EV sales in 2023 have taken off with over 65,000 new vehicles making it onto Australian roads in the first three quarters of the year. Of these, only a very small number of Japanese models make the top 30 EV models available in the market.
That may change in the coming months with Subaru’s upcoming all-electric SUV, which it calls the Solterra, and which is an effective twin of the Toyota bZx4.
One of the very few Subaru Solterras in the country has been spotted in Melbourne. It was spotted by Anthony M, an EV enthusiast, who shared it on X.
The white spotted example is seen parked in a car park with NSW numberplates on it. In the photo, the EV’s charge port is spotted on the driver’s-side located towards the front of the car.
It also has a two-tone paint with black side mirrors to contrast the white exterior. On the front of the vehicle, foglights are also spotted, just under the closed front grill.
@LudicrousFeed just spotted in Melbourne pic.twitter.com/7JeokgPQzJ
— Anthony Maniatopoulos (@manya3084) October 20, 2023
Looking into the registration, it appears to be a 2022 model vehicle with over 34,000 kilometers on the odometer. This indicates that it’s an evaluation vehicle that has been here testing.
Other details revealed include the tare weight of this particular Solterra which sits at just over two tonnes.
Looking more into the dimensions, of the Solterra, it comes in at 4,690 mm in length which is slightly longer than one of Subaru’s current ICE best-sellers in our market, the Subaru Forester.
Across the ditch in New Zealand, the Solterra comes in powered by a dual-motor powertrain which produces up to 160 kW. The variants on offer also have a range of up to 464 km.
The base model is equipped with features and specs that include;
- All-Wheel Drive
- 18” alloy wheels
- 10 way power driver’s seat
- Front seat heaters
- Power rear tail gate
- Dual zone A/C
- 12.3” centre display
- Wireless Apple Car Play and Android Auto
- Cloth interior
- 6 speakers
All of this starts at a price point of $NZ79,990 which is equivalent to around $A73,900.
Here in Australia, Subaru’s website currently states that the Solterra is likely to arrive in our local market in 2023 which would be a good first step for the Japanese brand.
Registration of interest is currently open but we expect the local specs to be revealed in the coming weeks if the first vehicles are to arrive on this side of Christmas.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.