Is the 2026 Subaru Solterra a Good Electric SUV?
- The redesigned Solterra is certainly much more competitive, with more power (including a new XT variant with 338 horsepower), significantly more range, improved charging capabilities and a new Tesla-style North American Charging Standard. Pretty much everything that could be improved was.
How Does the 2026 Subaru Solterra Compare With Other Electric SUVs?
- While its significant upgrades make the new Solterra much better than the first-generation model, they don’t do anything to raise the ceiling of the segment. Rather, they raise the floor. A Ford Mustang Mach-E is a bit sportier with longer available range, the Volkswagen ID.4 is more comfortable on-road, and the well-rounded Hyundai Ioniq 5 remains a leader in the class. But seeing a Solterra on the road will no longer elicit surprise — at least if it’s the new one.
Subaru announced the redesigned 2026 Solterra this year, and it impressed us when we first saw it in person. The second-generation Solterra, like the first, is the result of a joint venture between Subaru and Toyota, and it shares much of its improvements with its 2026 Toyota bZ cousin. Those include battery, efficiency, charging and interior tech updates that make the Solterra much more than just a vehicle that lets Subaru tick the “sells an electric vehicle” box. And the Solterra, unlike the bZ, comes exclusively with dual-motor all-wheel drive.
Related: Updated 2026 Subaru Solterra EV Boasts More Than 285 Miles of Range
To find out as much as I could about the 2026 Solterra’s improvements — and to give it something of a quick and dirty efficiency test — I headed to Denver to drive the new Solterra on twisty mountain roads both paved and unpaved, on highways and even on a light off-road course (per Cars.com’s ethics policy, we pay for all travel and lodging when attending such manufacturer-sponsored events).
Read on to learn how the Solterra performed.
What Are the 2026 Solterra’s Power, Range and Charging Stats?
Stats matter for EVs, though it’s never a guarantee that an EV will always deliver on its promises. But when the previous Solterra had less than 230 miles of EPA-estimated range in every configuration, a maximum power output of 215 horsepower and a maximum DC fast-charging rate of 100 kilowatts, it never even offered on-paper competitiveness. Compare those numbers to these:
2025 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium AWD Extended Range
- 370 hp
- 300 miles of range
- 150-kW max DC fast-charging rate
2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 SEL AWD
- 320 hp
- 290 miles of range
- 235-kW max DC fast-charging rate
2025 Volkswagen ID.4 AWD Pro S
- 335 hp
- 263 miles of range
- 175-kW max DC fast-charging rate
Compared with its predecessor, the 2026 Solterra improves on every single one of these stats, with an estimated 288 (Premium) or 278 (Limited, Limited XT and Touring XT) miles of range, 233 or 338 (XT) hp, and a 150-kW DC fast-charging rate. Not one of those specs blows away the Ford, Hyundai or Volkswagen (if they exceed them at all), but at least they’re all competitive now.
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When I started driving, the Solterra Touring XT’s battery was at 100%, and it was showing 280 miles of range — slightly more than its estimated 278 miles. After 121.3 miles of extremely mixed-use driving (including heavy climate-control use, various driving modes and even an off-road course), I’d used 42% of the battery’s charge. The range estimate was now 149 miles, meaning I’d used 131 miles of range — fairly accurate, but not perfect.
I did not, however, get to test the new Solterra’s charging capabilities during my time with it. We’ll have to wait until we have one at our home offices in Chicago for a more thorough evaluation.
How Does the 2026 Subaru Solterra Drive?
The Solterra’s driving experience is fairly pedestrian for an EV. I drove a Touring XT, which Subaru says can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 4.9 seconds. That makes it the quickest model in the automaker’s lineup, but it’s not all that quick in the world of EVs. While there’s far more power than in the last Solterra, flooring the accelerator pedal hardly pushes you into your seat. The added power is more noticeable on the highway, where there is now enough reserve power for worry-free passing and merging.
Ride comfort is adequate, even with my test vehicle’s 20-inch wheels and tires (18s are standard on the Premium). Washboard gravel roads made the Solterra shudder, but it never felt out of control. The standard dual-motor AWD system — retuned for 2026 for better power distribution and control — and the car’s driver-assist features made getting sideways even on dirt hairpins difficult.
Braking feel is solid and linear enough, and while there are five regenerative-braking settings (four if you don’t count “none” as a setting), there is no true one-pedal driving mode. Fortunately, Subaru has tuned the regen admirably, and it’s easy to seamlessly transition from the strongest setting to braking to a full stop with the brake pedal without stopping short and throwing everyone and everything in the car forward. Annoyingly, Subaru has not figured out that drivers might like to keep their regen-braking setting from drive to drive; when the Solterra is turned on again after stopping, it reverts to the weakest “on” setting.
How Does the 2026 Subaru Solterra Drive Off-Road?
Subaru is quick to point out the 2026 Solterra has 8.3 inches of ground clearance, and with its standard AWD and dual-mode X-Mode terrain settings, it’s more than capable of tackling the average owner’s off-roading needs — and then some. The course we drove was narrow but not especially challenging, based on my experience, and the Solterra had no issues with the uneven, undulating and loose terrain. The Solterra is not a dedicated off-road rig, but it is a Subaru.
More Subaru Solterra News From Cars.com:
- 2026 Subaru Solterra Up Close: Meaningfully Updated, Nearly Competitive
- Is the 2025 Subaru Solterra a Good EV? 5 Pros, 3 Cons
- 2025 Subaru Solterra Gets Significantly Lower Starting Price, New Trim
- 2024 Subaru Solterra Review: A bZ4X by Another Name?
- Subaru Latest Brand to Adopt Tesla Charging Standard
How Good Is the 2026 Subaru Solterra’s Interior?
Inside the Solterra, improvements include a new 14-inch touchscreen — Subaru’s biggest ever and vastly superior to the portrait-oriented displays found in many other current Subaru models. If it’s different from Toyota’s 14-inch infotainment display in any meaningful way, I couldn’t tell. It’s responsive and intuitive enough, and the graphics are crisp.
A new, wider center console now houses two wireless device chargers. It’s a nice design, but over the course of my driving, I found it irritated my right knee. I’m 6-foot-1, and taller drivers may find this even more annoying. Backseat room was good for someone of my height even behind my preferred driving position. Cargo space should be more than adequate for smaller families or folks with pets, but I’m looking forward to measuring the cargo area ourselves to see how it compares with other SUVs.
Should You Buy the 2026 Subaru Solterra?
With a competitive feature set and spec sheet — and assuming competitive pricing (it wasn’t available as of publication) — the 2026 Subaru Solterra is definitely worth your consideration if you’re shopping for an electric compact SUV. If it can deliver on its improved charging and range in the real world — and currently we have no reason to believe it won’t — it’s better than its predecessor in every conceivable way. While it’s not necessarily vastly better than any of its chief competitors, there’s a chance it could be a relative bargain.
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