It doesn't feel very agricultural: The 2026 Subaru Solterra review
After a slow start, Subaru's electrification journey picked up a bit this year with the debut of a pair of new electric vehicles, the Uncharted and the Trailseeker. Neither is truly an in-house Subaru-like the Solterra EV before them, they use Toyota's e-TNGA platform. The Solterra remains on sale alongside the two new EVs-it's bigger than the Uncharted and less off-roady than the Trailseeker-and like the closely related Toyota bZ, the Solterra recently got its midlife update. And since it had been a while since Ars had last driven a Solterra, we decided to spend a week with one.
The original Solterra was a rather underwhelming effort. It looked OK, and it was recognizable as a Subaru from the outside, even if the interior was pure Toyota. But it was inefficient and slow to charge, and in 2024, it was a tough value proposition compared to something like a Hyundai Ioniq 5. For Solterra version 1.1, there's a new visage-does it remind anyone else of an Autobot?-and the tech specs look much improved. At 74.7 kWh, the battery capacity has increased by less than 2 kWh, but its EPA range estimate leaps from 227 miles (365 km) to 288 miles (463 km).
The logo illuminates now. Credit: Jonathan Gitlin 
From the side, it's nearly identical to the bZ. Credit: Jonathan Gitlin The range increase didn't require something like a decrease in power-in fact, the standard Solterra got a few extra horsepower, taking it to 233 hp (174 kW) from a pair of identical front and rear motors. But alongside the standard powertrain, Subaru now offers the Solterra XT. It almost doubles power to the front motor-it now makes 223 hp (167 kW) to go with the rear's 117 hp (87 kW), for a combined 338 hp (252 kW). There's a small range toll to pay, with an EPA estimate of 278 miles (447 km) for the XT. There's also a slightly larger price tag: The base Solterra starts at $38,495, but the cheapest Solterra XT costs $42,895.