A new pair of EV siblings joins the Subaru lineup this year, each using a shared skateboard chassis developed in partnership with Toyota. Compared to the original Solterra and smaller Uncharted, the new Trailseeker bears more Subaru DNA despite riding on the same electric platform. And unlike the Solterra and Uncharted, the Trailseeker will be built for the American market alongside the Forester at the company’s Lafayette, Indiana, assembly line.
Styling alone helps the Trailseeker look the most Subaru-ish of the expanding electric lineup, with plenty of the plastic cladding you’d find in the Forester and Crosstrek. An optional two-tone paint job helps accentuate the more traditional station wagon profile, which is the most important part of the Trailseeker’s brief: providing a longer and higher rear canopy that Subaru purposefully stretched to hold a full-size dog crate.
Meanwhile, the standard dual-motor powertrain sticks with all-wheel drive only (the Uncharted has a front-wheel-drive option), and a class-leading 8.5 inches (216 mm) of ground clearance emphasizes its off-road capability. It offers 281 miles (452 km) of range out of a 74.7 kWh battery, with a starting price tag of $39,995.
The Trailseeker loses out on a few miles of range compared to the Uncharted due to the latter’s slightly more streamlined and futuristic design. The Trailseeker more closely resembles the Solterra, as the two models share everything from the nose to the C-pillar.
But Subaru managed to increase the adventurous cred by expanding the roofline without adding too much mass, resulting in a curb weight just shy of 4,400 pounds (1,995 kg). That’s about 300 pounds (136 kg) less than a Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT, for example, which manages to get 259 miles (416 km) of range out of an 84 kWh battery. It’s almost 1,000 pounds (453 kg) lighter than a Honda Prologue AWD Touring, which has an EPA-estimated range of 294 miles (473 km) from an 85 kWh battery.