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New Vehicle: Subaru Solterra - MEGAThread

53K views 527 replies 65 participants last post by  Ballermaris 
#1 ·
#225 ·
One can hope - this whole "everything is in a touchscreen" thing is total BS. The screen breaks and now you cant even turn on your AC? And how is it safe to be operating a giant bright touchscreen at night to change the radio station when you should be focusing on the road? I hate it. Cost savings I am sure
 
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#14 ·
#20 · (Edited)
I understand the reasons for why, but I think many of the Subaru fans out there eager for Subaru's take on an EV will be very disappointed by this. It will likely just be a carbon copy of the Toyota version of it. It will very much be an on-road focused vehicle and I'm expecting that any AWD capabilities will pale in comparison to their traditional AWD systems. In other words, expect this to be WAY more RAV4 than it is Forester (if at all).

This vehicle was developed in partnership with Toyota because they quickly needed a compliance vehicle to meet regulatory requirements. Subaru's true EVs that meet their adventure customer needs are going to be much much further out. I expect that sometime in the next several years new generations of their existing models will be designed to incorporate the EV tech being developed with Toyota right now. At the earliest I'm guessing that will start with the MY24 redesign of the Impreza and Crosstrek, but it could stretch out to the generation after that.

Also, I expect that Subaru will eventually develop an EV AWD system that is as good or even better than their current models. Electric motors offer a LOT more torque and potentially more fine control of individual tires. However, it is very very different from ICE systems and much of their existing tech just won't apply. The knowledge and experience should though.
 
#21 ·
I understand the reasons for why, but I think many of the Subaru fans out there eager for Subaru's take on an EV will be very disappointed by this. It will likely just be a carbon copy of the Toyota version of it.
I agree. I realize it's only a render, but that picture appears to have the atrocious fish mouth grill design that Toyota/Lexus uses. That would be a turn off right there for me. I'll be interested to see what comes down the road.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Well you have to start somewhere, and Subaru is way behind on hybrids and EVs. Like as not Subaru would not be here now as an independent brand, had Toyota not assisted them some 10-15 years ago, IIRC.

I thuink Toyota will leave Subaru lots of room to be a separate brand with plenty to distinguish it from Toyota. Subaru has cultivated a customer base for many years, which Toyota would not want to lose, or give up to another maker. IOW Toyotam, as an investor in Subaru, has an interest in seeing Subaru be successful as an independent brand.

Personally I expect the same to be true for Mazda when T takes them under its roof.
 
#30 ·
I 100% agree here. Subaru needs Toyota. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Toyota eventually fully acquired Subaru, but like you said I don't see them doing anything to interfere with what makes them great. Integration with Toyota seems like it will only be a good thing. Toyota will just help Subaru do more of what already makes them great.
 
#26 ·
Still have my fisker ocean reservation. Doubt this will be anything but the same incremental stats over the ice vehicles. Most legacy mfg's don't seem to want to push things like the startup EV's. And I have no interest in going EV for incremental.

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#28 ·
This looks much smaller than an Outback, but at least it's a start. PHEVs make much more sense for Subaru's niche than BEVs. 10 degree weather and highway speeds use up battery range fast. I wish Subaru had focused on getting PHEV powertrain options available across the lineup. Santa Fe / Sorento PHEVs are coming later this year. Mitsubishi just updated the Outlander, and Ford is developing the Fusion Active with a PHEV option.
 
#31 ·
Also doesn't off-roading use up battery power quickly? I don't know, but it would make sense as you are pushing higher torque situations. EVs will be WONDERFUL for off-road performance once the tech gets worked out (WAY higher torque and more granular power control), but it will take time to develop the off-road tech and not getting stuck in the wild may be an issue. On-board or aftermarket generators for recharging might become a thing. You could easily have a low power motor to charge the battery, but that and the fuel tank are still added space taken up.
 
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#32 ·
Until I can charge up in time equal to how quickly I can fuel up, I'm not interested. All this electric stuff feels very experimental to me at this point, like they can't even decide on a charging standard. Could you imagine only being able to fuel at certain gas stations based on the brand you drive? Its nonsense. And they're asking a lot of money to be early adopters of something that makes no sense currently. Can you buy an electric vehicle and make it work? Sure. I can make a skate board work as my daily driver too, depends on how much work you're willing to invest.

Me? I want to get into a car and drive. If I need to fuel up a bit I want to be able to easily. Until this electric stuff is that easy, its not going to be the norm and will not be the norm as quickly as these manufacturers are making it out to be.

All in my opinion, if you don't agree thats fine we can agree to disagree but you won't change my mind.
 
#42 ·
Tesla's are rate at around 30 kWh/100 miles. Let's be conservative and use a very high electricity price of $0.10 per kWh to simplify the math. That means you are paying $3.00 to go 100 miles. Even assuming some power lost over transmission that is pretty dang good. If you use the Crosstrek PHEV it has a higher rating of 38 kWh/100 miles so you are looking at closer to $4.00 for 100 miles. Still very good compared to ANY non-EV. The best you could hope to do with a modern hybrid is around 50 mpg and even in cheap gas states (like me in Oklahoma) that is still around $5.00 for 100 miles. Realistically though, an EV version of any vehicle will cost around 2-3 times less to power.
 
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