Subaru Australia has confirmed its first fully electric vehicle, the Solterra midsize SUV, will make its way to Australia before year’s end, with orders opening in October.
The first round of deliveries for the new electric SUV will start from late December in what could be a nice Christmas present for owners.
While the Solterra is expected to offer 2WD configurations elsewhere, Subaru Australia’s general manager Blair Read told Chasing Cars the Solterra would be an all-wheel-drive only proposition in Australia.
The Subaru Solterra is coming! It’ll be here in December. Pictured is a pre-production model in Australia
“For us, all wheel drive is obviously a really key part of Subaru’s DNA and for it [the Solterra] to be a Subaru SUV and be what we believe our customers expect from a Subaru SUV, it had to be all-wheel drive,” he said.
Pricing and exact specification still remain underwraps however, when asked if the Solterra would be affordable when compared to its rivals, Read said the Solterra would “have to be competitive in the market”.
The very-much related Toyota BZ4X twin is available in several global markets in both front-wheel or all-wheel drive layouts.
The Subaru Solterra is closely related to the Toyota BZ4X. Pictured is a pre-production model in Australia
Toyota Australia told Chasing Cars recently that it would be evaluating both front- and all-wheel drive variants of the BZ4X for our market. The BZ4X is set to arrive in Australia in the fourth quarter of 2023, between October and December.
Quick facts about the upcoming Subaru Solterra
The new Solterra will use a dual-motor setup in Australia, meaning the model will receive power and torque outputs of 160kW/338Nm. The model rides on the e-TNGA platform that also underpins the Lexus RZ.
Subaru says the Solterra for Australia will be all-wheel drive. Pictured is a pre-production model in Australia
The Solterra uses a 72.8kWh battery pack and is capable of driving up to 542km on a single charge.
Although standard specifications for Australia has not yet been confirmed, the mid-spec USA-spec Solterra Limited includes the following features as standard:
Australian specs for the Solterra are coming soon!
- Symmetrical all-wheel drive with X-Mode
- 20-inch alloy wheels
- Roof rails
- 12.3-inch touchscreen
- 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster
- Harman Kardon premium sound system
- Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- 360-degree camera
- Leather steering wheel
- 10-way power adjustable driver’s seat
Local Australian pricing is yet to be determined, however it’s possible that the new electric Subaru could cost as much as $60K-$70K before on-road costs and could undercut rivals such as the Tesla Model Y.