Over the past few days, everyone wondered what the Subaru Trailseeker might actually be. Would it be a three-row EV? Would it be a rebranded Toyota C-HR+? After a morning debut at the New York Auto Show, it turns out this electric two-row crossover is neither. It’s a Solterra EV with an enlarged gluteus maximus, but that might not be a bad thing.
For context, the Solterra is basically a Subaru-ized Toyota bZ4X, an electric crossover with a troubled start that’s just received some much needed updates. We’re talking substantially improved range, a nicer cabin, and more power. Like most electric crossovers, it features a fairly steep rake to its rear window that’s great for aerodynamic efficiency but cuts into total cargo space. Fine for many consumers, but there are people who just want more.
In the case of the Trailseeker, Subaru has taken the concept of more quite literally by raising the roof and adding an extra six inches to the length of the vehicle, all in the pursuit of additional cargo space. Add in a fairly tall set of roof rails, and the result is an EV that should be better geared to the outdoor lifestyles Subaru owners tend to enjoy.
Of course, an injection of additional booty meant that Subaru couldn’t re-use the rear panels from the Solterra, so the Trailseeker looks dramatically different from the back. With a far longer quarter window, a full-width tail light treatment, and significantly cleaner surfacing on the quarter and rear bumper, the result looks like what you’d imagine an electric Outback to be. Baby got back, indeed.
Up front, it’s a blend of new and old Solterra, incorporating the facelifted model’s split-lamp arrangement while maintaining chunky unpainted plastic bumper corners that flow into the cladding and offer a bit of protection against scuffs. Oh yeah, cladding in general’s back big-time, but additional plastic to protect the lower doors adds cohesion that the pre-facelift Solterra didn’t quite manage to have.
The interior of the Trailseeker is also pure Solterra, but that doesn’t mean its familiar. Instead, it pulls its dashboard from the updated model which features a big 14-inch touchscreen with physical climate control knobs, a completely redesigned center console that’s slimmer than before while offering dual wireless phone chargers, and a cleaner overall look without any big plastic wings coming off the digital gauge cluster. It’s very Toyota, which makes sense, but it’s definitely an improvement.
Right, what about the bits that make the Trailseeker go? Well, a 74.7 kWh battery pack and dual-motor all-wheel-drive promises more than 260 miles of range, but when an automaker says something like that, don’t expect the final number to blow the estimate out of the weeds. Still, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT only offers 259 miles of range, so the Trailseeker is perfectly competitive on that front. Zero-to-60 mph in a claimed 4.4 seconds is surprisingly quick, while peak DC fast charging of 150 kW is adequate, if not groundbreaking. Still, owners will likely appreciated the standard NACS port, the 8.3 inches of ground clearance, and the 3,500-pound towing capacity.
While pricing hasn’t yet been announced for the 2026 Subaru Trailseeker, expect more details to drop closer to the model’s on-sale date next year. Alright, so it’s a bit anticlimactic compared to what could’ve been, but so long as pricing’s reasonable, the Trailseeker looks like it could be a real contender against other soft-roady EVs. Even looking beyond its competitive set, it seems to give the EV-curious Subaru faithful exactly what they want, and for that, it’s a bullseye. Expect to see it in the wild at a Trader Joe’s near you in 2026.
Top graphic images: Subaru; Matt Hardigree
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What is a BBL?
I shouldn’t have to Google this stuff…
Did you find special out about the special Brazilian plastic. Those Subaru engineers spent years researching it.
I’ve only known it to be “Be Back Later.”
Brazilian Butt Lift. I wish I was making that up.
Here I was trying to figure out what a Solterra with a barrel meant.
One of our vehicles is a Subaru, so from an existing owner’s perspective:
260 miles of range for a medium-sized SUV with pretensions of mild off-roading seems too little. I get it for EVs — range is weight & cost, how far do you want to drive?
ICE or REX propulsion seems like a better option if one expects to drive into the hinterlands and do sport-utility things like camp, tow a trailer or explore a forest service trail.
260 miles of range for minivan-type use is fine. I’m objecting to cosplay SUVs.
Seeing the dashboard reminds me of how much I’ve always hated Toyota steering wheels. And really, steering systems as a whole. Admittedly I haven’t driven a Toyota product newer than 2016, but the steering wheels always felt too small and offer absolutely zero feedback. It made getting back in my Sportwagen feel like driving a performance car with tight steering.
That (possibly, hopefully outdated) gripe aside, I don’t mind this. I agree that the plastic cladding is too much, and it makes the front fenders look like replacement parts in primer after an accident. I also think that giving the interior a more Subaru feel would be helpful, especially for Subaru loyalasts who find themselves shopping for an EV. I also like that it looks a bit like a wagon, though I know it really isn’t one.
I appreciate Subaru for doing something different to the bz4x and trying to make it their own. I don’t think they’re quite there yet, but this could be a good start.
The only Toyotas I have driven in the last 10 years were rental Corollas and I don’t remember anything about the steering feel. I DD a ’17 Accord with electric power steering. Sure, it doesn’t communicate like a Porsche, but I do feel it weight up when cornering. And other than the rare evasive maneuver, I don’t explore the limits of adhesion like I used to, many years ago in cars without power steering. And again, I don’t like non-round steering wheels.
For the handwringing we were all doing about the Outback becoming a full on SUV instead of a wagon I expected better reception for this as basically the wagon to the Solterra hatchback.
I can’t say I understand the design decisions regarding the black plastic especially on the front quarter where it ends up recessed from the painted finish it is allegedly protecting but this could have been significantly worse.
They wagonized it a little bit, but it’s still just too much of a unit to qualify as a wagon, IMO. It should be closer to sedan proportions to be an actual wagon.
I completely agree it isn’t really a wagon and it was always going to be what Subaru classifies as an SUV but when lined up next to the Forrester or Ascent (and possibly the new Outback) it will look like a wagon and when lined up with a V60 or an allroad it will look like an SUV.
Unfortunately wagon to SUV has become a spectrum and while the Trailseeker seems pretty ok for utility and load height I will keep buying as close to the wagon end of that spectrum as I possibly can.
I dozed off halfway through the pictures it is so boring. Subaru owners will love it, its right in their wheelhouse.
Expect to see tons in the left lane dutifully doing the speed limit coming to an interstate near you.
At least in the DC area, if there’s a car going under the speed limit in the left lane and holding everyone up, it’s almost always a Subaru. If you get stuck behind one you’d better not be hoping to get where you’re going on time.
You forgot to mention the blue hair of the driver.
New Outback just broke cover and….there are certainly going to be takes
Jesus God have mercy.
I like the back end. I kinda like the front end, but it could definitely be improved.
So, is this Subaru’s version of the BZ5X? It looks fine and I’m sure I’ll see them as lyft/ubers when they drop.
So instead of “Busy Forks” (That’s what it will always be to me) this is…”Busy Fix?” The owners will be getting their “fix” of cladding (It’s what makes Subaru…a Subaru) and then they will be “Busy Fix”ing it
Well that was a bit of a…let down. I mean it’s definitely better looking and will probably sell just fine as stated in the article. But was really hoping to having something truly interesting come out. Oh well
It’s giving me “Tell me, Mr. Anderson, what good is a phone call when you are unable to speak?” vibes.
Squircle be damned, I can finally seek the best trails to the grocery store for the next panic buying conundrum.
Time for this plastic cladding trend to die. Also that last “picture” is such obvious AI generated artwork it isn’t even funny.
Agreed the plastic cladding thing is a most annoyingly useless thing. I have been off roading for over 30 years and I have never needed plastic cladding. Steel rock rails yes. Plastic cladding, never.
The plastic is more useful for suburbanite hazards like rogue shopping carts and doors being swung open in narrow parking lots. They take the place of ye olde rub strips.
Hard disagree on that. As a 5th gen Outback owner (only cladding is on the rockers) I can tell you that it has zero damage in the areas they are now making from plastic. The doors, in the other hand…
Renderings aren’t necessarily AI. That’s not a real car, but it’s not AI.
You can tell because it actually looks like the car in question, while AI would not.
I don’t think it’s AI. Looks more like a crappy job in Photoshop to me.
So they slapped a bunch of Subaru bits to the outside but didn’t bother changing the interior. The only thing that tells you you’re not in a Toyota is the steering wheel logo.
The cargo room increase is nice, but this should have been standard as the next gen Solterra. All that hype about a brand-new model name for nothing. Might as well have called it the Grand Solterra instead.
It’s kind of ridiculous to be launching a new model with a 400V system / 150kw peak charging in 2025.
A plastic cladded the entire thing save a lot of money on paint.
You’d need a 5 gallon bucket of Mother’s Back To Black in a few years or you may end up with a very ashy looking vehicle.
Or you can give up and cover it with clear coat and tell everyone it’s
patina“plastina.”I’m sure the dealer will sell you ceramic trim coating for a very reasonable price.
“Yeah, but…that TruCoat”
“I’m telling you, it’s the newest and best thing”
Maybe it’s regional based on weather, but I feel like this was a bigger issue/concern with vehicles of the 2000s, than 2010s-now. I remember how cladded some vehicles back then were like the Saturn VUE, where the plastic was susceptible to those wavy stress marks even. And that was when car waxes started to tout they wouldn’t leave white marks on plastic bits.
The manufacturers hopefully have gotten better with those plastics which may also reduce that tendency. But yes, I usually see it on 90s-early 2000’s cars. I haven’t had a vehicle with much unpainted plastic in ages. Our last vehicle with any significant amount of it was an 07 GTI. It didn’t turn super ashy but it did lighten a bit.
It’s fine, like an ID.Outback. Seems like the new Outback is going to look like the box the Trailseeker would ship in, so I imagine they’re hoping this will absorb some Outback buyers that like the current format and are open to going electric. Unless the price is wildly more it also seems likely to cannibalize any Solterra sales, which Subaru is probably fine with.
I mean…it’s fine, I guess. Their customer base will eat it up, and by the numbers it isn’t totally DOA like the BZ47HQID.6 or whatever it was and Solterra were. The range is profoundly mid but it’s no longer a non-starter like it was with the other two. I’m 100% sure it’s going to be overpriced but as long as the leases are subsidized and they throw in goodies like free charging or something it’ll be affordable enough.
Anyway surely those subsidies and incentives won’t go away and completely kill affordable EVs in this country, right? And they didn’t try something stupid like redesigning the steering wheel, did they?
Oh. OH MY. Wowza. Hmmm…well there should still be enough wealthy environmentally conscious New Englanders to move a few.
Does it have mechanical door handles or electric door handles?
Wow, so they took their minimum effort EV and added just a bit more effort. Still no glovebox, kinda sad.
They used to be the image of more fuel efficient suvs, guess the old electrify America Jetstones commercial with the Outback and the Bolt was a little prophetic, they’re getting left behind with this half assery.
Thank god they learned nothing from the Solterra and kept the massive chunks of front fender cladding.
The squircle is back to haunt me every time I sit in the driver’s seat as well.
Always with the wide screens! Why not just reuse the regular Subaru vertical screen that’s integrated into the center stack?
“Jesus, take the rhombus”
I like it better than the Bees Forks. Granted, there are many, many things I like better than the Bees Forks.
Barrel? Big Beautiful Lady?
*googles this*
Stupid internet, I thought I was caught up!
Gives a whole new meaning to the term “full Brazilian.”
I had no expectations and I’m still let down.
I expected to be let down, so I’m both?
Tomorrow you can drive around this town, let the cops chase you around…
Well, tell me do you think it’d be all right (no)
If I could just crash here tonight (looks like it already did)
You can see I’m in no shape for driving (yup)
And anyway, I’ve got no place to go (but down)
And you know it might not be that bad (yes it is)
You were the best I’d ever had (not)
If I hadn’t blown (head gasket) the whole thing years ago
I might not be alone (not true)
Tomorrow we can drive around this town
(If it starts, runs, drives, and works)
And let the cops chase us around (doing donuts, and eating them)
The past is gone (blown head gaskets), but something might be found
To take its place (cladding)
Hey jealousy
Hey jealousy
Hey jealousy
Hey jealousy
And you can trust me not to think (while purchasing, along w/ buying “TruCoat”)
And not to sleep around (sleep in car instead)
And if you don’t expect too much from me
You might not be let down (oh, big letdown)
————————————————————————–
This thing would look better if it crashed…actually, it looks like it was already in a crash…too bad when you buy new you can’t file a crash claim BEFORE you buy it!
Cladding…it’s what makes Subaru…a Subaru
I like the idea of a crossover with actual cargo room. Tall dog approved.
It really looks like someone asked ChatGPT to make a Subaru EV
The only thing it’s missing is a Brundlefly-style dog head embedded in the D pillar.