With three weeks to go until the Tokyo Auto Salon, Subaru is firing fans up with a glimpse at its latest concept.
The Subaru STI E-RA signals the brand’s intention to move forward on the development of an electric sports car. Though they’ve given no indication that this concept is itself headed for production, it demonstrates that the project is underway.
Veiled in a cloud of vape smoke, the teaser gives us a very limited view through which just a few details can be interpreted. The low, wide nose looks somewhere between a last-gen Subaru BRZ and the Ferrari SF90. Subaru’s familiar C-shaped LED headlight design has been stretched around this lip, seemingly exaggerating what already appears to be quite a rakish face. Looking inboard, large extraction vents will serve an as-yet unidentified purpose.
More than just the obvious electric nomenclature, Subaru says that this is a performance car “for the carbon-neutral era,” further suggesting innovation in manufacturing techniques — or maybe just the purchase of carbon credits.
Either way, electric power will return immediate torque and a battery pack should keep the centre of gravity low — good news for a performance platform. More than this, the name’s suffix — RA — has historically been used for special-edition ‘Record Attempt’ vehicles. No word on what it might be targeting, but the Volkswagen ID. R’s Pikes Peak record would surely be a nice trophy for the folks at Subaru.
Subaru is also set to debut a handful of new STI performance parts for the BRZ and Impreza WRX, both cosmetic and mechanical. Taken all together, Subaru’s Tokyo plan seems soundly reassuring for the future of the hobby.
Subaru Impreza WRX with new STI parts Photo by Subaru
Keyword: Subaru teases electric STI E-RA performance concept ahead of Tokyo show