Made for the European market, the film lends fascinating insight.

EVERYTHING you wanted to know about the vital electric Subaru you won’t get to fully know for at least another year.

Subaru New Zealand has explained the likely scenario for the Solterra’s introduction here; they aim to achieve some sample vehicles for demonstration, display and PR purposes next year, but are resigned to not having the car on sale until 2023 – meaning it will be beaten to our market by its Toyota doppelganger.

This was all made clear during last month’s global unveiling of Subaru’s first dedicated electric car, and event that occurred after Toyota showed it its own lookalike, the bZ4X. The timing of those two occasions reflected the deference Subaru seems to have to give to the larger brand, its joint venture partner in developing this five-seater crossover - whose name in Subaru guise is a conjunction of the Latin words for ‘sun’ and ‘earth’. 

Given all that, it’s nonetheless obvious that there’s already growing Kiwi interest in the car, hence why the video here today might be of interest. It’s been made by Subaru Europe, which will have the car from mid-2022, and though reference is to this being the European market car, we can be assured we’ll see pretty much the same thing, save perhaps for a couple of very minor details (at best). 

Obviously, it’s also an accurate pointer to Toyota’s bZ4X, which will be here in 2022, as it and Solterra are very closely related from a technical and design perspective.

The electric cars’ underpinning, badged respectively as the e-Subaru Global Platform and Toyota New Global Architecture has its 71.4kWh lithium-ion battery pack integrated into a structure in the floor for a low centre of gravity and improved crash performance. 

The Solterra is available with the same choice of powertrains as the Toyota. 

Subaru NZ continues to indicate it is less interested in the entry edition, which delivers in front-wheel-drive with a 150kW electric motor and 530 kilometres’ range, for a more potent edition with all-wheel-drive model.

The latter integrates Subaru's X-Mode drive mode system and a new 'Grip Control' function and pairs two 80kW electric motors to develop 160kW combined, and achieve 460kms’ range on a charge.  

In respect to external styling, Subaru’s car differs to the Toyota only in respect to the front end, where Fuji’s car has a closed-off hexagonal 'grille' and unique LED headlight signatures.

Unsurprisingly, Solterra's dimensions are identical to those cited for bZ4X – so 4690mm long, 1860mm wide and 1650mm high, riding on a 2850mm wheelbase.

The range estimates are from WLTC testing. The models support DC fast charging at up to 150kW, along with 6.6kW AC home charging as standard.

 Vehicle weights range from 1930kg to 2020kg depending on the motor count. The all-wheel-drive car rides on 20-inch wheels whereas the front-drive is on 18s.