Subaru’s first electric vehicle looks to be as close visually to its Toyota cousin as the Subaru BRZ is to the Toyota 86.
The company has released additional teasers of its Solterra electric crossover, revealing an interior and exterior design almost identical to the Toyota bZ4x.
It’ll go on sale in 2022, though an Australian launch isn’t on the cards yet.
“The Subaru factory in Japan confirms that there is no timeline for the electric Solterra vehicle in Australia,” said a spokesperson for Subaru Australia earlier this year.
“However, we are very interested and future electric projects form part of ongoing dialogue between Subaru Australia and the factory.”
While the Solterra hasn’t been slated for a local launch, the bZ4x has.
The Toyota is set to arrive sometime after its mid-2022 global launch.
External changes between the Solterra and bZ4x appear to be limited to the front fascia, including the headlights, and the fender flares and tail lights.
The distinctive, wraparound tail light cutouts, however, look virtually identical to the Toyota.
It’s the same story inside, though the polarising yoke-type steering wheel has been swapped out for a conventional unit.
Nevertheless, there’s still a flowing centre console with a large touchscreen, an unusual patterned material on the dashboard, and a digital instrument cluster mounted up high and far back towards the windscreen.
The Solterra and bZ4x will be the first models to use a new all-electric platform co-developed by Toyota and Subaru, referred to as e-TNGA or e-Subaru Global Platform depending on the brand.
They’ll use an all-wheel drive system developed by Subaru which is also claimed to boast “impressive off-road performance”.
Beyond that, the two companies have yet to confirm any technical details. The size of the cars’ batteries, the outputs of their electric motors and the cars’ range, for example, remain unknown.
The roughly RAV4-sized crossovers will go up against a growing number of electric crossovers, including the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Nissan Ariya and Tesla Model Y.
Toyota BZ4X
Over at Toyota, the ‘bZ’ (‘beyond Zero’) moniker will be applied to no fewer than seven full-electric car lines on bespoke platforms to be launched globally by 2025.
This seven-strong ‘bZ’ line-up will be the backbone of the wider Toyota group’s plan for 15 BEV products, available in various regions, by that 2025 date.
