Subaru Brings Hybrid Tourer Concept to Detroit
12 January 2010
Subaru brought its gull-wing Hybrid Tourer Concept, first introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show last year (earlier post) to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit to highlight its announcement that it will develop a gas/electric hybrid system based on the boxer engine for launch in 2012.
Powering the Hybrid Tourer is a 2.0-liter horizontally-opposed direct fuel-injection turbo gasoline engine that improves fuel efficiency and reduces emissions. The turbo has been designed to improve engine responsiveness and environmental friendliness and utilizes Subaru’s Lineartronic (CVT) mated to a new hybrid system that incorporates Symmetrical AWD.
The powertrain features a unique gas/hybrid two-motor system with a 10 kW electric power/drive motor in the front and a 20 kW drive motor in the rear. The electric motors are powered by new high-performance lithium batteries.
Subaru though innovative at inception are very sluggish and not refined in terms of fuel efficiency as they could have been.
This has not diminished owner approval and resale values apparently.
I guess better late than never.
Posted by: arnold | 12 January 2010 at 05:11 PM