Subaru has revealed that it plans to significantly increase its foothold in the electric vehicle space, despite being a latecomer, according to InsideEVs. The most exciting — or disappointing, if you're a fan of the WRX of old — announcement in the report is that the Japanese marque plans to add three more electric crossover SUVs to its lineup, bringing the total to four. It didn't reveal much else about its electrification plans other than it plans to drastically increase its production capacity to meet the demand for electric vehicles.
Subaru also announced that it plans expand its EV production line to reach 200,000 electric vehicles sales per year by 2026. For comparison, Tesla sold over 400,000 vehicles in the first four months of 2023 alone. Playing catch up isn't easy, but internal combustion isn't going anywhere in a hurry, and it's likely that as charging networks expand, and the electric vehicle market continues to grow, Tesla will start to lose its first-mover advantage.
Currently, Subaru only sells one electric vehicle — the all-wheel-drive Solterra crossover. The Subaru Solterra EV is a fairly competent vehicle thanks to its 215 hp AWD powertrain, even if its 228-mile range is a bit underwhelming. It's not uncommon for AWD variants of electric vehicles to score lower in the range department, but Subaru will need to improve range numbers if it plans to compete in any serious manner. The Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD, for example, features over 100 miles more range and comes in at about the same price.
Source(s)
InsideEVs, Subaru [PDF], Counterpoints Research