Subaru is showing off some more teasers of its Solterra in the company’s latest announcement, which also gives us a clearer timeline of the release date for the BEV. The Solterra is set to go on sale in the middle of next year, and it will make it to dealers as a 2023 model.
So, we’re now getting a better look at the BEV than before, even though the Solterra hasn’t quite debuted in full yet. At least, we’re getting a peak at the Subaru as it slinks around what looks like a Jurassic Park exhibit. Clever car.
Details about the Solterra are still scarce. We won’t know its specs until later, as we get close to its release in mid-2022. The same could be said of its corporate cousin, the Toyota bZ4X, which also has little-to-no specs available right now.
What we know for certain about Subaru’s electric car is that it will come with Subaru’s “Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive,” which hints at a drivetrain that is likely to have two motors. One for each axle.
Subaru keeps harping on the ground clearance of the Solterra, though doesn’t provide a number, saying simply that it will be ‘plenty’. This is typical Subaru.
The carmaker also points out that this EV is built atop a new EV platform, which it calls the e-SUBARU Global Platform. That naming is pretty standard. Throw an “e” in front of a known badge or nameplate for electric. It’s fine, and makes the carmaker’s environmental ambitions easy to read. And being electric is the defining characteristic of the Solterra — even with it’s funny name that almost means “bachelorette” in Spanish.
A BEV from Subaru feels overdue. I would have expected Subaru to be one of the first out of the gate to at least announce a fully-electric car, given its association with the outdoors and environmentally-conscious drivers. It makes sense that the carmaker partnered up with a bigger marque to get a BEV to market, and if that means that we get a late entry that is nonetheless well-designed, I won’t complain too much. Especially with an interior like this:
