Clean Car might be in its final days when cheapest of two dual motor models cited for NZ arrives.

AVAILABILITY occurring right when the Clean Car discount might be dropped has not kept Subaru from pricing its Solterra breakthrough electric car at a rebate-earning $79,990.

That money buys a base car, with cloth trim and some technology absent from a higher-spec Touring that can be bought for $84,990, but both editions are in dual motor form to achieve the brand ethos of only selling all-wheel-drive product here. The entry model seems set to stand as the second rebate eligible AWD electric, Telsa already provisioning a choice for slightly less money.

In wake of sharing pricing today, Subaru NZ said it is taking pre-orders with intent for the first customer delivery to occur in December. It believes those first buyers will achieve the $7015 rebate.

Said a spokesman: “Those with the entry spec will get the rebate … and TBC on future customers obviously depending on the election outcome.”

That comment comes in recognition a cloud hangs over the future of the Clean Car Discount that has fuelled interest in new electric cars and seen a wide spread of products heft the same tag as the entry Solterra - specifically to achieve a rebate for sub-$80,000 fully battery-compelled fare.

If the current Labour Government survives next month’s general election, the incentive seems to remain. If a National-led Government takes over, it will go. National has said it will drop rebates and also CO2 penalties, the latter called ‘ute tax’ because it hits all one-tonne fossil fuelled utilities.

Solterra has been a challenge for Subaru New Zealand. The Auckland distributor initially hoped to have it last year, then announced intention to put on sale in April 2023. 

The latter plan was derailed when the car - and its Toyota twin, the bZ4X - was withdrawn from production to remedy an embarrassing design failure.

Subaru NZ has had evaluation cars for months.

Actual range from the conjoined product has been subject of sensitivity in overseas markets where they have represented in, some for more than a year. Some owners say the actual performance is well short of the cited figures, assessed through the WLTP scale.

Subaru NZ says on its website that ranges depend on driving style and road conditions. It nonetheless cites the base model, simply called Solterra, as being up for a highly credible 465 kilometres. That’s a five kilometre advantage over the initial call. The more expensive Touring has ability to run 414kms before requiring replenishment; a penalty - identified in overseas’ tests - from it moving off the standard fare 18 inch rims onto 20 inch types.

The entry car also has cloth trim, whereas the Touring has leather, but both have a 10-way electric adjustable driver’s seat. Front seat heaters and a power tailgate also come with the rebate car. It has dual zone air conditioning, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a six-speaker stereo.

The Touring takes all those elements, and adds wireless phone charging, a panorama sunroof, upgrades to a Harman Kardon sound system, achieves a heated steering wheel, has sat nav and intelligent park assist. It can be ordered with a two-tone paint, which adds $1000.

In past comment, Subaru NZ’s boss, Wallis Dumper, always made clear that his brand would steer away from the single motor version, which Toyota New Zealand has cited as its entry bZ4X. TNZ has yet to announced bZ4X pricing.

“There is nothing more reassuring than the confidence and safety that AWD provides when driving the last few kilometres to the bach on a gravel road, or simply crossing a slippery, rain-soaked intersection when the traffic lights change.”

Solterra is the first major electric model from Subaru Corporation and a vital model in its future commitment to apply electrification to all Subaru vehicles (EVs and Hybrids) sold worldwide by around 2030. 

By 2050 the brand is targeting to reduce average C02 emissions by at least 90 percent, compared to where it stood in 2010. 

Earlier this year Dumper says the parent firm’s ambition “is to continually develop and deliver products that meet societal needs and contribute to the environment through advanced technologies, thereby contributing to the protection of the global environment.”

Subaru Japan has shared intent  to reorganise its production structure to better accommodate market demand for electric/hybrid vehicles. The strategy includes opening new production lines.