2024 Subaru Solterra Touring Review - Is it any good?

Solterra is Subaru’s first tentative step into the rapidly evolving world of the electrification of motor transport. Although Subaru skipped the full hybrid step, its development partner, Toyota, is one of the big players in petrol/battery operated passenger cars. Its hybrid experience should have given Toyota plenty of ideas as to how to design the perfect electric car.

The biggest difference between a hybrid and pure EV is the petrol engine, missed by some and maligned by others.

Subaru Solterra has the polarising looks inherited from Toyota’s change in direction a decade ago. There is no mistaking the vague family resemblance to RAV4, but looks somewhat stranded in a Subaru showroom.

What we like:

Although not as spacious as Hyundai’s IONIQ 5, Solterra’s interior is comfortable and well appointed. The capacious rear cabin has a couple of USBc outlets, and seat heating for peeps in the outer pews.

Front passengers command functions via the centre screen, and like most EVs, are spoilt by sneaky cubby holes for bits and bobs including a large bin in the centre console. There, another couple of USBc sockets and a 12v outlet.

While the rear cabin is open and spacious, the front cabin wraps like a cockpit, and it looks good.

While there is a bit of recycled material used, none of it is in the touchy-feely passenger area. I’d like to see all woven and plastic materials using recycled products for future models. The fabric on the dash adds a touch of retro glamour and reminds me of old luggage.

Seats are heated but not cooled, and the driver has a couple of memories. The centre mirror can display an unobstructed picture of the view from a rear high-set exterior camera. A similarly suitable scene is shown on the landscape screen atop the dashboard. The car’s shadow is greyed out so that travellers get an unobstructed 360⁰ impression of the surroundings.

There are the usual driver and safety aids which now barely warrant a mention if the brand is chasing a 5-star gong from ANCAP. EYESIGHT is absent but there is still a full suite of modern magic.

The driving position is perfect, and the drive experience is calm and quiet even if the cabin design itself is quite busy. The interior is fairly quiet at any speed, and the ride feels like a deluxe seat in a posh cinema.

ABOVE: Is 2024 Subaru Solterra Touring AWD Worth The Money

Not So Much

The looks, oh, those looks.

Solterra is not going to win any beauty contests that’s for sure. It has Toyota all over it, not the least being rear lights whose side wings look like a crying clown.

The front end’s crowning glory should be the headlights, and while they are LED, they are not the all-singing, all-dancing matrix LEDs that are now almost ubiquitous. Although they have auto high/low beam, they don’t magically bend light.

The battery is 71kwh, so could be bigger, and the 150kw DC “fast” charging is a gentle canter at most. KIA’s snazzy EV6 and upcoming EV5 have 350kw Ultra-rapid capability.

Power output of 160kw is divided evenly between front and back axles, and while more than adequate, hardly gives its owners anything to boast about at dinner parties.

The original pricing would have been a disaster. As it is, the Solterra Touring tops the range duo at $83,000 including on-roads. Solterra had a $6,700 price drop between initial orders, and the initial deliveries, otherwise Touring would have near topped 90 grand, and standing no chance against the Koreans, let alone the Chinese.

The Qi wireless charger doesn’t fit an iPhone 15 Pro Max with Otterbox cases, and there is no frunk, so cables have to be schlepped round back.

The driver’s display, though smallish, is very well laid out. Sadly, it is contained within a grasping splodge of plastic curving from the screen round to either side of the steering wheel. It places the display above the small steering wheel in the style of Peugeot’s i-cockpit. It is a truly horrid idea for Peugeot and is no better on Subarus.

A casual observer is going to have a hard time picking the difference between the Solterra and its Toyota twin, the awkwardly-named bz4X. Inside and out, they look so similar as to be indistinguishable.

The Toyota seems to be cheaper, but without auditing the Toyota’s specifications with a microscope, it is hard to imagine the buyer motivation to pay several grand more for the Subaru name.

The Drive:

Our drive, a hundred kilometres southwest of Sydney, took us over city roads, highways, country roads, and the worst that rural back lanes have to offer. Solterra was a cosy cocoon of Zen serenity throughout.

We stopped at the George IV inn on Picton’s main street, parking at the edge of the colonial sandstone building’s quintessential verandah. Nico and I are old hands when it comes to automotive critique, but we look for very different things in a car. I like to fettle the options, awhile Nico loves music, stopping for pictures, and finding little things that make a car unique.

We mulled the pros and cons over a craft beer and hot home-made pot pie.

Solterra needs a button push to spring to life.

Subaru’s X-Mode off-road button calls alluringly from the far side of the console, and for on-road use, drive modes include a SPORT option. Steering is firm in any mode, and ride is superb on most surfaces.

The smart cruise takes a while to get used to. Once set, the steering wheel gently moves under the hand yet keeps a careful watch on the driver to make sure he doesn’t nod off. Subaru has kept the controls familiar so that existing Subaru customers won’t be frightened off, befuddled by new-fangled gizmos.

The cabin lighting is soothing, and there are tons of tasty treats found in the menus. What drivers of Scoobs really want is performance, handling, and the ability to head to a campsite anywhere anytime. There is no external appliance power available, but most places accessible by Solterra will have the essentials laid on anyway.

City chores are dispatched in a jiff and is where Solterra feels most at home. The automated parking system simply would not cooperate, so we left it in the lap of the gods.

Performance of around 7 seconds to 100kph feels strangely leisurely. While it’s not neck-snapping, I expected more urgency. It speaks to the engineering of the 2 tonne SUV that passengers feel gently cupped as if cuddled by nanny.

Download specifications HERE:Subaru-Solterra-brochure

What we thought:

Nico: I’d like more power. 160kw isn’t sporty enough for my Hamilton-esque leanings. I appreciate that the days of fossil power are numbered, but I have yet to meet an EV that is as thrilling through a corner. Even so, I like Solterra’s go-cart feel at any speed.

As I get older, I appreciate a nice ride and I love gadgets doing what they say they will.

Charging is too slow too. When you plug a car in you expect it to fly, and the interminable waits at EV stations are becoming far too frequent. The quicker all EVs fill the better.

Alan:

I first saw Solterra 18 months ago at a Subaru lunch. I was impressed by the modern feel of the cabin, but less impressed by the modular looks of the metalwork outside. The panels exterior give the impression that they could be taken off, so gives the Solterra an unfinished look. Perhaps it is just the battleship grey, but our car looked like it was made of modelling plastic.

The interior is better resolved with interesting surfaces and contours.

Except for the unnecessarily ugly driver dial cowling, the cabin feels classy. The rear is wonderfully roomy, with the front being a little more businesslike.

Conclusion

Solterra left us in a quandary. There were things we loved, and things we didn’t. It performed faultlessly, flinging itself into every request with the gusto of a hungry puppy at a bowl.

Unlike the rest of the Subaru range which I loved on sight, Solterra left me confused. The drive is fabulous and perhaps that’s where it should be left.

Price: $76,990
Power: 160kw337Nm
Battery: 71.4kwh
Charging Max: 150kw
Range: 485km

Other Subaru Stories