Subaru and Toyota Announce Joint BEV Development

Fresh off the announcement that Jaguar Land Rover and BMW are partnering up for some EV development comes news that Toyota and Subaru will be doing a similar thing.

Both brands have disclosed that they’ll be jointly developing a battery electric vehicle (BEV) program for midsize and large passenger vehicles. In addition to that, the companies state that they’ll be developing a C-segment (compact, or roughly Toyota RAV4-sized) SUV for sale under each brand. The release from Subaru states that its knowledge of AWD combined with Toyota’s knowledge of electrification will form a strong alliance.

While this is news, it's not entirely new in that Subaru tapped into Toyota’s hybrid knowledge to develop the Crosstrek PHEV, currently available in select markets in the US. The two brands also co-developed the Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 sports cars.

“The automotive industry is in the midst of a once-in-a-century period of profound transformation,” Subaru says, and while they haven’t provided an outright timeline just yet, they do say that “…both Subaru and Toyota are required to conduct technological development with a sense of speed across a broader-than-ever spectrum of initiatives. (D)ue to significant variation in each country or region…and in market needs for electrified vehicles, efficient and speedy development of appropriate products is a must.”

While the release does specifically mention the C-segment SUV, the platform will be developed so it can underpin both C- and D-segment sedans and SUVs.