Featured Subaru PHEV coming later this year using Toyota Prius Prime tech

cool!

 

hmm. Like the idea. In today's market a phev and hybrid suburu wagon/crossover will likely sell better than the prius v, and toyota may make more money off the parts then they would off the v.

Subaru and Porsche are the only car companies using flat 4s. With porsche, they started because they are better for air cooling (or oil cooling ;-), and give a low cg. For front wheel drive, the packaging doesn't make sense, so everyone trying to share 4 cylinder engines with fwd cars has gone to an I4. The flat 4 does work well with the subaru awd system. Given time to develop, I'm sure subaru can develop a good psd to replace part of its transmission and work with the flat 4 for a hybrid.

This doesn't make sense in a phev though, with its bigger battery, it doesn't make sense to keep all that weight from the awd transmission. Volvo has through the ground awd, Tesla D or dual motors, and toyota has their mg3 system that they use on the rav4 and highlander hybrids. IMHO the only problem with the toyota system is the motor and battery aren't sized big enough to give enough power, but suburu engineers can fix that fairly easily. My guess the best way to get this phev on the road is use the primes cells and software and maybe even its engine and psd + an mg3, but size the motors and power electronics to act more like subarus awd system. Choose the biggest battery that will fit the chassis using those cells. Trying to get that boxer engine to work with toyota's psd, seems tough, and not the best implementation of this car. Maybe once subaru figures it out for a hybrid the phev will come naturally. It will be interesting to compare the subaru phev in hybrid mode with the rav4 hybrid.

 

Sounds like they are keeping the flat 4, and while Toyota has the best odds of being the hybrid system supplier, it isn't confirmed at this point.

Subaru could go with a parallel hybrid. Such would be easier to install with their existing transmissions and AWD. Not the best for efficiency, but it will help with costs. Long odds is to have the engine drive the rear and have a couple of motors up front. A flip of Honda's Sport Hybrid AWD.

 

price will be interesting.

 

Toyota and Subaru have a flat 4 on their rwd car partnership. Maybe similar to Porsche as fwd ev motor and rwd hybrid?

 

Doing this makes more sense than trying to mate the prius's hsd from the prime to a flat and awd. Maybe that is what they meant. The brz already has rwd that was probably was designed with a toyota psd in mind, perhaps the unit in the Lexus IS hybrid. The 2L engine may be able to go in unmodified.

 

A plug-in, 25-30 EV miles, upper 30's mpg real world highway, Outback would be awesome. The flat-four design is well known for smoothness so adding a torquey electric motor would be one heck of a sweet combination.

I always wonder what if Toyota had put the Camry hybrid drivetrain in the Venza.....

 

That could be the next-gen Prius v.

 

Maybe they will use a variant of the Prius AWD system but I know nothing about it.

 

But the size of the Venza would just drag the v's MPG down further.

 

I have been saying for about half a decade Subaru needs to utilize their relationship with Toyota to develop hybrids!

The Crosstrek Hybrid granted a whopping 1mpg increase over the non-hybrid. And it required you to give up the Eyesight package.

 

In December, Subaru announced that it would join EV Common Architecture Limited, the company formed earlier in the year by Toyota, Mazda, and parts supplier Denso to provide shared components for electric cars.

Shortly thereafter, EV Common added small-car maker Suzuki, along with two more Toyota affiliates: the minicar company Daihatsu, and the truck maker Hino.

But Subaru is adding a few twists, he said, including a longitudinal Subaru engine, rather than the Prius Prime's transversely mounted Toyota powerplant.

Tachimori said Subaru's plug-in hybrid initially will be sold only in U.S. states that have adopted California's zero-emission vehicle regulations.

He declined to say what model the plug-in hybrid will be based on. But he said the vehicle will be exported to the U.S. from Japan.



Subaru plug-in hybrid to use Prius Prime parts, coming in 2019

http://www.autonews.com/article/20180205/OEM05/180209959/subaru-electric-vehicle-future-product?X-IgnoreUserAgent=1

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.