Suttie’s seven days… with a Subaru Solterra
Following his test of the Toyota bZ4X electric crossover, our man north of the border jumps into Subaru’s sister model.
Subaru Solterra Touring
List price (BiK): £55,440 (2%) CO2: 0g/km Economy: 257 miles Test efficiency: 170 miles
Monday
Subaru was a latecomer to diesel engines, which rather limited its appeal to fleet drivers, so the arrival of the all-electric Solterra is a timely addition for the Japanese company. It arrived with me while the thermometer’s mercury was hovering around zero, so a stern test for any EV as I’m a fan of cranking up the heating and having a warmed seat and steering wheel whenever possible.
Tuesday
This Solterra is in the higher-grade Touring spec, which means it shares the heated steering wheel and front seats of the base Limited model. However, the Touring also comes with synthetic leather upholstery, which makes that warmed pew all the more important on first contact. This trim also brings electric seat adjustment, which is a nice to have option but not essential to my mind.
Wednesday
A frosty start this morning, which was easily dealt with by the Subaru’s heated door mirrors and wiper de-icer. Once under way, the other big selling point of the Solterra over its Toyota bZ4X twin is standard four-wheel drive, which is what you expect of a Subaru. Even taking it steady over my usual back-road route to the motorway, there were a couple of times the all-wheel drive stepped in to assist, and very welcome it was.
Thursday
Into Glasgow today, where the Solterra is ideally suited due to the draconian Low Emissions Zone regulations. It cruised in easily on the motorway, albeit with a bit too much wind noise audible at 70mph. In town, the ride is supple despite the 20-inch wheels of the Touring trim, but the drive home flagged up the shorter-than-advertised driving range of the car in Scotland winter chill.
Friday
Charging up the Subaru this morning while heading into a meeting was simplicity itself, and the car seems to lap up the electricity quickly. It’s just as shame that a full charge is displaying a range of 170 miles against a claimed 257 miles. Granted, the temperature is around zero degrees, but that equates to a real-world range of about 135 miles with a bit to spare. Not enough for a round trip to Montrose this evening where I know I cannot charge at the destination.
Saturday
As with the Toyota bZ4X, the Subaru Solterra’s cabin is built to an impressively high standard and offers loads of room for those in the front and back. Kids, plus shopping in the boot, all fit with nonchalant ease this morning, helped by no football kit as my son’s match was called off due to a frozen pitch. I had planned to charge the car while shopping, but the 40-minute max stay before parking penalties come into force ended that plan for joined-up transport.
Sunday
Fingers and toes time to tot up costs for the Subaru as a company car prospect. If you don’t need all-wheel drive, the Toyota version of this car will make more sense. Should you want the four-wheel drive, the Solterra is good to drive and very able, but I’d add the caveat of choosing the Limited trim with its better driving range of 289 miles and lower BiK price.
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