2023 Subaru Solterra Review: Better As a Subaru Than As a Toyota

The Subaru Solterra electric SUV is the near-twin of the Toyota BZ4X. For a few reasons, what doesn't work for Toyota works for Subaru, and that's a good thing for Subaru.

There's two key ways to tell the Subaru from the Toyota as it comes toward you in traffic. Though Solterra wears the same amount of plastic cladding on its exterior as BZ4X, the front, where Toyota features its emblem on the top of the fascia near the hood clasp, features a Subaru emblem in the center of the blocked out grille area.

The Subaru also comes with standard fog lights and LED headlights. Automatic high beams come on all Solterras.

At the rear, they're nearly identical, swapping out badging for proper names and emblems relating to the respective brand. The wheels (18-inch standard and 20-inch available) are the same on both models, save for the center emblem.

The biggest difference between the two comes to drivetrains. The BZ4X is available with the buyer's choice of two- or all-wheel drive. Subaru only sells the Solterra with all-wheel drive. The Subie also has Dual-Function X-Mode with Snow/Dirt and Deep Snow/Mud drive modes.

Subaru offers the car with a 215-horspeower battery-electric powertrain that delivers 249 pound-feet of torque at the push of the accelerator.

Solterra Premium, the base model, has a 228-mile all-electric range from its 72.8 kilowatt-hour battery. Solterra Limited and Touring get 222 miles out of a single charge from the same battery.

Power can be regenerated via the car's S-Pedal Drive mode. Drivers use paddles attached to the steering wheel to control how strong the regeneration is.

It takes the SUV approximately nine hours to charge when plugged into a Level 2/240-volt outlet. When hooked up to a DC fast charger, it can get to an 80 percent charge in around 56 minutes, far longer than it takes the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 to reach the same charge level. The Solterra's charging port is located in the left rear fender of the car.

The electric Subaru SUV with 125-cubic feet of passenger and cargo space, slightly less than a Nissan Rogue, and seats five. Crossbars are standard.

Up front, the driver and front passenger get a six-way manually adjustable and heated seat. Upmarket trims bump up the driver's adjustment capability to 10 ways, via powered knobs. Ventilated front seats are only available in the Solterra Touring.

The three backseat passengers share a only recline adjustability beyond their 60/40 split-folding capability. Headed rear seats are available for outboard passengers.

A leather-wrapped steering wheel is standard. Heated capability is available. StarTex upholstery, a leather imposter, is also an option, over the standard cloth.

Interiors of the vehicles are similar, both using fabric glued to the dashboard for a softened aesthetic and gobs of piano black reflective hard plastic surfaces where there isn't other types of plastic.

In front of the driver sits a hooded 7-inch LCD instrument cluster.

At the center of the dashboard is either an 8-inch or 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen that comes standard with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. A wireless charging pad is available.

The system runs Toyota's operating system rather than Subaru's. It is capable of updating via over-the-air updates using the car's on-board Wi-Fi.

Subaru has installed its EyeSight safety and driver assist technology in the Solterra. The suite of technology includes emergency steering assist, intersection collision avoidance support, pre-collision braking assist, lane departure prevention, adaptive cruise control and lane centering.

Blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, rear pedestrian detection and warning, a 360-degree camera view and automatic high beams also come on the car.

The Subaru Solterra has a starting MSRP of $44,995 with handling and destination charges extra.

2023 Subaru Solterra Review

As many, many Subaru commercials have pointed out, Subie owners use their vehicles nearly as much off the beaten path or in inclement weather as they do around town. Though the Solterra is an electric SUV, it has plenty of capability to satisfy Subaru customers.

There's no doubting its Toyota lineage and there's been plenty written about that. From a business perspective, the two companies linking up to make what amounts to a first-go compliance vehicle makes sense.

The question is this: Is this Toyota enough of a Subaru? Answered simply, yes. Not only is it enough, the car is actually better as a Subaru than as a Toyota, despite the fact that they're very similarly tuned, have pretty much the same equipment, and are priced nearly the same.

If you've been in a last-generation Crosstrek or Forester, you can immediately see the aesthetic link between them and the Solterra. Those models aren't as soft touch surface friendly as more modern Subarus.

The electronics in front of the driver aren't particularly sophisticated looking and their visibility is a major problem for anyone who holds the steering wheel with their hands and is of average height.

Taller people are better able to see the information, but they run out of headroom quickly as the Subaru's seating position is abruptly upright as if a Kia Soul was the model, but with added hardness.

The Toyota-based infotainment system isn't terrible, but it certainly has some growing up to do. In the looks department it's worlds more sophisticated than the typical Subaru setup, but it isn't as responsive as one would hope.

To be abundantly clear, the interior is not where the Solterra shines, but it's not a total nightmare.

Where it shines is away from the paved roads. When Toyota offered the BZ4X up for tests, it was only on paved roads and highways around Encinitas, California. Basic, boring stuff. When Subaru came calling, it wanted to show what the Solterra could really do, bringing a fleet of the new EVs to Catalina Island.

The island off the coast of Southern California has pothole ridden gravel roads in the best of locations and is downright rough in others. There's roads that don't even look like roads. It is a rustic island, roamed by decedents of buffalo brought over from the mainland in the early 1900s for a movie shoot and left behind when filmmakers decamped.

Here, its all-wheel drive and instantaneously available torque shined. On the street, the SUV rides relatively smoothly though it shows its weight. Off-road, that weight helps the quick acceleration EVs deliver to give the driver a more controlled, level response to the terrain.

Steep, dirty inclines were no problem. Ruts? I relative breeze. It was more challenging to see over wheel thanks to the pitch of the incline than it was to actually accomplish the feat. Dust and grime from a day on the trail rendered the SUV's cameras virtually useless in these scenarios.

It's differently capable than the Wilderness grades Subaru offers in its modern Forester and Outback, falling somewhere closer to the traditional Forester and Outback on the scale. That capability allows it to go beyond the trailhead, encounter mild obstacles with ease, and feel confident the entire way.

Subaru also offered on-road drive time where the Solterra performed perfectly reasonably, in a well-mannered way current Subaru owners wouldn't have too many qualms about.

Its looks and capability combine to make the Solterra an obvious vehicle to shop for Subaru buyers. It's not as fun, fancy or fast charging as the Ioniq 5, EV6 or Ford Mustang Mach-E, but that's not a problem for its likely market, as long as they don't plan to road trip with it.

At around $52,000 fully equipped, the Solterra sits right where it needs to be for the small number of Subaru buyers that will have a chance to buy it. But, if it really wants to complete with the big boys, Subaru will need to spend a little more to bring down charging time and make the cabin a place you want to spend time.