During the annual, festively-fun-and-well-run Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA) Spring Road Rally at the historic Road America raceway in Elkhart Lake Wisconsin in late May 2025, Subaru sponsored a tasty lunch and detailed the newest derivative to its popular Forester lineup in the form of its next-generation hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a fuel extending, self-charging opportunity never in need of a wall-socket refuel. It also served as a week-long tester upon arrival back to the Windy City.
Bill Stokes, Carline Planning Manager for Subaru of America, served as Master of Ceremony during a compact, Noon-time presentation highlighting the niceties. “Forester’s 2025 full redesign now offers an all-new hybrid system not shared with previous Subarus,” Stokes said. “Forester now features improved all-wheel drive with a faster central differential response. These are good times at Subaru.”
This next-generation series-parallel HEV choice delivers up to 40 percent better fuel economy within city travel than the conventional 2025 Forester. Both include Subaru’s dependable 2.5-liter four-cylinder boxer engine with the HEV adding a high-capacity lithium-ion battery pack and two motor generator units paired with the transaxle (one as a generator charging the DC battery pack, one as a traction motor) delivering a total of 194 horsepower. This figure represents a 14 horsepower jump from the 2025 ICE variant.
Coupled with a sizeable-for-a-compact 16.6-gallon tank, and filled with recommended, regular, 87-grade octane fuel, this vehicle provides 581 miles of travel, eliminating any lingering effects of ‘Range Anxiety.’ Range Anxiety best describes as a newly-coined malady experienced with piloting pure electric vehicles (EVs) with no workable direct current charging station in sight along the expressway and battery capacity reaching dangerously low levels.
The five-passenger, compact Forester Hybrid debuted to the general public at the 2025 Chicago Auto Show within the confines of its detailed display with misting deep-forest effects and woodsy off-roading theme tying with its working relationship with the National Forest Foundation. Also debuting at the show, a 2025 ICE Forester trim level boasting the company’s ultra-capable off-road designation, the Forester Wilderness.
The hybrid version is based upon the sixth-generation Forester platform Subaru introduced in 2024 with the first generation coming online thirty years earlier.
It’s not Subaru’s first foray into gas-electric hybrid mechanics here in North America. The compact Crosstrek Crossover introduced the company’s first-generation attempt into this fuel-extending opportunity in the 2014 model year through the 2023 model year. Crosstrek plans a second-generation hybrid effort beginning in the 2026 model year utilizing similar, more advanced technology to what the 2025 Forester hybrid offers.
Both Crosstrek and Forester five-door crossovers share identical wheelbase dimensions (105.1 inches) with the compact Forester boasting a larger overall length of 183.3 inches, 6.9 inches longer than Crosstrek.
The added electric motor boost provides improved low-speed acceleration when compared to the traditional Forester, useful in urban-style city driving. During highway travel, this hybrid offered a quiet ride thanks in part to added sound deadening materials.
Subaru’s hybrid electric technology self-charges in part through the workings of its smooth regenerative braking, a tested, effective means of extending fuel mileage by creating electricity with no driver input. Each time the foot brake engages, power created through kinetic energy gets created and stored within the large Direct Current battery pack for later reuse.
Forester hybrid, and most every Subaru, are fertile ground for permanent, Symmetrical all-wheel drive, always active and integrated into the transmission, sending a balanced distribution of power to all wheels at the same time, eliminating under and over steer through a mechanical connection. Symmetrical all-wheel drive directs power to the wheels with most traction. This hybrid design integrates the electric motor power into the continuously variable transmission (CVT). This Forester incarnation tackles off-road adventures by incorporating hybrid technology, not despite it.
Many rival all-wheel drive systems pitch a simpler ‘part-time design,’ also known as ‘on demand’ or slip-and-grip’ where the vehicle defaults to two-wheel drive until slippage gets detected, only then is torque transferred, and all-wheel drive engaged. Subaru’s set-it-and-forget-it design optimally situates for the snowy upper Midwest and greater Chicagoland.
Included with symmetrical AWD, Subaru’s Vehicle Dynamics Control (VDC) enhancing road grip and handling. When sensers detect a loss of traction in a particular wheel, engine output gets distributed to the wheel’s maintaining the most traction keeping Forester on course.
All Subarus also enjoy variations of Symmetrical all-wheel drive technology with the exception of the 14-year-old BRZ, which checks in as a niche small two-door coupe and a kissing cousin of Toyota’s GR86. It’s the odd-ball of the family as the only coupe in a lineup consisting largely of five-door hatchbacks and a smattering of sedans. The sole EV currently in the 2025 Subaru line up takes the form of the mid-size Solterra crossover (which also proudly features symmetrical all-wheel drive). Subaru recently announced plans for a second, larger EV in the form of the 2026 Trailseeker.
As with the internal combustion engine (ICE) Forester version, the all-new hybrid includes 8.7 inches of ground clearance useful when touring off-the-pavement path. The slightly elevated design provides excellent road perception while driving, yet headroom remains plentiful. Ingress requires a ‘sit down’, rather than a ‘step up’ motion easing the transition from walking to riding; one of the easiest entry-exit crossovers of any size.
Riding enhancement benefits from Forester’s uni-body, carlike structure rather than a heavier, truck-like body-on-frame design. All Subaru’s build from uni-body structures.
Four 2025 Forester HEV trims include: Premium, Sport, Limited and top-tier Touring with the entry Premium trim starting at $34,995. A ‘Daybreak Blue Pearl’ exterior color, unique to Forester hybrid is available in Premium, Limiting and Touring trims. Each trim builds added content from the rung below with very few stand alone or option packages. The conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) 2025 Forester adds six additional trim levels. In addition to Vehicle Dynamic Control (VHC), all gas-electric hybrid Foresters include off-road useful hill decent control and X-Mode off-road selections in addition to a power moonroof.
The Touring trim also includes black protective composite cladding along bottom side doors and creating a squarish cover over the wheel wells. Pull-type, strap-style entry handles share our tester’s dark green body color. Visually, the hybrid and ICE version remain virtually identical save for small, rectangular ‘hybrid’ badging on the front fenders and liftback.
Forester hybrid stands tall with a roof spoiler atop the standard power hatch. Roof rails also arrive standard. Steering responsive headlights follow the movements of the steering wheel turn for optimal nighttime illumination.
Subaru’s all-wheel drive starts its design with the horizontally opposed, longitudinal-mounted engine with pistons lying flat at 180 degrees positioned low in the underbelly (a ‘Boxer’ design or ‘Flat 4’) providing superior weight balance and low center of gravity. Subaru dubs the hybrid design ‘e-Boxer,’ building upon this traditional ‘Boxer’ design. The straight line, or symmetrical format continues rearward towards the rear differential and tweaks slightly depending upon the transmission utilized (i.e. manual, conventional automatic or Forester Hybrid’s CVT type) which sits behind the front axle. Acceleration and road grip improve significantly with all-wheel drive compared with rear or front wheel drive.
The fully configural, all-digital, 12.3-inch instrument panel includes multiple template views selected via a push button found at 9 o’clock on the steering wheel spoke and working in tandem with an up/down toggle switch. Forester hybrid includes specific IP battery graphics not needed or available in the ICE Forester. Press for three seconds or more to view different layouts in the full screen or press for a second in time to update view a smaller lower left window insert detailing fuel range, current radio station settings and battery charge levels. As with the standard Forester, navigation maps appear within this display as well as the multi-function center screen.
To the left of the steering column near the lower dash, push buttons unlocking the power-operated latch and the driver’s side rear fender fuel door/lead. Also within the pack, an ‘EV’ button for summoning pure EV driving at lower speeds for short durations.
Check out the cargo area once the power hatch lifts to reveal a rubberized mat easily removable and spray washed via a garden house if cleaning is necessary after a long stretch of off-roading. Peek under the mat and floorboard and the location of the high-voltage 1.1-kilowatt hour DC battery pack comes into focus. This location promotes maximum row-two comfort with virtually no loss of cargo capacity compared with the ICE version (both measure 27.5 cubic feet behind prone, 60/40 split second row seating). Unfortunately, this battery location pushed out the spare tire found in the conventional Forester. In its place, a tire inflator kit.
Our Touring tester checked in with a $41,695 starting price. The only factory option reflected the $495 Autumn Green metallic two-tone premium paint (with black highlights on the roof and body pillars). The bottom line reached $43,610 once adding the $1,420 destination charge. The price gap between Conventional ICE vehicles and their hybrid versions continues to narrow. In Forester’s case, the difference between similarly contented trims is less than $2,000.
Equipment solely found within the top-tier hybrid Touring (and not nestled within the three lower trims) includes: a 360 surround-view monitor within the center screen, distraction mitigation system built into the instrument panel, 19-inch machine-finish alloy wheels and leather-trimmed upholstery with Ultrasuede inserts.
As with the conventional ICE Forester version, the center region includes a prominent, large, portrait style multi-function Starlink multi-media 11.6-inch touch screen including navigation. The in-dash system connects automatically with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support. Black vertical side framing smartly includes two physical buttons controlling volume and radio station selections. The framing also features push arrows (one up, one down) for adjusting dual front row temperatures and front/rear defrost buttons. Remaining HVAC functions include fan speed control through the touch screen itself with an always visible display along the bottom. Vertical-style manually-operating air vents flank the screen with rectangular versions tucked into the outer corners.
This next-generation gas-electric hybrid qualifies as a ‘full hybrid,’ delivering improved fuel economy numbers compared to previous ‘mild’ hybrid designs previously used in some Subaru vehicles. A Full Hybrid Electric Vehicle (FHEV) employs a larger DC battery pack and can operate in pure electric mode for very short distances at low speeds. Less expensive ‘mild’ electric vehicles (MHEV) use a smaller electric motor and battery pack to assist the transmission and engine, but don’t directly power the wheels. Mild hybrids deliver less impressive miles per gallon returns with a lower initial upfront cost.
At A Glance
2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid Touring
Price as tested: $43,610
Engine: 2.5-liter four cylinder
DC Battery pack: 1.1 kwh
Combined Horsepower: 194
Wheelbase: 105.1 inches
Overall Length: 183.3 inches
Overall Height: 68.1 inches
Overall Width: 72 inches
Fuel Economy: 35 mpg city/ 34 mpg highway
Curb weight: 3,946 pounds
Powertrain Warranty: Five years/60,000 miles
Hybrid system limited warranty: Eight years/100,000 miles.
Assembly: Gunma, Japan.
