Last month, AutomotiveMap speculated that the reason Subaru had filed a trademark for the word “Solterra” was because that was going to be the name of its new all-electric SUV. We were right. The Japanese automaker has confirmed the hypothesis that the Solterra will be joining the lineup and divulged a few other details as well.
The world Solterra comes from a combination of the Latin words for sun “soltis” and Earth “terra”. That fits in nicely with Subaru’s outdoorsy vehicle naming scheme that includes Forester, Ascent, Outback, Crosstrek, and the newly minted Outback Wilderness.
The Subaru Solterra is the sister of the Toyota bZ4X. The two models were co-developed as part of a joint partnership with Toyota that has also produced the Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid and Prius Prime, as well as the 2022 Subaru BRZ and 2022 Toyota 86 fraternal twins.
The Subaru Solterra will wear “EV” badging featuring a customary blue highlight.Photo courtesy of Subaru of America Inc.
The new Subie will ride on the company’s fresh dedicated all-electric platform named the e-SUBARU Global Platform. The new vehicle will combine all-wheel drive capability, agile driving dynamics, and passive safety features, according to the automaker.
Solterra is likely to be about the same dimensions as bZ4X, with a smaller body than the Forester and larger than the Crosstrek but nearly the same amount of interior space. That’s partially because the car has no need for a transmission tunnel. Looks-wise, the model is similar to the two as well, blending aesthetics from each in an aerodynamic body design.
It will go on sale in 2022 which means that we’re likely to see it in the flesh later this year. It will probably wear a 2023 model year tag when it goes on sale.
A few weeks ago, Toyota revealed the bZ4X Concept, an all-electric SUV that will come to market as the bZ4X is the very near future. That concept is just the start of Toyota’s electric future and they’ve detailed what to expect a little more fully via a news release and some trademark searching.
