► First electric car for Subaru
► Uses platform developed with Toyota
► EV will be similarly sized to Forester
The covers have come off Subaru’s first battery-electric production car: the Solterra crossover. The new EV was revealed at the 2021 LA motor show, and is scheduled to go on sale in 2022 in North America.
The new EV uses an all-electric platform developed with Toyota. Subaru calls it ‘e-Subaru Global Platform’, while Toyota calls it e-TNGA. Along with the Solterra from Subaru, the platform (and, indeed, a lot of the Solterra’s design elements) are heavily linked to the Toyota bZ4X. More EVs from both brands are to come. The name Solterra is, as you’d assume, the joining of ‘sol’ and ‘terra’ – or sun and earth in Latin.
Give me some Solterra performance specs
Subaru says the Solterra has 215bhp and 248lb ft on tap, with all-wheel drive (via a motor at each axle) as standard from launch. Given Subaru likes to offer off-road technology, the Solterra is kitted out with an X-Mode driving setting, which promises better grip if you venture off the beaten track (also like the bZ4X).
As for range and charging, Subaru says the Solterra is capable of 220 miles (though we suspect this is due to US EPA tests; the bZ4X claims 280) and that it’s capable of fast charging.
It really does look the same as the Toyota…
There’s really nothing to tell them apart, other than the badges. Subaru does say the Solterra features the brand’s very good EyeSight suite of safety systems as standard, which includes tech like applying the brake when parking if it thinks you’re going to hit something.
When can I have one?
In the UK and Europe, it’s currently unconfirmed. But, if you live in North America, Subaru says the Solterra will go on sale in the middle of 2022.