Everything revolves around the rear axle
With the new, electric Subaru Uncharted, everything revolves around the rear axle. Subaru has done two things with this that instantly makes this the most interesting Subaru for the Dutch market in years.
First things first : what exactly is the Subaru Uncharted?
‘Uncharted’ means ‘unknown’, but as in ‘unknown territory’. That gives ‘unknown’ something cool or romantic, although it is of course very questionable whether Subaru is indeed entering unknown territory with this car. The Subaru Uncharted, just like the Solterra, is ‘just’ Subaru’s version of an electric Toyota, although in this case the Toyota is called CH-R+ instead of bZ4X. What Uncharted actually is is a shorter version of Solterra. Subaru is in fact doing what Skoda did earlier by turning the Enyaq into an Elroq, and (together with Toyota) came up with a shorter and cheaper variant based on an existing EV.
And what exactly is going on with that rear axle?
While those Skodas still have the same wheelbase, the wheelbase of the Uncharted is shorter than that of the Solterra. That is the first thing Subaru did with the rear axle: it is further forward. The second is even more drastic for this brand, and even more interesting for the Netherlands. Two of the three Uncharted versions do not have an electric motor on the rear axle, which makes the Uncharted a front-wheel drive vehicle. That is a big difference with all other Subarus including the Solterra, because those cars are deliberately only available with Subaru’s characteristic all-wheel drive.
An Uncharted with four-wheel drive is possible, but not necessary.
A Subaru without four-wheel drive, that’s not really possible, is it?
With the front-wheel drive Uncharted, Subaru undeniably says goodbye to some typical brand values, but on the other hand it instantly makes the car a lot more interesting for a market like the Netherlands. After all, four-wheel drive is fun and cool, unless you have to pay a lot of extra money for it and it is rarely useful in a flat and virtually snowless country. The fact that Solterra’s brother bZ4X, like all competitors, is available as a two-wheel drive, makes the Solterra fairly hopeless here. As a front-wheel drive vehicle, the Uncharted suddenly participates without a serious handicap, although the question is of course to what extent this is still a Subaru.
You can recognize the front-wheel drive by the smaller 18-inch wheels.
But we’re going to find out today!
Indeed, although it must be said that today is definitely a first introduction. We cannot yet drive the cars on public roads and are therefore forced to limit ourselves to a few laps around tracks set out by Subaru. We quickly focused on the front-wheel drive version. It comes in two flavors. The cheapest has a 57.7 kWh battery and can travel over 450 kilometers. The more expensive ‘long range’ shares its battery with the four-wheel drive and therefore has 77 kWh on board, a bit more than the larger Solterra. With that large battery and only one electric motor, this variant should be able to last about 600 kilometers, which is just very nice. This also includes a 22 kW on-board charger and the fast charging capacity of 150 kW is in line with cars such as the Skoda Elroq and Kia EV3.
Are they also its main competitors?
Yes and no. With a length of about 4.5 meters, the Uncharted is clearly larger than the EV3, the Elroq is an almost exact match.
But how does that Subaru Uncharted drive?
We only drive the front-wheel drive Uncharted with the large battery, but nevertheless it is immediately noticeable that this is a somewhat lighter version. The car appears light-footed and more compact than the four-wheel drive and therefore also feels nice and agile, and the small turning circle (all versions) also helps. Nowadays, Subaru focuses much more on safety and stability than on sportiness. This car also conveys that. Its driving behavior is stable and predictable, but still slightly more playful than the heavy AWD version. Just like those versions, it still appears well-made and is comfortable without swaying or swaying uncertainly. In a slippery corner or when taken too quickly, there is of course a greater loss of grip than with the four-wheel drive variant, but the AWD is also understeered in principle and you have to push the limits to notice this in daily practice. The steering is remarkably pleasant, with quite a lot of counter pressure and feeling for such a high electric SUV-like car.
What is the interior of the Subaru Uncharted like?
The steering wheel itself is strongly flattened at the top and bottom, a difference from the Toyota CH-R+. This makes it a bit easier to take a look at the driver’s display, because, like Peugeot’s, it is located high above the steering wheel instead of behind it. The dashboard is completely shared with the facelifted Solterra, but is therefore very different from the first Solterra. It is very solidly constructed, looks modern, has quite a few physical buttons and is equipped with Toyota’s well-known and clear infotainment system.
Those buttons on the right are for off-road use and are only on the AWD.
But with that shorter wheelbase there is probably less space?
Indeed, the difference between the Solterra and Uncharted quickly becomes clear further back. There is considerably less legroom and even less headroom on the back seat, although the undersigned still manages well here at 1.84. The luggage compartment, at over 400 liters, is about 50 liters smaller. These are significant differences, but the Skoda Elroq has already shown that customers are happy to make such sacrifices as long as the price difference is large enough.
Good point! How much does the Subaru Uncharted cost?
The Subaru Uncharted will not come onto the market until 2026 and at the time of writing it does not yet have a Dutch price, so we cannot say anything about that yet. With a competitive price, however, it looks quite good for the first front-wheel drive and virtually BPM-free Subaru in years, although the question is whether Dutch people still know where to find the Subaru showroom after all these years.
Everything revolves around the rear axle
With the new, electric Subaru Uncharted, everything actually revolves around the rear axle. Subaru has done two things with it that immediately make this the most interesting Subaru for the Dutch market in years.
First things first : what exactly is the Subaru Uncharted?
‘Uncharted’ means ‘unknown’, but as in ‘unknown territory’. That gives ‘unknown’ something tough or romantic, although it is of course highly questionable whether Subaru is actually entering unknown territory with this car. Like the Solterra, the Subaru Uncharted is ‘just’ Subaru’s version of an electric Toyota, although in this case that Toyota is called CH-R+ instead of bZ4X. What the Uncharted actually is, is a shorter version of that Solterra. Subaru is in fact doing what Skoda did earlier by turning the Enyaq into an Elroq, and (together with Toyota) came up with a shorter and cheaper variant based on an existing EV.
And what exactly is going on with that rear axle?
While those Skodas still have the same wheelbase, the wheelbase of the Uncharted is shorter than that of the Solterra. That is also the first thing Subaru did with that rear axle: it is further forward. The second is even more radical for this brand, and even more interesting for the Netherlands. Two of the three Uncharted versions do not have an electric motor on the rear axle, making the Uncharted a front-wheel drive. That is a big difference with all other Subarus including the Solterra, because those cars are deliberately only available with Subaru’s characteristic four-wheel drive.
An Uncharted with four-wheel drive is possible, but not necessary.
A Subaru without four-wheel drive, is that even possible?
With the front-wheel drive Uncharted, Subaru undeniably says goodbye to some typical brand values, but on the other hand it makes the car a lot more interesting for a market like the Netherlands. After all, four-wheel drive is fun and tough, except when you have to pay a lot of extra money for it and rarely need it in a flat and virtually snow-free country. The fact that Solterra’s brother bZ4X, like all competitors, is simply available as a two-wheel drive, makes the Solterra fairly hopeless here. As a front-wheel drive, the Uncharted suddenly participates without a serious handicap, although the question is of course to what extent this is still a Subaru.
You can recognize the front-wheel drive by the smaller 18-inch wheels.
But we’re going to find out today!
Indeed, although it must be said that today is emphatically about a first acquaintance. We cannot yet drive the cars on public roads and are therefore forced to limit ourselves to a few laps around courses set out by Subaru. We quickly focus on the front-wheel drive version. It comes in two flavors. The cheapest has a 57.7 kWh battery and travels more than 450 kilometers. The more expensive ‘long range’ shares its battery with the four-wheel drive and therefore has 77 kWh on board, even more than the larger Solterra. With that large battery and only one electric motor, this variant should be able to last around 600 kilometers, which is simply very neat. A 22 kW on-board charger is also nice and the fast charging capacity of 150 kW is in line with cars such as the Skoda Elroq and Kia EV3.
Are those also its main competitors?
Yes and no. With a length of approximately 4.5 meters, the Uncharted is clearly larger than the EV3, the Elroq is an almost exact match.
But how does the Subaru Uncharted drive?
We only drive the front-wheel drive Uncharted with the large battery, but despite this it is immediately noticeable that this is a somewhat lighter version. The car feels lighter and more compact than the four-wheel drive and therefore also feels nice and maneuverable, whereby the small turning circle (all versions) also helps. Subaru nowadays focuses much more on safety and stability than on sportiness. This car also expresses that. Its handling is stable and predictable, but still a bit more playful than the heavy AWD version. Like those versions, it still feels nicely put together and is comfortable without wobbling or swaying uncertainly. In a smooth or too fast corner, there is of course more loss of grip than with the four-wheel drive variant, but even that AWD is in principle understeered and you have to push the limits to notice anything of this in daily practice. The steering is remarkably pleasant, with quite a bit of counterpressure and feel for such a high electric SUV-like vehicle.
What is the interior of the Subaru Uncharted like?
The steering wheel itself is strongly flattened at the top and bottom, a difference with the Toyota CH-R+. This makes it a bit easier to take a look at the driver’s display, because like Peugeot, it is high above the steering wheel instead of behind it. The dashboard is also completely shared with the facelifted Solterra, but is therefore very different from the first Solterra. It is very well put together, looks modern, still has quite a few physical buttons and is equipped with Toyota’s well-known and clear infotainment system.
Those buttons on the right are for off-road use and are only on the AWD.
But with that shorter wheelbase, there must also be less space?
Indeed, the difference between the Solterra and Uncharted quickly becomes clear further back. There is significantly less legroom in the back seat and even a little less headroom, although the undersigned can still manage perfectly here with his 1.84. The luggage space is approximately 50 liters narrower at just over 400 liters. These are significant differences, but the Skoda Elroq has already shown that customers are happy to make such sacrifices if the price difference is large enough.
Good point! What does the Subaru Uncharted cost?
The Subaru Uncharted will not be launched until 2026 and does not yet have a Dutch price at the time of writing, so we cannot say anything about that yet. With a competitive price, things look pretty good for the first front-wheel drive and virtually bpm-free Subaru in years, although the question is of course whether the Dutch will still be able to find the Subaru showroom after all these years.