New Subaru Uncharted sounds like a hardcore 4x4, but it’s really a Skoda Elroq rival
Subaru is attempting to take on the Skoda Elorq and Renault Scenic with its third all-electric SUV
Say hello to the all-new Subaru Uncharted. With a name like that you’d expect this car to be a seriously hardcore 4x4, designed to brave the Darién gap or Polar wildernesses, embarrassing the Land Rover Defender along the way. But it’s not, nor does it have anything to do with the Uncharted video game series, in case you were wondering.
In reality, the Subaru Uncharted treads familiar ground. It’s a mid-size electric SUV, designed to be more sporty than intrepid, but it still has quite the mountain to climb because it’s going to rival to our 2025 Car of the Year, the Skoda Elroq – as well as the Renault Scenic, the forthcoming Kia EV4 and many others.
Subaru won’t be the brand that springs immediately to mind when talking about EVs, but the Uncharted is the third electric SUV the Japanese firm has revealed to date. The larger Solterra arrived first in 2022, with the new facelifted version due early next year. The Uncharted should appear around the same time and the more estate car-like Subaru E-Outback, which was only unveiled a couple of months ago as the Trailseeker, is landing next summer.
What is the Subaru Uncharted?
Just as the Subaru Solterra is a re-nosed Toyota bZ4X, the Uncharted is a lightly tweaked version of the Toyota C-HR+. The main difference, aside from the badges on the nose, is a new front end design that borrows styling cues like the six-element daytime running lights from the E-Outback. The front and rear bumpers and the tail-lights are slightly different too, there’s more plastic cladding along the doors, plus fresh 18 to 20-inch wheel designs.
The interior on the other hand is identical to that of the Uncharted’s Toyota twin. Sitting atop the dashboard is a 7.0-inch instrument display, which drivers have to look over the steering wheel to see - like in the Solterra. Meanwhile, the impressive 14-inch central touchscreen offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, and has two physical rotary dials for the cabin temperature – a handy touch borrowed from the Lexus NX.
There’s an array of physical buttons on the square steering wheel, plus paddles to adjust the strength of regenerative braking. There are more buttons on the floating centre console along with dual wireless charging pads, a rotary gear selector and a large storage space underneath.
We had a chance to poke around the Uncharted after the covers were torn off, and found it offered just enough leg and headroom in the back for six-foot tall adults to be comfortable. The boot will offer the same 416 litres of space as the C-HR+, which is less than those rivals we mentioned earlier, presumably due to the slightly sloped roofline. Like Subaru’s other EVs there’s no ‘frunk’ or additional storage space of any kind under the bonnet.
What’s the range and performance of the Uncharted?
Three versions of the Uncharted will be offered. Controversially, though, most models don’t feature Subaru’s trademark symmetrical all-wheel drive. Speaking at the reveal of the new car, the brand’s general manager for Europe David Dello Stritto told us that while there hadn’t been much demand for two-wheel drive Subarus in the past, that’s changed recently because customers are prioritising “driving range, efficiency and affordability” when looking to buy an electric car.
He added that software has opened up new possibilities for electric powertrains so “narrowing the dynamic performance gap between all-wheel drive and two-wheel drive is less challenging [with EVs] than it was with ICE-based powertrains.”
Front-wheel drive variants use either a 57.7kWh battery and 167bhp electric motor that can provide up to 276 miles of range, or a 77kWh battery with a 224bhp e-motor good for up to 363 miles from a single charge, which is on par with the Elroq and EV4 Fastback.
At least the top-spec model does get a dual-motor set-up for all-wheel drive and a total power output of 343bhp, allowing it to do 0-62mph in exactly five seconds and tow up to 1,500kg. It features the larger battery pack for up to 292 miles of range and specific drive modes for different terrain. A 10 to 80 per cent top-up should take half an hour according to Subaru, thanks to a 150kW maximum charging speed.
How much will the Uncharted cost?
Because the Subaru Uncharted isn’t due to go on sale in the UK until early next year, pricing and specifications haven’t been confirmed yet but we’d be surprised if it didn’t start from around £37,000 in order to be eligible for the government’s new EV grant.
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