A ground-breaking car in the sense that it is Subaru’s first electric vehicle.
Like the BRZ sports car, it has a Toyota twin-under-the-skin known as the bZ4X.
Subaru fought hard to have a symmetrical AWD system with outputs combustion-engined drivers could wrap their heads around with its futuristically-styled and conservatively-executed Tesla Model Y rival.
The line-up currently starts at $63,990 for the Solterra Awd and ranges through to $69,990 for the range-topping Solterra Touring Awd.
The Soltera’s battery size is 74.7kWh giving the entry-grade Solterra a claimed range of 566km (WLTP). That was a big concern about the old car. The Touring has a range of 517km.
The new, larger lithium ion battery has a range of 566km (WLTP) - up from 414km. The Touring has a range of 517km (WLTP).
The interior in the entry-grade Solterra and top-of-the-range Touring is filled with dark materials and synthetic leather upholstery. The cabin may lack the glitz of others but it's still a modern and sporty space with a large media screen, while a steering wheel that’s more square than circle gives this interior a slightly off-beat feel.
The Solterra comes in six colours: 'Cosmic White Pearl Mica', 'Smoked Carbon', 'Harbour Mist Grey Pearl', 'Elemental Red Pearl', 'Dark Blue Mica' and 'Attitude Black Mica'. These are available on both grades in the Solterra range.
The Touring grade is also available in two-tone colour combinations: Cosmic White Pearl Mica/Attitude Black Mica and Harbour Mist Grey Pearl/Attitude Black Mica.
The Solterra doesn’t have an enormous amount of boot space with a cargo capacity of 410 litres in the Touring grade and 421 litres in entry grade.
The 0-100km/h time of the Solterra is approximately 5.1 seconds. Tope speed is around 160km/h.
The entry-grade Solterra is so well equipped that you might find it unnecessary to step up to the top-of-the-range Touring.
Coming standard on the base Solterra are 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights and tail-lights, power mirrors, puddle lamps, a powered tailgate with kick-sensor (new with the latest update) and roof rails.
There’s also synthetic leather seat trim, heated and eight-way power-adjustable front seats, a heated leather steering wheel, heated second row seats, dual-zone climate control, a 14-inch multimedia touchscreen (new), 7.0-inch driver display, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, dual wireless phone chargers (new) and a six-speaker sound system.
The Solterra Touring comes standard with all this, too, but adds 20-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic sun roof, ventilated front seats (new) and a 10-speaker Harman Kardon sound system.
There is one powertrain offered in the Solterra across the range - a motor at the rear and another at the front for all-wheel drive. The front motor makes 167kW/268Nm, while the rear motor produces 88kW/169Nm.
The Solterra is a five-seater SUV. There are wto grades, each featuring synthetic leather upholstery but leather seats can be optioned on the range-topping Touring.
It’s great to see that both the entry-grade and the Touring have heated seats in the front and rear.