Subaru teases first fully electric vehicle with new ‘Solterra’ SUV
Subaru has revealed its first all-new global battery-electric vehicle will be an SUV named ‘Solterra’ which will go on sale in 2022.
Solterra is Subaru’s all-new, all-electric C-segment-class SUV and it will be the first Subaru vehicle to be built on the battery electric vehicle (BEV) dedicated e-Subaru Global Platform.
The e-Subaru Global platform, which has been jointly developed by Subaru and Toyota, enables the two brands to roll out various types of EVs by combining multiple modules and components, such as the front, centre and rear of a vehicle.
The announcement of the Solterra follows the announcement of Toyota’s first all-electric vehicle, the bZ4X.
The joint production of the Solterra between Subaru and Toyota brings together a wide range of collaboration which includes product planning, design and performance evaluation. Subaru says the two companies will combine their two key strengths – Subaru’s all-wheel-drive technology and Toyota’s vehicle electrification technology.
The name ‘Solterra’ was created by joining the word ‘sol’ and ‘terra’, the Latin words for the sun and the earth respectively. Subaru said this name was given to the new EV to: “appreciate mother nature and further advance the form of coexistence with it, together with our customers, and to represent our commitment to deliver traditional Subaru SUV’s go-anywhere capabilities in an all-electric vehicle.”
Subaru’s announcement of the Solterra is a step towards the company’s goal for electric or hybrid vehicles to account for at least 40% of all sales by 2030.
The new Solterra SUV will be joining the line of Subaru SUVs, Ascent, Outback, Forester and Subaru XV and will go on sale by the middle of 2022 in the markets including Japan, the United States, Canada, Europe and China.
