The Solterra is Subaru’s first electric vehicle
It is a rebadged and slightly modified Toyota BZ4X
The sales of the Solterra should begin in 2022 as a 2023 model
Subaru and Toyota have worked together on some projects for quite a while now, the most flagrant example of this is the Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86, which are clones of each other that were introduced in 2012.
The upcoming Subaru Solterra will be an electric SUV and the first electric vehicle to be sold by the Japanese automaker.
The company has already released a couple of pictures teasing the new vehicle, but today, a video was published by Subaru in which more of the SUV is visible.
The Solterra is Subaru’s version of the recently revealed Toyota BZ4X, also the first EV sold in North America by its manufacturer.
From what we can see, these vehicles won’t be much different, as it appears only the lights and the front-end treatment is specific to the Subaru.
The Subaru shows the same unconventional black cladding connecting the wheel arches to the headlights that was seen on the Toyota, as well as the downward protrusion coming from the taillamps that is common to other Toyota models.
Differences between the models seem to be limited to the headlamps and the taillamps, the latter of which feature a pattern similar to those used on many other vehicles from Subaru.
The front end is also different since the Subaru logo is placed in the middle of what would be the grille in a fuel-burning car instead of on the edge of the hood, as is the case with the Toyota. The extent of the changes to the front is hard to tell from the video.
Powertrains have not been announced, either for the Subaru or the Toyota, but they are expected to be shared by both, with the Subaru having standard All-Wheel Drive (and thus, two motors).
Toyota should begin sales of the BZ4X in mid-2022 and Subaru is expected to release the Solterra to the public in late 2022, as a 2023 model.
Source: Subaru On-Tube (youtube.com) via Motor1
