Sometime next year, Subaru will sell its first electric vehicle. The 2023 Subaru Solterra is a compact crossover with a bold, origami-like front end but a more restrained interior. We’ll get official details on the U.S.-bound version of the car next week. But Subaru has revealed it in Japan, so we know a bit more about it today.
The Solterra was designed in cooperation with Toyota, which will sell a nearly identical car as the Toyota bZ4x, also appearing in 2022.
The Solterra is all-wheel-drive (AWD) but doesn’t use the same symmetrical AWD system that underpins most of Subaru’s gasoline-powered cars. Instead, it uses one electric motor to drive the front axle and a second to drive the rear.
Subaru hasn’t given power figures for the car. Toyota’s version, in its AWD form, makes 215 horsepower.
The front end is a dramatic styling departure for Subaru. Its many-folded look is similar to the bZ4x but busier, with a 6-sided trim piece that suggests a grille (EVs don’t need them) flanked by angular headlights. But once you get past the fascia, it’s almost indistinguishable from the Toyota model.
Inside, the look is tamer. The Japanese display model features a warm orange leather and a high divider between the front seats even though, as an EV, it doesn’t need the transmission those dividers usually hide.
The Solterra does not offer the Tesla-style steering yoke Toyota makes optional on the bZ4x.
We’ll bring more details next week when Subaru shows off the American version of the car.
