After the first test of the Subaru Solterra, with some pre-production units that could not drive on the road, we finally drove the new Subaru Solterra on asphalt, the brand’s first electric vehicle. And, of course, again on dirt tracks, we are talking about a Subaru.
Despite the car’s propulsion system, the brand insisted that their new vehicle should comply with the brand’s key premises. In this order, safety, reliability and all-wheel drive.
The new Solterra stands out in active and passive safety systems, like other cars of the brand. Reliability cannot be verified for now, but there are eight years of warranty for the battery or 160,000 km and all-wheel drive (permanent, not symmetrical on this occasion) has not been lacking since the Subaru Leone debuted in 1952.
Co-developed with Toyota, the Solterra is available for €46,750. This figure corresponds to the simplest Trek finish with which we carried out the contact test. It includes the brand discount and the Moves III Plan (which cannot enjoy the most complete Touring finish due to its price), as well as the discount for financing the car. Before going into the matter, remember that you can find offers for the Subaru Solterra in the new car section at coches.com.
Abroad
It’s no secret that this car shares a lot with the Toyota bz4x or the Lexus RZ. The development has been joint and it is something that no brand denies. But then there are details that make the Solterra have Subaru essence.
We see it in the front. Granted, the closed grille isn’t something we’ve seen on an SUV before, but the hexagonal shape of that grille is a hallmark of the brand, as we’ve already seen on models like the Outback or Forester. The Full LED optics are also very recognizable… on a hood with dynamic lines that rise to the roof.
From these optics, some lines of tension start along the entire side. The SUV look. It is enhanced by the wheel arches, with very large black plastic protectors that are added to those of the lower part of the wheels. And it is that beware, despite the electric nature of the car, it has a ground clearance of 210 mm, just one cm less than a Forester.
Its dimensions clearly place it among the electric SUVs in the D segment. It measures 4,690mm in length, by 1,650 mm in height and 1,860 in width. As standard it mounts 18-inch wheels, like the unit we tested, while the most complete boasts 20-inch wheels. The body can be chosen in six colors. One of them, the pearly gray Harbor Mist It is unique to Subaru.
Inside
The cabin of the Subaru Solterra is very similar, due to the arrangement of elements, to the one we saw in the Toyota bz4X test. In the center of the dashboard, the large screen of the infotainment system stands out, with 12.3 inches, under which we have some physical control.
The console is striking, elevated and with a circular gear selector that you have to press to then turn and select the appropriate gear. We also have holes in that area to leave objects, upper and lower.
The driving position is high and then we have a round steering wheel placed in a somewhat low position, to see the digital instrument panel above it, with a 7-inch screen. It was a little low for me, for how I usually get the steering wheel, but it did not prevent me from seeing the indications, as some colleagues told me that it happened to them. This varies depending on your size and how you wear the seat: it is best to try.
The quality of realization has chiaroscuro. I did not like, however, the abuse of piano black in the central area of the console or that some parts or controls are clearly more modest, such as the door handles.
The rear seats are accessed quite well, but since the floor is high (the batteries go there) you are forced to lower your head a bit when entering. For this same reason, the bench is too close to the floor and forces the legs to be slightly bent.
Trunk
The trunk of the Subaru Solterra has 452 liters of capacity, which is simply a correct figure. Be careful, of that amount 31 correspond to the space under the floor… and with the Trek finish. If you choose the most complete Touring the total figure is 441 liters.
I like that it has a space to store the trunk cover tray if you want to fold down the backrests of the rear seats. The brand does not offer the trunk data when you perform this operation… and neither does Toyota.
Engine
One notable difference from the Toyota bz4x is that the Subaru Solterra is only offered with all-wheel drive. This is achieved with two electric motors, each one located on an axis on which they act. Both deliver 80 kW of power (108.8 hp), for a total power of 160 kW (218 hp, rounding) and 337 Nm of torque.
They are fed by the energy stored by a 71.4 kWh capacity lithium-ion battery that works at 355.2 volts and is made up of 96 cells. It supports alternating current charges of up to 7 kW and in a plug of that type it would take 10 and a half hours to fully charge.
When making a trip, it supports fast charging in direct current of up to 150 kW of power; in just 17 minutes we could go from 10 to 80% charge to continue on the road. The brand guarantees that, after 10 years, this battery will retain 90% of its capacity.
Behavior
On this occasion, already with serial and registered cars, we were able to drive the car on the road. Yes, on the highway, not in the city, the natural habitat of cars with this propulsion system, where they are most efficient. On the highway, the car offers good poise (the tested version weighs 2,010 kg) and also due to the setting of its suspension. Comfort does not come to prevail as much as a Skoda Enyaq, but it is pleasant to drive on fast roads.
A good part of the route ran through secondary roads with slow and fast curves. In this environment the car does not wrinkle at all. It remains stable in curves, at good speed, and you can play with the retention mode by touching the paddles behind the wheel to get more involved in driving. Without having a hard set, like the Ford Mustang Mach-E, it is very solvent in curves since the engines work in unison at all times.
It was time to put the Solterra in its environment, off the asphalt. We had already had in the first contact test, with a fairly conservative route. On this occasion, we saw its traction capacity on simple dirt tracks, already faster… and also in more complicated areas where a conventional car would not pass.
There you check that the permanent all-wheel drive works and that the electronic aids make it possible for anyone to move in complicated circumstances. To advance in those environments, nothing better than connecting the X-Mode, which improves the ability to advance in different environments. You can choose between the Normal, Snow/Dirt (snow / dirt) and Deep Snow / Mud (deep snow and mud) programs, which act on traction control, acceleration and torque delivery so that the car does not flinch. There is no shortage of the hill descent system and a function with which the car climbs them, at different speeds so that you only have to worry about the steering wheel.
In this way we were able to reach places that only SUVs with good all-wheel drive can reach. And then, the return trip, where the car once again demonstrated its good stability… and performance, since it reaches 100 km/h from a standstill in 6.9 seconds (the top has been limited to 160 km/h, something usual in electric ones). We will wait to drive the car more carefully to talk about consumption, but on this journey, of about 150 km in total, the on-board computer indicated 18.5kWh/100km. It is usual in pleasant weather conditions (the car approves 16.1 kWh/100 km in the basic version that we tested.
Opinion cars.com
Can someone looking for a Subaru be interested in the Soltera? Initially we all think that the usual place for an electric car is the city. But we have verified with the Subaru Solterra that it is not a bad vehicle to go on the road or through complicated areas.
In the development of the project, Subaru contributed its experience in all-wheel drive (AWD) technology and X-Mode has proven very solvent in complex areas for vehicles other than a Forester or an Outback. It is a Subaru, in short. Your driving position may not be as comfortable as it could be for some… the best thing in this regard is to check it yourself.
Something we see is the huge price drop of electric cars after a while. For those who fear that the prices of their. Vehicle collapse after four years, the brand offers the Multi-option formula, with fees of 526.93 euros and an entry of 15,000 euros. And, of course, car leasing, a solution that is increasingly in demand with this propulsion technology.
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