Subaru feels like a brand that’s tailor-made to do well in the electric vehicle arms race. Its fans are often outdoorsy, environmentally minded, attracted to superior traction control and interested in performance. But so far, Subaru has been a bit player at best in the EV scene. It has just one all-electric offering, the Solterra, itself a re-badged Toyota bZ4X with similarly middling specs.
Yet like the bZ4X, the Solterra’s sales were actually up quite a bit last year and in the first part of 2025. People do seem to want good EVs from Subaru. They’ll be getting more options soon in the form of the Subaru Trailseeker, which is making a surprise debut at the New York Auto Show this week.
Besides the name, we don’t know anything about the Trailseeker yet. But I have some theories, and I think that if Subaru delivers here, this EV could be a real winner for the Japanese brand.
Photo by: Subaru
2026 Subaru Trailseeker EV
Once again, Subaru has Toyota to thank for all of this. At an event in Brussels in March, Toyota unveiled three new or updated EV models: a bZ4X with vastly improved range and performance specs, the Urban Cruiser micro-crossover, and a more coupe-like crossover called the C-HR+ that should slot in below the bZ4X in terms of size and pricing.
Toyota hasn’t confirmed this, but the updated bZ4X and C-HR+ are expected to come to the United States either later this year or early next. If Subaru keeps the Solterra branding for its bZ4X twin—which is certainly likely—then that car too could potentially become a 280-mile EV thanks to a larger new battery and upgraded electric motors. This new Solterra should also fix the old car’s charging problem; Toyota is targeting a 30-minute charge time to go from 10% to 80% on its car, which is a massive improvement over the previous generation.
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Source: Patrick George
If that’s the case, then presumably the Trailseeker could be Subaru’s version of the C-HR+. And that’s an arguably even bigger deal for the brand.
Because it’s lighter and sleeker than the bZ4X, the C-HR+ is expected to deliver 373 miles (600 km) on Europe’s WLTP testing cycle, which is about on par with the previous Tesla Model Y. While any EPA estimates are impossible to calculate for a car that’s not even confirmed to be U.S.-bound, some back-of-napkin math shows it could be a 300-mile EV fairly easily.
Let’s say the Trailseeker is Subaru’s take on that car. Given that the current Solterra starts at $38,495 (before destination fees), a Trailseeker could come in at the mid-$30,000 range with 300 miles of range—making it an ideal competitor to the likes of the Chevrolet Equinox EV. And with 343 horsepower in dual-motor all-wheel-drive form, the C-HR+ and its possible Trailseeker counterpart would easily trump Chevy’s EV in outright performance.
But that’s not all. Subaru has previously said that starting in 2025, its EVs will pivot to using the Tesla-style North American Charging Standard (NACS) plug right from the factory. In other words, this could be an affordable, high-performance, high-range Subaru EV with access to the vast Tesla Supercharger network right from the get-go.
If any of this bears out this week, then the Trailseeker could be a next-level hit for Subaru. The entire EV market is shifting toward more affordable, mainstream models with 300 miles of range becoming basic table stakes. This combination of specs feels like it’s exactly what people have been asking for, and from a brand that could probably find a big EV audience in America if it wanted to.
Around this time last year, Subaru said it’d have three electric SUVs coming with help from Toyota. An updated Solterra and the Trailseeker make two. With any luck, the third one will really help put Subaru into the electric arena the way its fans want. It can’t let Hyundai have all the fun.
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
