It's no secret that Japanese automakers have been laggards in the electric vehicle race. Toyota has been infamously prioritizing its high-volume hybrids over pure EVs. Now Subaru wants to jump on that same bandwagon. The Japanese automaker, known best for its rugged adventure-focused cars, now wants to benefit from this wave of popularity hybrids are enjoying. Hybrid versions of both, the Forester and the Crosstrek are reportedly in the works. From a business standpoint, I see how that makes sense. Toyota sold over a million electrified cars in the U.S. last year. Most of them were hybrids. Now Subaru can ride this wave too. But I'm afraid it's more of a short-term solution. Hybrids won't future-proof Subaru's business. It will need more fully electric models eventually—hybrids can hopefully be a meaningful bridge for that. —Suvrat Kothari, Staff Writer | 
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