New Fully Electric Subaru Forester In The Works?

Speculative render of the Subaru Forester EV by Best Car. Said Japanese title alleges that the all-electric Forester will debut as early as next year (2025).

It appears that a fully electric (EV) version of the Subaru Forester SUV is reportedly in the works according to Japanese online sources. This is surprising development given that the Japanese automaker had just debuted the latest, heavily face-lifted version of the Forester back in Nov.

According to Japan’s Best Car, the new all-electric Forester could release as early as next year (2025). Subaru naturally remains tight-lipped, but it did previously confirmed plans to offer no less than four EVs by the end of 2026, with said figure doubling to eight EVs by end of 2030.

Subaru s reportedly investing no less than JPY1.5 trillion (approx. RM47.6 million) to develop EVs. In turn, Subaru aims to see at least half of its annual global vehicle sales – roughly 600,000 vehicles – to be electric by decade’s end.

Latest sixth-gen Subaru Forester that debuted back in Nov 2023. Underneath, this heavily revised model still underpins the Subaru Global Platform (SGP) architecture, which is the basis of almost all Subaru models on sale today.

As a refresher, the latest-generation Forester model shown during the LA Motor Show 2023 back in Nov underpins a revised version of the Subaru Global Platform (SGP) chassis architecture – similar bones as almost all the other makers other models.

Besides the Japan-only Rex model, the only other exception here is of course the Subaru Solterra, which is effectively a rebadged iteration of the Toyota bZ4X EV crossover SUV that’s due to enter the Malaysian market very soon this year.

Back to the Forester EV and, according to Best Car again, despite Toyota owning a 20% stake in Subaru, said new EV SUV will be developed independently from the latter automaking giant. The likely aim of this is to kick off a broader range of models based on which.

Could this be the right time for the Forester to go electric? The model currently stands as Subaru's global best-seller.

Adding to the speculation too is the timing of the Forester’s product cycle being ripe for electrification, and the fact that the Forester currently stands as Subaru’s global best-seller. Said model enjoys tremendous sales in key markets like North America.

It’s unclear what sort of EV battery tech and propulsion system Subaru will develop or harness for this, but the argument of the previous paragraph seems sound. With electrified mobility growing in a lot of its key markets, it is perhaps about time for Subaru to develop and offer its own EV.

Closer to home, the heavily revised latest version of the Forester has yet to go on sale in the region yet. Instead, the latest update for the existing model came in the from of the new Forester GT Wild Lite special edition. Registration of Interest (ROI) for which is now open online.

Subaru Forester GT Wild Lite special edition.