{"id":1838803,"date":"2026-03-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1838803"},"modified":"2026-03-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T21:00:00","slug":"subaru-e-outback-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1838803","title":{"rendered":"Subaru E-Outback review"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s the electric version of Subaru\u2019s Outback estate. Also called the Trailseeker in the US<\/a>, which is infinitely cooler. But after that, it gets a bit complicated and probably needs a small explainer of provenance to get everyone up to speed. So. The E-Outback is a sort-of wagon version of the Subaru Solterra<\/a>, except with lots of things changed, most obviously the estate rear which ups the practicality and – to sensible eyes – the style.<\/p>\n

But where the Solterra is a sister-vehicle to the Toyota bZ4X<\/a> and made by Toyota (called the BZ in the US), the E-Outback (and sister bZ4X Touring) are made by Subaru at the company\u2019s Gunma Yajima Plant in Japan. So the E-Outback is more Subaru than the Solterra. It\u2019s also more Subaru than the Toyota; the E Outback will only ever get two motors and all-wheel drive, while the bZ4X Touring offers a front-wheel drive version and fewer modes. Though they both get X-Mode rough road driving modes in the dual-motor versions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So… the most Subaru electric Subaru you can buy is the E-Outback, even when it\u2019s a Toyota. Glad that\u2019s settled.<\/p>\n

So what does the Subaru part make this?<\/h2>\n

Er\u2026 very much in the vein of the ICE Outback<\/a>, to be honest. It\u2019s an all-wheel drive estate – too low to realistically be an SUV, though not low-low – with a huge boot, tonnes of practicality and an added dose of rugged. It\u2019s faster than – and this makes TG wistfully sad – several of the Impreza WRXs from back in the day at 0-62mph in around 4.5 seconds, has 370bhp, manages an as-yet-unconfirmed 327-miles of official range and dons roof rails you can actually put things on without them bowing like paper straws.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s got useful advanced driver assistance (Subaru Safety Sense), genuine off-road ability and comfortable on-road manners. Although a slight caveat comes in that the E-Outback has only been driven lightly on a short road course in normal conditions at this point – though quite hard on a track – where it acquitted itself very well. It might well go up a point once TG has had a chance to assess on-road thoroughly.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it for?<\/h2>\n

Everything, really. As an antidote to those SUVs that offer ground clearance and yet the off-road capability of a Laboutin six-inch heel. It\u2019s the hiking boot of electric cars. There\u2019s 633-litres of space in the boot (big), more rear headroom than the Solterra\/bZ4X, chunky plastic wheelarches (which make more visual sense here), a set of roofrails that you can actually put a rooftent on, and a drivetrain that will manage more than 90 per cent of owners will have the guts to attempt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s supremely comfortable, the interior is practical if not standout and there\u2019s a feeling that for a so-called \u2018niche\u2019 vehicle, it\u2019ll fill lots of different niches for lots of different people. Plus, it\u2019s just not got that aggressive swagger of some, or the conscious blandness of others. It\u2019s a grower.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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How practical is it?<\/h2>\n

Very. As mentioned, there\u2019s 633-litres of space in the boot, but more than that it\u2019s a big, wide opening with a moveable floor and no lip if you don\u2019t want it. There\u2019s a kick-sensor opening for the hatch and about 400 cargo hooks (possibly more like eight). Seats down you get 1,718-litres – enough to sleep in – and a tailgate light (with optional tailgate-mounted work lights if you want).<\/p>\n

One slight miss is the fact there\u2019s no ski-hatch\/pass-through for the 60:40 split rear seats, but that\u2019s a fairly specific problem. It\u2019ll tow 1,500kg (there\u2019s hitch preparation built-in), and you can plop 80kg of moving load on the roof rails, or 317kg static – more than enough for a pretty decent rooftent or whatever. Then there\u2019s vehicle-to-load for running electricals from the traction battery, two 15-watt wireless phone charging pads, USB-C charging ports in the back and plenty of storage.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s slightly faster than it needs to be, which is good, and features lots of safety systems that tidy up the excesses of the driver without obvious intervention. The E-Outback is basically nicely butler-ish if you\u2019re on slippery surfaces on tarmac, and if you need to access a campsite\/beach\/viewpoint down an unknown road, you can just use the X-Mode dials to do a passable impression of a low-slung Defender. It\u2019s genuinely impressive.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the experience like?<\/h2>\n

This isn\u2019t the kind of car you look at and immediately desire. But it\u2019s the kind of car that becomes useful by doing all the jobs in a confident fashion. The interior might not make you want to do backflips in terms of design, but it\u2019s functional and clear. There are sensible drive modes (Eco, Normal, Power), excellent ride comfort, a quiet cabin. The steering isn\u2019t super-direct, but it telegraphs what you need to know.<\/p>\n

Ok, so the charging looks a little mediocre at 150kW peak and 28-minutes-ish for 10-80 per cent state-of-charge, and if you\u2019re chuntering around off-road (and then camping using the vehicle-to-load), ideally you\u2019d want a slightly bigger battery and more range, but you can see why Subaru landed on the compromise. As mentioned, this feels like a grower.<\/p>\n

Plus, it\u2019s surprisingly quick; stick it in Power mode and leather the throttle and that sub-five second 0-62 time feels entirely believable. And it does an amusing nose-up\/soft rear suspension launch, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s amazing how sticking an estate rear-end onto a very average SUV-thing (the Solterra) can change the vibe. Okay, so the Solterra\/bZ4X has had some upgrades to battery, range and interiors, but the E-Outback feels completely different – not just a bit of BBL. Suddenly it has a much broader range (in the capability sense, not WLTP), and comes with the kind of usability that makes you actually want to use it for mini-adventures.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s most pleasing is that in the mire of shared bits, this actually comes across as a Subaru – just one powered by electricity. All it needs is a fake boxer burble piped into the cabin and we\u2019re set. It could probably do with slightly more actual range and faster average charging to satisfy the ever-improving world of EV, but it\u2019s the kind of car that will settle debates. Not super sexy, but a cracking do-it-all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the electric version of Subaru\u2019s Outback estate. Also called the Trailseeker in the US, which is infinitely cooler. But after that, it gets a bit complicated and probably needs a small explainer of provenance to get everyone up to speed. So. The E-Outback is a sort-of wagon version of the Subaru Solterra, except with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,237],"class_list":["post-1838803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-topgear-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1838803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1838803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1838803\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1838803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1838803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1838803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}