Car review: middle step to electric – the Subaru Hybrid

When it comes to automotive reviews for the KUVO audience, I’m thinking about NEW technologies.  And even with the price of gas at the pump at the lowest levels we’ve seen in years, I’m still looking very carefully at that middle step between plain old gasoline engines and fully electric cars – the hybrid.  Japanese carmaker Subaru has finally entered the hybrid market, and I drove the 2014 Crosstrek Hybrid.

Silence is pretty much what the car sounds like when it runs on electric power, but one of the key measurements of a hybrid is how smoothly it transitions between the gas engine and electric power trains.  On this account, the Subaru didn’t lurch or heave when it went from burning gas to using battery power. 

There’s a section on new car stickers indicating fuel economy and environment written by the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Transportation.  The Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid sticker says 31 miles per gallon – combined city and highway – and that’s the average mileage I got, according to its dashboard indicator.  In fact, I pushed my highway mileage up to 36 miles a gallon.

The Subaru Crosstrek earned 8 out of ten in Fuel Economy and Greenhouse Gas Rating, and had a smog rating of 7 out of ten, above average like most hybrids compared to regular cars.

One interesting feature to help new hybrid drivers understand the way their car works is a dashboard indicator to show you the power train while the car is running.  On the dashboard diagram, arrows move from the engine to the wheels.  But when you brake or coast or hit a steady speed for a long stretch, the arrows change color and move from the wheels to the battery to show when the battery is charging.  This on-screen explainer is also in hybrid Toyotas.

I must confess, no matter the price of gas, I have a near obsession for improving mileage.  I was even a fan of hypermile-ing, the extreme driving technique that used minimal braking, and very gentle acceleration, along with route planning and  trip consolidation. 

Now in a hybrid, braking is a function that charges the battery, so more normal driving is called for.

Hey, whatever it takes to charge that battery, and allow me to keep on driving past another gas station without tapping that pump for a few more gallons of fossil fuel.

Pricetag for the 2014Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid Touring vehicle – $30,120.00.  But what’s the price of advancing toward the future?