2023 Subaru Solterra

Putting a bit of adventure in "EV."

- Miguel Cortina

FIRST DRIVE

There's a sense of familiarity when you enter the 2023 Subaru Solterra. The start button is where it's supposed to be, the side-mirror controls are located on the door panel, and the entire interface looks like business as usual. Unlike some other new electric cars, there's no learning curve, hidden buttons, or leading-edge technology to cause anxiety. The Solterra is as simple as electric cars get.

The Solterra is the result of a collaboration between Toyota and Subaru. The automakers jointly developed an EV platform to produce an SUV for each brand, and Toyota is manufacturing both SUVS in Japan.

A dual-motor setup provides 218 horsepower and 249 lb-ft of torque. Premium trims get 228 miles of range, while Limited and Touring models see a slight drop (222 miles) because of their larger tires. Subaru says the 72.8-kWh lithium-ion battery pack needs about 56 minutes to reach 80 percent state of charge on a DC fast charger, and its maximum charging capacity is 100 kW. On a Level 2 home charger, it should take about nine hours to get a full battery.