"The 2026 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid gives the brand's smallest utility vehicle what it's long needed: better gas mileage. It's a compact all-wheel-drive crossover hatchback that incorporates all of Subaru's traditional off-road chops, with the added benefit of somewhat better fuel efficiency. It's rated at 36 mpg combined versus the 29 mpg EPA combined number for the conventional Crosstrek, with either 2.0- or 2.5-liter engine. (The butch Crosstrek Wilderness trim comes in at 27 mpg combined.)"
"Subaru calls the Crosstrek a subcompact, to position it below the Forester compact crossover. That designation will startle anyone who drives a subcompact from the 1990s or 2000s, but bracket creep due to vastly tougher crash tests has affected every vehicle-and aside from the Impreza hatchback (a Crosstrek minus the lift and the off-road trim), it's the smallest car Subaru will sell you."
"After two previous, somewhat compromised attempts, the company at last is adding hybrid options to two of its most popular lines: the Forester last year, now the Crosstrek. There were two previous "hybrid" Crosstrek models, one for each of the two earlier generations. The 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid was only a mild-hybrid system very much like Honda's: the electric motor added torque and replaced the starter and generator, but couldn't propel the car itself in any meaningful way."
The 2026 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid improves fuel efficiency to an EPA-rated 36 mpg combined, up from 29 mpg for conventional Crosstrek models, while the Wilderness trim rates 27 mpg. The compact all-wheel-drive crossover retains Subaru's off-road capability and uses full mechanical AWD, offering near a 600-mile range and a heated steering wheel for the first time. Subaru classifies the Crosstrek as a subcompact, smaller than the Forester, reflecting modern safety-driven vehicle growth. Two earlier Crosstrek hybrids were mild systems that only added torque and replaced starter/generator functions and could not propel the car independently.
Read at WIRED
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