Amid a flood of choices from emerging and existing manufacturers, Subaru’s Solterra AWD Touring represents the Japanese car maker’s first foray into the fully electric space. Badging and grille aside, it’s visually different from its Toyota bZ4X sibling.
The result of a collaborative partnership between the two brands, the Solterra costs slightly more at just over $83,000 drive away, but does have a few differentiating features. Tested here in Harbour Mist Grey Pearl, there are five other colours to choose from.
The list includes Galactic Black, Cosmic White, Elemental Red, Smoked Carbon and (simply) Dark Blue. With some of these, you can option a Galactic Black, two-tone roof. On the outside, the front guards and rear arches are lined in black plastic.
Much like say the WRX, it’s a design feature that could polarise fans. There’s some gloss black touches on the exterior too, notably on the bonnet, around the taillights and to create that front grille outline.
In Touring spec, the Solterra features a 71.4kWh battery that can recharge to 80 per cent in about half an hour when connected to a 150kW DC fast charger. Subaru claims a range of 485km, but reality is somewhere closer to 400km.
This variant has a motor on each axle to deliver 180kW of power and 337Nm of torque, which is good for a sprint to 100km/h in about 7.0 seconds. It’s no speed demon, but fast enough for our roads and urban areas.
Drivers have the option of Normal, Eco and Power drive modes, with paddles behind the steering wheel allowing for up to four levels of brake regeneration. While the strongest will slow the car, the Solterra doesn’t feature a one pedal driving mode.
Ride comfort is pretty nice given the 20-inch wheels the Solterra Touring rides on. It’s compliant even on rougher, unsealed surfaces where some X-Drive modes can be selected for more adventurous occasions, including Dirt, Mud or Snow.
Inside, the cockpit is futuristic looking and a departure from your more familiar Subaru layout. Taking a leaf out of Peugeot’s interior design book, the digital instrument panel sits above a squared off steering wheel, but doesn’t feel as unique or unfamiliar.
There are plenty of actual buttons, all of which are pretty easy to work with. A huge 12.3-inch touchscreen dominates the centre dash. Interacting with the system is easy and clear, and we found once we were set up we didn’t have to touch it very often.
That’s particularly so once you’ve paired wirelessly via Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. The Solterra Touring does feature native maps as well, though it doesn’t offer to find your nearest charging stations once the battery starts getting low.
There are some large storage areas, including a big one underneath the centre tunnel, while a wireless charging pad can be found under a flap in the console. As seems to be the norm with these things, your phone can often get too hot and then charging stops.
There’s an interesting material finish on the dashboard and no glovebox. The rest of the interior is mostly grey and is functional, without being anything too exciting. The massive panoramic roof helps with the sense of spaciousness inside.
Audio is sent through a 10-speaker Harman Kardon sound system which offers a decent aural experience for the occupants. This is an extra speaker over the JBL system in the Toyota. Both front seats feature 8-way power adjustability with two memory settings.
The driver’s seat includes lumbar while the powered passenger seat is exclusive to this trim. The front seats and steering wheel are heated, and the Touring adds the outer rear seats to that feature as well.
The Solterra also gets ventilated front seats, with occupants treated to a roomy and comfortable interior and a flat floor. There’s even some room under the forward pews for those in the second row, although it’s not perfect for taller rear passengers.
All three rear seats feature a child seat tether point, while the outer seats include ISOFIX connectors. While there’s no frunk, an electric tailgate reveals 410-litres of boot space, which puts the Solterra on par with the Volvo XC40 Recharge.
Other rivals offer slightly more, with the Kia EV6 delivering 490-litres and the Hyundai IONIQ 5 providing 520-litres. Driving around in the Solterra is quite a breeze too, thanks to a commanding seating position and large glasshouse.
Of course, being an EV, the car is quiet and feels comfortable to sit in. Around town the Solterra is compliant and easy to manoeuvre. On longer trips it soaks up the bumps, and the distance with ease.
We wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s fun to drive, but for getting the family from A to B; this car definitely can fulfil that role without a worry. Blind spot monitoring is standard while the Solterra also features the ability to self-park.
We tried to use this for a reverse-parallel park but couldn’t quite get the feature to work. That said, in a carpark it was able to pick up the parallel lines of a parking space and managed to reverse centrally into the selected spot with no fuss.
For those who like to do things the old-fashioned way, the rear view mirror can be switched to a digital display utilising a rear facing camera, which is great for when passengers in the back seats might be blocking the traditional option.
Other safety features include a driver monitoring system which alerts you if your eyes aren’t deemed to be paying attention to the road. Thankfully the warnings aren’t as annoying as in some other cars with this feature.
You can rely on Subaru to provide a safe car though, with Subaru SafetySense adding a pre-collision system that includes dynamic radar cruise control, emergency steering assist, lane departure alert, lane tracing assist and road sign assist.
Subaru backs the 2024 Solterra AWD Touring with a 5-year unlimited kilometre warranty and includes 5-years or 75,000km worth of servicing in the purchase price. Overall, it’s good that we now have an electric option from Subaru to consider.
Those loyal to the brand who have been waiting for an EV shouldn’t be disappointed in the Solterra AWD Touring either. It’s a roomy and capable electric SUV with plenty of safety features. Find out more on the Subaru Australia website or from your local dealership.
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Our test vehicle was provided by Subaru Australia for independent review purposes.
