Overseas, the Subaru Solterra and Toyota’s sibling to it, the bZ4X, are on sale and in the hands of buyers – so what about us?
While Australian specifications, pricing and timing haven’t been confirmed for either model, the Subaru Solterra is expected to beat its Toyota sibling (due end of 2023) to market here by a matter of months, meaning we’re fast approaching its launch.
While CarsGuide has contacted Subaru Australia for an update regarding the arrival of the Solterra and any specification or pricing guidance available, latest information suggests a mid-year launch – around June.
When Subaru Australia confirmed the Solterra would come to Australia – an announcement it made in May 2022 – it also provided Australian media with a specification sheet that, while referencing the Japanese market model, could closely resemble an Australian model.
The dual-motor, all-wheel-drive version of the Solterra makes 160kW total between the two motors and thanks to a 71.4kWh battery, can cover a claimed driving range of 460km per charge.
There are a couple of major differences in terms of the model’s likely features in Australia when compared to the Toyota. For a start, the model won’t likely come in a two-wheel-drive variant here.
Subaru Australia Managing Director Blair Read told CarsGuide at the model’s preview event last year that it would be all-wheel drive to “stay true” to the brand’s roots.
“How does everything people have loved about Subaru over the years translate to this car?” he said.
“It needs to be positioned in such a way that it can’t be different from an XV, or an Outback, or a Forester. We need to be able to tell customers everything that you can do in those cars, you can do in this.
“Being all-wheel drive for example, that’s core to Subaru’s DNA. We haven’t finalised spec yet, but let’s just say we have to stay true to the brand.”
Overseas, the model is available in front-wheel drive, single-motor specification, but it’s unlikely Subaru will bring that to Australia.
Mr Read also told us the model couldn’t just be a road-going electric car, as the Subaru brand has an ‘adventure’ image to live up to.
This is clear from its plastic cladding, and its extra ground clearance over the Toyota bZ4X – 210mm vs 177mm.
When asked by CarsGuide how much of each brand is present in the Solterra and bZ4X’s shared underpinnings, Read said “the platform takes learnings from both”.
“A lot of the electric components come from Toyota because of their lead in that space, but the motors are then handed over to Subaru’s engineers for that fine tuning on the all-wheel drive. There’s learnings from SGP in the frame, too.”
The Solterra won’t likely arrive here as an afterthought, either, with Australia coming in at the fourth-largest market for Subaru behind its home nation of Japan, the US, and Canada.
A preview version seen by CarsGuide in 2022 featured a similar high-specification interior to that of a preview bZ4X shown by Toyota, including a 12.3-inch centre multimedia screen, leather-accented seats which are heated front and rear, as well as a panoramic sunroof.
Like the bZ4X, it won’t be cheap, and using our expectation for that model as a guide we estimate the Solterra to start at more than $70,000, especially if the model skips an entry-grade front-wheel drive version.
Stay tuned for more information when Subaru confirms Australian specification and pricing for the Solterra.
Keyword: Where's Subie's electric car? What you need to know about the 2023 Subaru Solterra and when it's coming to Australia to take on Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6?