Subaru has finally named their version of the global compact SUV they’re jointly developing with Toyota: Solterra. And it’s arriving to showrooms by 2022.
According to Subaru, the name Solterra was created by joining the words, “Sol” and “Terra,” the Latin words for “Sun” and “Earth.” Subaru says they gave this name to the EV to appreciate mother nature and further advance the form of coexistence with it, together with our customers, and to represent our commitment to deliver traditional Subaru SUV’s go-anywhere capabilities in an all-electric vehicle.
Unfortunately, for Spanish speaking countries, including some dialects in the Philippines, “Soltera” also has a rather unfortunate meaning: single. Some have even gone so far to refer to it as virgin. Now, unless Subaru is targeting 40-year old virgins and old maids with the Solterra, this should seriously re-consider the name, less they want it to be the butt of internet memes in the coming future.
This is not the first time a Japanese carmaker ran into trouble with the Spanish language. Mitsubishi had to rename its Pajero SUV into the Montero since it means “stupid” at best, and a “wanker” at the worst.
Going back to the vehicle itself, the all-new, all-electric compact SUV is the first Subaru vehicle to be built on a battery electric vehicle dedicated e-Subaru Global Platform (the Toyota version is the bZ4X).
The e-Subaru Global platform, which has been jointly-developed by Subaru and Toyota, enables to roll out various types of EVs efficiently by combining multiple modules and components, such as the front, center and rear of a vehicle. While the two companies have brought together their knowledge to create a completely new platform, Subaru have aimed to realize superior passive safety and vehicle stability, which Subaru has always been pursuing, also in this BEV dedicated platform.
Aside form the platform, Subaru has confirmed that the Solterra is also jointly developed with Toyota with everything from product planning, design, and performance evaluation designed together.
The Solterra will be joining the rest of the Subaru line-up in the middle of 2022 in markets such as Japan, the U.S., Canada, Europe, and China.
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