With the Subaru Solterra still to be released in Australia, the Japanese carmaker has updated its electrification plans, doubling its expected electric models by 2028.
Tech Crunch is reporting that Subaru has a goal of selling 600,000 electric cars every year by 2030. Subaru’s planned fleet of four electric vehicles by the year 2026 has also been upped to eight by 2028 – that is, at least, what the company told investors this week.
It’s expected that one of the cars will be a three-row electric SUV, as reported by Automotive News.
Additionally, the company reportedly told investors that an investment of about $1.5 trillion yen ($16 billion in Australian dollars) will be made towards electrification by 2030.
So where is the Subaru Solterra in Australia, then?
The Subaru Solterra SUV, which shares aspects of its design with the Toyota BZ4X (an arrangement between Subaru and Toyota similar to what went into the production of the Subaru BRZ and the Toyota 86), represents the beginning of Subaru’s exploration of the electric vehicle market.
“We are excited to confirm Subaru Australia will continue its electrification journey with the introduction of our first battery electric vehicle, the Solterra, in 2023,” said managing director of Subaru Australia Blair Read in May 2022.
“Solterra starts a new era for Subaru by combining electric vehicle technology with Symmetrical All Wheel Drive. This delivers the all-terrain capability Subaru owners have enjoyed for decades.”
Despite reports indicating that orders for Subaru’s first electric car would open soon back in May 2023 (marking a year since the local announcement for the car), the website still lists the car as ‘coming soon’.
Official local pricing and specifications haven’t even been confirmed.
Subaru Solterra specs
While Australian specifications are still to be confirmed, along with pricing, this is what the current Subaru Solterra build comes packed with. As far as overseas models go, this is what you can expect:
- AWD or FWD
- Length x Width x Height: 4,690mm x 1,860mm x 1,650mm
- Cabin length and width: 1,940mm and 1,515mm
- Cabin height: 1,160mm (normal roof), 1,145mm (glass roof)
- Wheelbase: 2,850mm
- Minimum turning radius: 5.7m
- Minimum ground clearance: 210mm
- Weight: 2,020kg
- Gross vehicle weight: 2,295kg
- Range: about 450km, 71.4kWh battery
- Motor type: AC, 80kW (front and back motor)
- Charging: AC max output 6.6kW, DC max output 150kW
- Wheels: 18 inch or 20-inch wheels (235/60R18 or 235/50R20)
As pointed out by Whichcar, it’s technically larger than the Subaru Forester, but smaller than the Subaru Outback (two popular SUVs from the Japanese automaker).
Subaru Solterra Australian pricing
Like we said earlier, pricing for the Subaru Solterra is still up in the air. In the U.S., pricing starts at $44,995, so if we adjust for the Australian market, that roughly comes out to about $69,000 or a bit higher.
For context, the Tesla Model 3 is $US44,990 which converts to $65,503. The Tesla 3 in Australia can be purchased for $60,000. For the range, it seems to offer a pretty good deal and seems to be a decent Tesla alternative, but it’s difficult to say right now while Australia-specific specifications haven’t been confirmed just yet.
You can register your interest in the Subaru Solterra here. At the moment, Subaru doesn’t have any plans to go all-electric. In October 2021, the company formed an EV division. Subaru says it’ll commit to electrification technologies to all Subaru vehicles sold worldwide by the first half of the next decade.
