Red hot new Subaru EV to reignite Impreza spirit

Subaru is looking to “reignite old passions” with a new halo model among seven fresh electric cars coming to the UK by the end of 2028. The brand, famous for its performance saloons and rally cars in the late nineties and early 2000s, is aiming to instil some of that sporting dynamic into its electric vehicles to rebuild enthusiasm for the niche badge. 

Subaru has long been pressured by enthusiasts to return to the type of cars that made it popular in Europe, before huge success in areas like the US and Australia moved the company’s focus away from performance models to rugged estates and SUVs. And electrification is the unlikely source that could prove the catalyst, sparking quick Subarus back into life. 

The current Subaru range includes the Solterra electric SUV and Forester, which start from £51,000 and £39,000 respectively on the Auto Express Buy A Car service.

“EVs are coming and they’re making things that we’ve been dreaming of possible again, so we’re seeing almost a rebirth of that sort of blue car with the yellow paint on it. It’s becoming possible again,” David Dello Stritto, Subaru general manager for Europe, said to Auto Express. “This is very exciting; they’re not the biggest group of Subaru buyers in Europe, but they’re very vocal and keep pushing us.

“Now we’ve got electric powertrains allowing us to do that, maybe at some point in the future we could start playing with that,” he continued. 

“There’s a recognition that Subaru has been out of the game for a long time and it would be good to get back into it, although it’s a bit early to say how that would look,” a Subaru insider told Auto Express. “It’s about product that reignites old passion, which is more difficult [with an EV] because a lot of the love for the Impreza was the noise. If you don't concentrate on range too much, you can get good performance, but the fun factor is more difficult.”

The potential halo car is one that Subaru is likely to engineer in-house, rather than in conjunction with Toyota, which is co-developing the majority of the new EVs Subaru will bring to market, including the three already confirmed. However, Subaru is working to ensure its cars feel “more Subaru-y”, pointing to 146 differences between the Soltera SUV and its Toyota bZ4X sibling as evidence of the efforts. 

As well as the Solterra, which gets a mid-life update early next year, Subaru recently revealed the Uncharted SUV, a sister car to Toyota’s C-HR+, which will also be on UK roads early next year. The rugged e-Outback, revealed earlier in 2025 and known as the Trailseeker in certain markets including the US, is due in the UK next summer as the third Subaru EV. Of the remaining four cars (one of which won’t come to Europe), the halo performance model is the only one not being developed in conjunction with Toyota. 

The new models will either enter segments Subaru has previously been in – potentially opening the door to a revival of the Justy small hatchback – or enter new sectors, rather than being offshoots or variants of existing EVs. 

Insiders admit that Subaru has been serving a niche audience of people that already love the brand’s reputation for dependable reliability, and is “behind the curve on vehicles and technology”. This makes the transition into EVs more challenging, because the brand needs to attract a new audience, with buyers of its Outback, Forester and Crosstrek less likely to be looking to transition into EVs. 

That’s why Subaru says its petrol models will continue as long as there is customer appetite, to retain its loyal drivers in the run-up to petrol and diesel new-car sales being banned by 2035. The brand’s huge sales in petrol-dominated America, where it registered 600,000 cars last year versus 2,500 in the UK, mean continuing with ICE models is very much on the table as long as legislation allows. 

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