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Subaru Solterra completes the invasion of electric SUVs that have been among the main protagonists of 2021. By now it is clear that the SUV path is the one that convinces the most people, but if many competitors have chosen the strategy of SUV shapes but with a light from the ground which isn’t all that huge, Subaru is among the very few who still believe in a car with good approach, bump and departure angles; and with 21cm high from the ground to face any obstacle.
FIRST TEST ON THE ROAD (AND OFF-ROAD)
And he’s not entirely wrong: assuming you really want to go off-road, doing it with an electric car is technically the best way, because electric motors have a lot of torque and can be managed digitally with greater precision and more immediacy than an all-wheel drive mechanical which necessarily has a delay in response due to the mechanical transmission. Here the Torque breakdown occurs instantly by activating the 80 kW electric motors more or less, a system with perfectly balanced power (total 160 kW, 218 HP) with a torque of 168.5 Nm each (336 Nm overall).
These are not truck data, by now we are used to seeing 600/800 Nm on many electric cars, but let’s not forget that these are figures that are perfectly in line with medium-sized diesels and that they are enough to give a brilliant ride on the road, excellent when shooting and abundantly capable of moving the two tons of this car in the off-road.
Precisely on the off-road route, in fact, it is impressive to note how the digital traction management, with absolutely road-going original equipment tyres, is such as to make the car move forward on a surface with poor grip, even uphill and with a trickle of gas that allows it not to skid while wearing totally unsuitable shoes! Subaru may have also borrowed the platform and engines from Toyota (actually the project is joint and not a re-branding), but for the off-road part he put his own into it and implementation proves it. Even the choice of tires confirms the more off-road attitude, with /60 tires on the 18″ and /50 on the 20″ to have a high and not narrow shoulder like many purely road-going SUVs.
The alliance between Toyota and Subaru provides for a 50:50 contribution between the two manufacturers. Toyota supplies the TNGA platform, electrification and technology while Subaru takes care of the all-wheel drive, safety and the part relating to the dynamic behavior of the car. With Solterra, specifically, Subaru went to work on the steering feeling, the suspension setup and the braking behavior.
Still on the subject of numbers, while far from the world of old-school off-road vehicles, Solterra offers interesting characteristic angles of attack: attack angle of 17.7°, bump angle of 18.2° and departure angle of 25.4°.
Since this was a first test, there was no possibility of balancing the routes, specifically the city part was almost absent, favoring off-road, motorway and extra-urban areas. For this reason, consumption is higher than usual, with an extra-urban average of 23 kWh / 100 km with lots of uphill and downhill bends, and a motorway + extra-urban average of 24 kWh / 100 km. Approximately 300km real range in winter under the conditions described aboveeven if a journey exclusively on the motorway raises consumption (the car itself is high off the ground and the aerodynamics are that of an SUV) and brings us around 26-27 kWh / 100 km (250/270 km of range).
Smooth, complete and connected infotainment with the app
Partially covered equipment if you are very tall
DATA SHEET
TECHNIQUE
- MOTOR: two permanent magnet synchronous electric motors
- POWER: 160 kW, 218 HP
- TORQUE: 336Nm
- Four-wheel drive
- SUSPENSION: MacPherson front, double wishbone rear
- BRAKES: 4 discs
DIMENSIONS
- LENGTH: 4,690mm
- WIDTH: 1,860mm
- HEIGHT: 1,650mm
- WHEELBASE: 2,850 mm
- CLEARANCE FROM THE GROUND: 210 mm
- TRUNK COMPARTMENT: 452 litres
- RIMS: 18″-20″
- TIRES: 235/60 R18, 235/50 R20
- WEIGHT: 2,010 kg in running order
- BATTERY: 71.4 kWh
PERFORMANCE
- MAXIMUM SPEED: 160km/h
- ACCELERATION 0-100 km/h: 6.9 seconds
- CONSUMPTION: 16.7 – 20.2 kWh/100 km (WLTP combined)
- CO2 EMISSIONS: 0 grams per km (WLTP combined)
- TURNING RADIUS: 5.6 meters
- AC RECHARGE: 7 kW
- DC CHARGING: max 150 kW
- DECLARED RANGE: up to 464 km
- WARRANTY: 8 years / 160,000 km at 70% (battery)
PRICE: from 59,900 euros
PRICES AND EQUIPMENT
Two trim levels, 4E-xperience and 4E-xperience+. The choice of a very similar name for both makes it clear that the philosophy is once again that of the “full optional”, a strategy used by many electrics. You pay more, there isn’t an entry-level poor in equipment, but you have everything.
Indeed, 4E-xperience includes 18″ alloy wheels, strongly recommended both for lower fuel consumption and for off-road use, driver’s seat with electric adjustment, 12.3″ display with navigator, heated front seats, driving modes, S- PEDAL Drive (Subaru’s one-pedal driving), telematics for connecting to the app and Subaru Safety Sense, the ADAS suite for Level 2 semi-autonomous driving.
4E-xperience+ adds 20″ rims, panoramic roof, synthetic leather seats, Harman Kardon system, driver’s seat memories, wireless charging for smartphones and heated steering wheel and rear seats. The goal of these packages is to go to position among the best in the price/equipment ratio in the world of electric SUVs, net of any discussion on range and performance.
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