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Subaru’s first EV will be the Solterra

Subaru’s first EV will be the Solterra
New Subaru Solterra will platform and powertrain share with the Toyota bZ4X.

Well, now we know what the name of Subaru's first all-electric model will be, and it's the Solterra. We also know that it will platform and powertrain share with the Toyota bZ4X, which means we can infer a little of what it will be like.

Go-anywhere capabilities

From these heavily backlit pictures, we can't see much of the Solterra's styling, but we can say that it looks a little cleaner and simpler than what we've had from Subaru in recent times, although it's overall shape and style doesn't look all that different to what we've seen from Toyota so far.

The name, according to Subaru, comes directly from nature. "Subaru gave this name to the EV to appreciate mother nature and further advance the form of coexistence with it, together with our customers, and to represent our commitment to deliver traditional Subaru SUV's go-anywhere capabilities in an all-electric vehicle" said the company in a statement.

'Competitive' range

Underneath, the Solterra uses an all-new all-electric platform, which has been jointly developed with Toyota (Toyota and Subaru both own minority stakes in one another). Subaru calls it the e-Subaru Global platform, while Toyota calls it the e-TNGA (Toyota New Generation Architecture) but whatever the name, it will have two electric motors, one for each axle, and a low-mounted battery. Neither Subaru nor Toyota have yet released any details about that battery, but the range of both models is said to be 'competitive' so we would expect to see a battery of in and around 77kWh capacity, and a WLTP one-charge range of 500km, give or take.

Versatile platform

The platform is said to be hugely versatile, and Subaru claims that it can "roll out various types of EVs efficiently by combining multiple modules and components, such as the front, centre and rear of a vehicle. While the two companies have brought together their knowledge to create a completely new platform, Subaru has aimed to realise superior passive safety and vehicle stability, which Subaru has always been pursuing, also in this EV dedicated platform."

It also seems that while Toyota has taken on the lion's share of the battery and motor development, Subaru has been taking the lead on the car's dynamics and especially its off-road ability. "In this development, the two companies combine their respective strengths, such as Subaru's long-accumulated all-wheel-drive technology and Toyota's outstanding vehicle electrification technology, to create a new SUV with attributes that only an all- electric vehicle can offer" said a Subaru spokesperson.

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Published on May 11, 2021