2020 Subaru Forester e-Boxer hybrid SUV goes on sale in the UK

KUALA LUMPUR: The new 2020 Subaru Forester e-Boxer hybrid SUV, which now comes with better safety levels and equipment, has officially hit the stores in the UK. The pricing of the SUV starts from £33,995 (RM183K), and the buyers get to choose from eight distinct exterior colors.

Forester is now powered by a familiar FB20 2.0-litre direct-injected horizontally-opposed petrol mill, which alone is capable of churning out 145 PS of maximum power at 6,000 rpm and 188 Nm of peak torque at 4,000 rpm. In addition to that, it also features an electric motor that delivers 13.6 PS and 65 Nm of torque. The power is sent to the four wheels via a brand’s legendary symmetrical all-wheel-drive system with X-Mode, and transmission duties are handled by Lineartronic CVT gearbox.

The e-motor is stored within the gearbox, and the electrical juice is produced by a discrete 4.8 Ah lithium-ion battery module placed under the rear boot floor (reducing the space to 509 litres from 520 litres). The batteries get recharged through deceleration or regenerative braking. Moreover, the vehicle is capable of running on the electric motor alone at a limited speed of 40 kmph and a range of 1.6 km.

According to the leading automobile manufacturer, the e-Boxer technology provides improvement in fuel economy up to 10 percent, particularly when correlated to its combustion mill-only 2.0L units. Inside the car, it looks quite similar to the regular forester as the centre deck offers the same eight-inch infotainment system that supports both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as standard. The eight-way power-adjustable front seats now come with heating features.

The safety features include rear vehicle detection, driver monitoring system, reverse automatic braking, two optical stereo cameras monitor, adaptive cruise control, pre-collision throttle management, pre-collision braking, lead vehicle start alert, lane keep assist, lane sway and departure warning.

It now gets a brand new technology called Driver Monitoring System (DMS) that detects the face of the driver to make sure he does not loses his/her focus while driving, and it is capable of recognising up to five drivers.

Also Read: 2020 Subaru Impreza launched with better safety equipment