Subaru Solterra and Toyota bZ4X: What We Know So Far About the Close Cousins

For the second time (in recent memory, anyway) Subaru and Toyota are partnering up and going halfsies (sort of) on a pair of vehicles. Unlike their previous efforts that led to two bargain-priced and quite good sports cars, this next collabo is all about EV tech as both the 2023 Toyota bZ4X (hopefully we’ll all get the hang of that name eventually) and Subaru Solterra (a combination of the Latin words for “land” and “sun”) are full battery-electric crossovers.

It’s a big deal for both the brands. Forget BEVs, Subaru currently doesn’t even have hybrids for sale in Canada (though we did have the still-available-in-US Crosstrek Hybrid for a time, but only for the Quebec market). And for all their clout in the hybrid game, Toyota has never made a widely-available full-electric vehicle. With more EV mandates being implemented by governments the world over, the time is now for these two to pick up their boots and hop on the EV bandwagon.

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Styling
Like with the BRZ and 86 sports cars, you have to squint to see the stylistic differences these two present. Both the concepts we’ve seen have contrast-colour cladding ‘round the wheel wells, the headlight lenses are the same shape, both get a bi-level roof spoiler and contrast-colour roofs. The main difference is how the Toyota emblem sits at the leading edge of the hood on the bZ4X, but down where the grille would be on the Solterra.

‘Round back, both also get a full-width light bar and taillamp housings that swoop down towards the rear wheels. Overall, the look is a rugged one that strays pretty far away from the ultra-techy look exhibited not so much from Subaru’s products, but from Toyota’s hybrids such as the Prius Prime and Mirai. These fall much closer in exterior styling to the RAV4, but have undoubtedly seen some of their panels tweaked to reduce drag for better range.

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