SPEAKER: Did you ever think you'd
see an all electric Subaru?
Well, now you have because this is the 2023 Solterra.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
It's debuting at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week.
And Subaru says it's coming to public roads
sooner rather than later.
They're aiming for about mid-year 2022.
Here's what we know right now.
The Solterra is a four door compact SUV.
It's got standard all wheel drive because it's a Subaru.
And of course, it's got a battery pack
under the floor sending power to two electric motors--
one in the front and one in the rear.
One of the interesting things about the Solterra
is it's not an existing platform, meaning
this isn't just an electric Outback or Forester
or anything like that.
Subaru developed the Solterra in conjunction with Toyota,
so they're sharing some components and technology.
Toyota is going to come out with a similar model
with their own components later.
But Subaru paid special attention
to the chassis and the all wheel drive system
because that's what's especially important to them.
So we do expect to see a fair bit of Subaru DNA in this
even though it's shared.
But, hey, while I get more acquainted with this thing,
why don't you go ahead and hit Like and click
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I feel like we should start here at the front for this reason.
The Solterra doesn't have a frunk.
Instead, you've got the front electric motor and the inverter
sitting on top of it.
Now, the reason why according to Subaru
is that this is the size they wanted for the Solterra.
And if they were going to drop this whole system down
and create a frunk, they would have
had to make the Solterra much longer.
Instead, this size gives them the ability
to go after the safety scores they're looking for
and create a shorter overhang for off roading.
Maybe you agree with Subaru's logic there, maybe you don't.
Now, what I do know because I just wrote
it down is that the Solterra has the electric equivalent
of 215 horsepower, 246 pound feet of torque.
Now, 220 miles of estimated range
is not exactly blowing any other EVs out of the water right now.
But let's talk about what Subaru is known for.
And that's off road capability.
As we said, the Solterra comes with all wheel drive standard.
It also comes with X-mode standard.
That's Subaru traction control system
so that if you're in especially slippery stuff, snow,
things like that, you can flip that on,
and it'll give you extra capability.
Ground clearance for the Solterra
is 8.3 inches, which is pretty good for a compact SUV,
though it's a little bit less than its brother the Forester.
In terms of protection, there aren't really skid plates.
But there is kind of an aluminum cage underneath the floor
that's protecting the battery.
But there's a whole lot of plastic cladding
around the fenders, the front and rear bumpers, and the sill
here.
Basically the whole front bumper is made out of it.
For wheels, on this model, there's 20 inches.
Now, this is the highest level touring.
There's also going to be a premium and a limited.
We'll get to see those a little bit later.
Maybe there'll be some other wheel options, a little bit
more rugged.
Also, in terms of towing, you will
be able to add a tow hitch.
It does not come standard.
And we don't have maximum towing capacity figures yet.
So don't worry.
You will be able to add a bike rack to the hitch,
or you can put it up here on these roof rails.
Now, these actually are optional,
which is kind of surprising that roof rails aren't
standard on a Subaru SUV.
But the point is if you need to, and I know you need to,
you can put a rooftop tent on top of your Solterra.
Overall, when it comes to the exterior,
there are a lot of clues here that this is definitely
a Subaru.
When it comes to off roading though,
it feels like the Solterra is going to perform well off road
for an EV.
Not really sure how it's going to perform off
road for a Subaru.
Let's check out the interior though.
OK, inside the Solterra.
First of all, the floor is kind of high
because that battery pack is sitting underneath.
So I had to lift my legs up quite a bit,
and then they hit the steering wheel when I got in.
And then I had to duck down to get my head in here
because the ceiling's pretty low to keep the Solterra the size
that they wanted.
So let me just get this to where I would go.
So it is spacious in here, just a little bit awkward to get in.
As far as materials, there's a really interesting
textured cloth up on the dash.
Standard materials for what we expect in a Subaru,
although there is a pretty interesting design.
Like this center console has a cool swoopiness to it,
and then it goes up into this touch screen.
And then the steering wheel and the driver information display
in front of you feels very jet fighter Star
Wars cockpit-esque.
I asked Subaru if the Solterra comes with one pedal driving.
And their answer was kind of, (WHISPERING) which means no.
But here's what you can do.
It's got these paddles behind the steering wheel.
And that will control the level of power
that goes to the regenerative brakes.
So at its maximum level, it will slow down the Solterra
pretty significantly, but they were
sure to tell me that it will not make
it come down to a full stop.
The screen is a nice size, though.
It's easy to see from my driving position.
And Apple CarPlay and Android Auto come standard.
This 12.3 inch screen in the Solterra is optional.
So there will be a smaller standard screen
on other models.
We haven't gotten to see that yet.
But Subaru said, oh, this is a new infotainment system.
But what I think they meant is that it's new to them
because I've spent a lot of time in the brand new 2022 Toyota
Tundra, and this is the exact same system.
[LAUGHS] There's also a smartphone charging station
in here, a little storage cubby area down here,
and pretty good space to store your small items.
But let's hop in the back and see what that's like.
OK, in the back.
Ooh.
Well, a little tricky to get in again.
The floor really is kind of high.
But once I'm in, I have pretty good head space.
I'm six feet tall, and my legs are OK, my head is OK.
I don't think the seats recline or anything.
But this is overall pretty comfortable.
I like the materials.
Now, remember this is the highest level touring model,
so we don't expect all models to look like this.
But in this one, you have this cool dual pane sunroof,
and then back here, seat warmers for the rear seats, which
is great, and two USB-C ports.
You can also pull down this center space
for an armrest or a cup holder.
In all, I would say four adults can ride in here pretty
comfortably.
It's just a little bit tricky to get in,
especially if you have longer legs.
But once here, I feel like this would be a comfortable place
to spend some time on a road trip.
Let's see what the cargo's about.
So when it comes to cargo, it's a compact SUV and kind
of short and stubby.
But you can see that they managed to pack
pretty good space back here.
Now, because there's an electric motor powering the rear wheels
under here, you don't get room for a spare or an underfloor
storage area.
But there is a cool slide out feature
where you can take this tray, move it a rung down if you
need to load something larger.
You can also get a cargo cover like this.
And even though there aren't any rear seat
release latches down here, the rear seats
do fold down pretty easily, and they go almost flat
into a 60-40 split.
Now, that's super helpful if you need
to load something large like electronics or furniture
that you have to push all the way back there.
And the load floor is pretty low considering all the stuff
that's underneath here.
So that's a plus too.
We already talked a bit about range,
but let's talk about how you get that range.
Charge port is right up here.
And Subaru says that the Solterra
can go from basically 0% charge to 80% in about an hour
on a DC fast charger.
But how do you find those charging stations?
Subaru is not going to have its own branded charging stations
like a Tesla does.
But instead, like other competitors,
they're going to use partnerships
with presumably places like Electrify America, EVgo,
Chargepoint.
We assume that will be the same case for Toyota's version
of this platform, which is going to be called the B-4--
no, the bZ4X, which sounds like an error code.
We were all thinking it.
As for pricing, we don't know it yet.
But if I was to take an educated guess,
looking at competitors like the Mustang Mach-E, the Volkswagen
ID.4, those typically start in their base models
in the low 40,000 to mid 40,000 range.
Given the standard all wheel drive
and a few other standard features
that don't come standard on rivals,
I think we're probably looking at a starting price
in the high $40,000 range.
Is that worth it to you for an EV with a little bit
of extra capability?
Or is that a high price for a vehicle
that (WHISPERING) doesn't have the best range around?
Let me know.
So who's ready to off road an EV?
OK, maybe it's not exactly a Jeep Wrangler.
But the Solterra appears to be pretty off road
ready at least for a fully electric vehicle, right?
We'll get a chance to see how well it
does in the dirt when we get to bring one into our testing
process.
And then we'll finally get to measure it up
against vehicles like Ford Mustang Mach-E, Volkswagen
ID.4, and Tesla Model Y.
Now, it's clear that Subaru at least paid some attention
to off road capability.
But I think the real mountain the Solterra will have to climb
is in real world usability.
Not exactly enthralled by that 215 horsepower figure or that
220 miles of range figure.
So when we get it in, we'll also be
able to put it through our EV range test
to see how it does out in the real world.
As we begin to see more electric vehicles come out
in all different shapes and sizes,
we're starting to get things that
are pretty rugged and capable like the new Rivian
R1T, of course, the $100,000 GMC Hummer EV.
But it's cool that now Subaru is bringing at least some
of that EV capability to a more affordable level.
Thanks so much for watching, guys.
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And again, if you want to read the full in-depth article
on the Subaru Solterra, click the link in the description.