2023 Subaru Solterra: new teasers…
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As you can see, the upcoming Subaru Solterra EV will be the exact same car as the Toyota version.
Toyota has only shown us a “concept” version so far, called the “BZ4X”.
While the Subaru teasers seem to show their production model.
Outside, the main differences between the concept and production versions seem to be the plastic cladding. Which is the usual matt finish on the production car.
And unfortunately, that rear side window has been replaced by a piece of matt plastic (Although it could have also been a glossy finished plastic on the concept, and not an actual window)
Inside, the stupid Yoke steering from the concept has of course been replaced by a real steering wheel.
Otherwise, it’s exactly the same.
I am glad to see Subaru coming up with a new EV. But it would have been nice to see an original design. (At least pretend!)
Not sure how that works for the Toyota GT86/Subaru BRZ… They seem to sell equally poorly at around 2200 units a year each.
Again, I am sure the new EV will be fine. And a great competition to the VW ID.4. It also looks nicer than a RAV-4 or a Forester (which isn’t hard to do). But I really wished Subaru had spent a bit of money to at least make it look like a Subaru…
This is just shockingly lazy…
Looks fantastic so far inside and out.
I don't like the positioning of the console touchscreen so close to the driver.
Vince –
You stated: "I am glad to see Subaru coming up with a new EV. But it would have been nice to see an original design. (At least pretend!) This is just shockingly lazy."
It's not about being lazy at all… It's about spreading out the huge costs of developing an all-new (high tech) vehicle (which typically runs many millions of dollars for companies).
I agree that Subaru and Toyota should do more to differentiate the looks of their respective vehicles. But on the other hand – is this being done deliberately… in order to gain maximum visibility for an all-new design?
Do we all remember when we gave the Detroit automakers crap for doing the exact same type of badge engineering???
And yet somehow the Hyundai Ionic5, Kia EV6 and Genesis GV60 all share the same EMP platform and look different.
I'm not impressed. I thought cloning was out in the late 90's
two of the companies with the worse, uninspired and overwrought exterior designs: Toyota and Subaru. Missed opportunity to make these cars look different similar to what VW,Hyundai, Peugeot do for their clones.
the interior is OK-ish, but the two screens will not work well in practice since they are on completely different planes and will require the driver to refocus when moving from one to another. There's a reason the flat wide screen is popular as in MB and some of the Chinese market offerings.
what's the price point on these twins? How competitive are these with the other SUV plug-ins available in the US, e.g. Escape, RAV4, CR-V, Tucson, Sorento, etc.?
styling is very wonky on this model.
Amazingly similar in form (inside and out) to the recently debuted Toyota BZ4x. Seriously, this floating center console s**t needs to end. No one that has to live with them tells me they like it. It just becomes this big thing in the way.
A lot of these car companies could save themselves a lot of risk by taking this new EV and offering it in both EV and hybrid/PHEV form to get more people on board sooner with the package …and get the platform paid for sooner. EV sales might be growing quickly as a percentage. Moreso over seas. But here? Its still a relatively small number in the market.