Deepal E07 vs Subaru Solterra

What's the difference?

Deepal is a recent arrival in Australia but its parent company Changan Automotive is one of China’s largest state-owned automotive manufacturers which was established in the 1950s.

Deepal Automobile Technology (to use its full name) is one of several brands under the Changan corporate umbrella targeting different market segments across passenger and commercial vehicle lines.

Deepal’s focus is on full-electric vehicles with an expanding Australian line-up comprising a compact SUV (S05), mid-sized SUV (S07) and a groundbreaking large SUV (E07) it calls the Multitruck.

We recently spent a week in the E07 to find out if it’s not only practical for family duties but also if its unique design offers genuine workhorse ability to validate its ‘truck’ credentials.

Car companies don’t normally overhaul a vehicle so rapidly and comprehensively. But the updated Subaru Solterra EV is an exception. It had to be done and this isn’t just an update, it’s an act of survival for Subaru… and Toyota.

You knew the Solterra’s identical twin is the Toyota bZ4X, right? Together Subaru and Toyota developed an electric SUV. Subaru’s is the Solterra, Toyota’s is the bZ4X - same car, different styling, mostly.

The problem was the vehicle couldn’t compete with rivals like the Zeekr 7X and Tesla Model Y on price, driving range, power or charging speed.

Subaru and Toyota knew this had to be fixed ASAP. And so we now have the new Solterra. But is this revised version good enough? Read on to find out.