Subaru E-Outback

After Working with Toyota on its first two EVs, Subaru designed an all-electric successor for its SUV in-house.

- Ellis Hyde

DESPITE the Subaru Outback having a large, loyal customer base, the new, seventh generation of the go-anywhere, do-anything family car isn't coming to the UK – or anywhere in Europe at all.

The amount of CO2 its engine emits and the resulting high taxes make it “simply unsellable” here, we're told, but the all-electric replacement arrives this summer, and it's keeping the iconic name. Importantly, this all-new E-Outback is not just a battery-powered version of the old petrol model. It's the bigger, boxier brother of the brand's two other electric SUVs, the Solterra and Uncharted, and uses the same platform. But while its siblings are essentially re-badged Toyotas, this is the first EV Subaru has designed in-house and it's been tuned slightly differently to Toyota's bZ4X Touring.

Compared with the Solterra, the E-Outback is 155mm longer, all of which has been added to the rear, resulting in 633 litres of boot space - more than you'll find in a VW ID.4 or Skoda Enyaq.

The luggage area is a wide, square space, and thanks to the height-adjustable floor there's no lip to haul stuff over. There's enough room beneath the floor for the charge cables too, but no extra space under the bonnet. Lower the 40:60-split rear bench and you get 1,718 litres to play with; generous, but not a class-leading figure.

Having a higher roofline than the Solterra also means more headroom for rear passengers in the E-Outback - enough even for six-foot-tall adults - plus loads of legroom. However, while the floor is almost flat, it's also quite high, so longer-limbed passengers don't get much under-thigh support.