Subaru Solterra

Japan's quirky 4x4 brand gets a helping hand from Toyota for its first EV

- Richard Lane, Matt Saunders

MODEL TESTED AWD TOURING

Price £52,995 Power 215bhp Torque 248lb ft 0-60mph 6.7sec 30-70mph 6.2sec Economy 2.6mpkWh Max DC charging speed 147kW 70-Omph 48.8m

Electrification represents a philosophical obstacle to some car manufacturers as well as a practical one. Subaru's brand, for example, has long been built on tough, versatile family cars with boxer engines and differential based 'symmetrical' four-wheel drive systems, and all the benefits they confer. It is a mechanically particular way to define a family of cars but has given the firm its own following for decades.

So what happens when it builds a car in which neither of those things can feature? One that has no need of a mechanical driveline at all and uses electric motors rather than a combustion engine? Does it still look, sound and drive like a Subaru? This week, we find out.

The Subaru Solterra was first shown to the public towards the end of 2021 and entered production in the spring of 2022. It shares a factory with its Toyota sibling, the bZ4X (road test, 18 January), but unlike the Subaru BRZ sports car, the Solterra is built on a Toyota line, rather than a Subaru line, in Japan.

Subaru isn't all that coy in its promotional literature about the relationship between this car and the bZ4X, the Solterra described in several places as "Subaru's version" of the vehicle, while little attempt has been made with the car's styling both inside and out to conceal its relationship with the Toyota.