Subaru has confirmed its first all-electric vehicle is due to launch in Europe in the first half of this decade as a midsize SUV.

Subaru’s all-electric vehicle will be a mid-size SUV, built on a platform jointly developed with Toyota

It will be built on a platform that has been jointly developed with Toyota – under a tie-up between the two carmakers announced two years ago – and which is also being used to underpin a similar-sized SUZ from Toyota.

The joint platform is developed for modular use to cut development time and will also be used for future vehicles including D-segment saloons; it’s able to accommodate front-, rear- or all-wheel drive, with a wide range of battery and electric motor capacities.

Additional information will be shared sometime in 2021.

Subaru said the latest announcement underlined its efforts “to reduce its environmental footprint in Europe and satisfy a growing demand for alternative powertrains”.

Earlier this year, Subaru launched mild hybrid versions of the Forester and XV.

Its plans, as revealed in January 2020, are for least 40% of global sales to be electric vehicles or hybrids by 2030 while by the mid-2030s all its vehicles sold worldwide will use some form of ‘electrification’, including mild hybrids.