2026 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid First Look: Less Plug, More of Everything Else
The Crosstrek drops plug-in ability for better efficiency, more power, and more range.
The revamped-for-2024 Subaru Crosstrek was really missing only two things: more power, and a hybrid powertrain option. Thankfully, the 2026 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid is finally arriving this fall to rectify both.
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Pardon the Delay
As you may recall, the Crosstrek used to have a hybrid option. A plug-in hybrid, to be exact, which offered 17 miles of all-electric range at the expense of some cargo space compared to the gas-only model. The EPA figured it was good for 90 mpg-e combined with both power sources and 35 mpg combined once the battery ran out. It used a 2.0-liter flat-four with 137 hp and 134 lb-ft backed by an electric motor making 118 hp and 149 lb-ft, for a combined total of 148 hp.
When the 2024 Crosstrek came out in 2023, the hybrid model was conspicuously absent, and Subaru promised it would return later despite the gas-electric version being launched simultaneously in Japan. Late in ’23 we learned the hybrid was finally on its way to our market, and now we know that after taking the 2024 model year off, it’s skipping 2025, too, and going on sale this fall as a 2026.
More of Everything … We Think
Although most of the Crosstrek Hybrid is the same as the gas models, everything under the hood is new. Subaru’s next-generation e-Boxer hybrid powertrain gets a major upgrade to a 2.5-liter Atkinson/Miller cycle flat-four; it now produces 162 hp and 154 lb-ft all by itself, which is already a healthy increase over the old PHEV’s system. A 118-hp electric motor with 188 lb-ft of torque boosts total combined output to 194 hp, making it the most powerful Crosstrek you can buy.
Don’t plan on doing much all-electric driving, though. The hybrid battery has been downsized from 8.8 kWh to just 1.1 kWh, so you’ll spend most of the time burning gas, even if it is more efficiently. Subaru doesn’t have final EPA numbers yet but has said previously the new system is good for a 20 percent improvement in fuel economy. Do the math, and that should come out to around 42 mpg combined. Subaru has also said that, combined with a larger 16.6-gallon fuel capacity, range on a single tank should jump from 488 miles to 621. That suggests the combined fuel economy might be more like 38 mpg, but we’ll have to wait for official numbers to be sure.
Regardless, power will continue to flow through a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) to all four wheels courtesy of Subaru’s trademark “symmetrical” all-wheel drive. A hydraulic clutch apportions power front and rear as needed but always powers all four wheels. Ground clearance remains at 8.7 inches and the approach angle at 18.0 degrees, so it might even be a little more capable off-road now that it has more oomph.
