This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the all new Subaru Forester e-Boxer. We know, we know – calm your inevitable excitement. The ‘e’ of course means that Subaru has electrified its SUV, whilst ‘Boxer’ is your clue to the fact that the electric motor and lithium-ion battery work together with a classic Subaru petrol engine.
Yep, it’s a hybrid.
The Boxer engine in question is a 2.0-litre unit, whilst the relatively small battery mounted in the boot floor provides around a mile of electric-only range at speeds of up to 40kph. Combined, the two make 164bhp and 262Nm of torque.
The exterior changes are clearly only slight, but Subaru says that the new Forester is the third car to be built on its Global Platform. As well as simplifying production, this means that body strength is increased by 40 per cent over the old car, and there’s also an extra 30mm of rear legroom.
It’s a Subaru, so it’ll no doubt be capable off-road. To help with that there’s the Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system, as well as an X-Mode dial that provides SNOW/DIRT and DEEP SNOW/MUD modes.
For on-road driving there’s plenty of new tech. The EyeSight system uses two forward-facing cameras to scan for hazards up to 110m ahead, it then combines this with Adaptive Cruise Control, Pre-Collision Braking, Pre-Collision Throttle Management, Lane Sway and Departure Warning, Lane Keep Assist and Lead Vehicle Start Alert. Blimey.
Perhaps even more interesting (or even more 1984 depending on your viewpoint) is the Driver Monitoring System. This points a camera at the driver and uses facial recognition to detect whether you’re paying attention, or whether your gaze has wandered. Apparently, the system can also be used to recognise up to five different drivers, and will automatically change things such as the seat position, door mirror angle, display screen content and air conditioning settings depending on who gets behind the wheel. Creepy right?
The main infotainment screen is an eight-incher, which thankfully features Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. That’s about all we know for now, other than the fact that the e-Boxer will cost from £33,995 (approx. RM182,801) in the UK – or about £3,000 (approx. RM16,132) more than the previous generation. What do you think, Internet?
