any since they probably would have had to pay Toyota royalty so just strung along until they could get their own hybrid system developed)
     
  18. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    The main difference there is that neither company had an ownership stake in the other, and the partnership was forced by the ZEV program. The Altima was a kludge of its motor with Toyota's hybrid system, and sold only in CARB states.

    In this case, not only does Toyota have a stake in Subaru, but they have partnered previously for the FRS/86/BRZ, Subaru has already done a hybrid, and the system in the PHEV is Subaru's design using Toyota components. ZEV is a reason why the Crosstrek PHEV is happening, but we'll have to wait to see its distribution, before saying that it is the only reason.
     
  19. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    could be wrong .... but my recollection was different. That the Altima Hybrid was discontinued because they didn't like having to pay both Toyota AND the actual inventor of Totota's significant hybrid controls ....
    The Hybrid Inventor Who Sued Toyota - And Won | WIRED
    [​IMG]
    .
     
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  20. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    now here we are, roughly three years later. Time to do a look back. How's that " race" going for ya .......
    ;)
    humor aside, I see one of the folks here at work has one. Haven't asked yet how many miles he's getting personally.
    .
     
    #100 hill, Jul 16, 2021
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2021
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