[PacificWren]

My Solterra has finally arrived at the dealership, and I am so torn. I have already taken a test drive at a closer dealership, and I loved it! However, I am retired and had planned to have this be a road trip car. I am realistic and comfortable with planning stops, as my travel will all be leisure. But what I am hearing on here and elsewhere about range and charging is really not encouraging. I don't want travel to be a chore, or a nail biter.

All that beautiful advertising on dirt roads in the middle of nowhere ... but for most of us, that means significant travel and often in places that have few chargers. I need reliability in range and ease of charging. Who wants own a car with all this capability as their "get around town" vehicle, as some people here are saying.

My other question is the $7500 rebate. The dealership I am using (I can't get down there until the 20th) is doing that for leases, of course. But the salesman says it will also apply to buyers when they file taxes. When questioned in an email, he again said that two customers had already figured it out. That is not what I had heard. When I checked the IRS site, it said Subaru had reached an agreement with the IRS but had not yet submitted cars eligible for the list. Does anyone know anything else about this? The rebate was a significant part of my payment plan initially, and I had pretty much decided to wait until next year to see if it would be eligible. I did put down my dealership deposit before the Aug. announcement about having to have been at least finished in the US, but does that make me grandfathered?

Phew, a lot, I know. I am a wordy birdy!

Victoria

 

[BoxerPwr]

Very exciting news that your Solterra has arrived @PacificWren! What kind of road trips would you be doing with your Solterra if you get it?

There were talks about a loophole for the Solterra to still be eligible for the credit. If you're financing it's not eligible because it's not built in the US. But you might still be eligible if you lease.

Subaru might be trying to make EV credit loophole work

My Solterra came in a week or so ago, and at the time I asked about getting the $7500 credit passed on through leasing. I heard back yesterday that they are waiting for Subaru Motor Finance to approve using the tax credit for down payment on a lease. I don't think they'll make a decision in...

www.solterraforum.com

Electric Cars and Plug-In Hybrids That Qualify for Tax Credits Under the Inflation Reduction Act - Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports details the list of 2022 and 2023 model-year electric cars and plug-in hybrids that qualify for tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act.

www.consumerreports.org

• Eliminates tax credits for vehicles not assembled in North America, including the BMW i4, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Subaru Solterra, and Toyota bZ4X, that are purchased by individual consumers. This rule may not apply if a vehicle is leased.

 

[PacificWren]

Thanks for those links, @BoxerPwr . Helpful. I don’t plan to lease to buy. But this gives me food for thought.

Living on the West Coast, there are so many national parks I want to visit or revisit. In WA and OR, there is camping awaiting from the North Cascades to Eastern Oregon. I have family in New Mexico, my daughter is moving to Colorado next year (western front), and I hope to see the total eclipse somewhere in the Midwest next year (Seattle was not in the area of totality last time, and I was working that day).

My son thinks I should get the ID.4.

 

[Crumas]

If I was wanting a road trip car, I would likely wait for version 2.0. The CATL battery packs in the version 1.0 Solterra is just a lot of compromise for road tripping. As an around-the-town vehicle that gets charged at home, it’s sounding like a solid EV with some nice advantages, such as ground clearance and X-mode for winter driving.

 

[PacificWren]

This is what I am thinking. No rush. And I love the car.

 

[R P]

I love my Solterra. But it is NOT a road trip car. Even after they fix the slow charging problem.

But it sure is a beast in the snow. Was on a ski trip today, where it snowed like crazy, all day. Sure glad I had a snow machine. And just the OEM tires.

 

[YWG_YYZ]

Agree with above. Great vehicle to drive. But not a great road trip vehicle due to its charging shortcomings.
Some of the issue is vehicle specific (slow charge rate, large buffer/low usable battery capacity to overall capacity, cold weather effects on range, lower range to begin with, not being able to pre heat battery prior to DC fast charge, not having navigation app that makes routes based on chargers). Some are just charging infrastructure that affects all except Tesla (unreliable chargers, needs more than credit card (usually an app) to charge etc)
If you do a lot of longer trips, hybrids are probably the best bet. If you are set on electric, then Tesla. Unless you live in large centres and only travel on large highways to other large population centres.

 

[PacificWren]

I cancelled my order yesterday. I was really sad to do that, as I had a long and very fun test drive that ranged from city to highway to backroads. But my next car will almost certainly be my last purchase (I will be 70 next year), and I don't want to end up with something that is not all there yet. Still looking for the EV of my dreams. PS The dealership is in Gresham, OR, if anyone wants to try to snap it up (it is on the lot). Limited in dark gray. They probably have a waiting list.

PSS Thank you so much for all the great info shared on this forum. You helped me in so many ways, well beyond just buying a Solterra.

 

[DocinNC]

Putting the tax rebate aside, The Ioniq 5 and EV6 are great road cars. Among the fastest charging (800v charging compared to 400v in the Solterra and most other EVs), 10% to 80% charge in 18 minutes, 300 mile range in the RWD model (260 mi in the AWD), battery pre-heating, snow driving mode, heads-up display among other things.

 

[Radross]

I cancelled my order yesterday. I was really sad to do that, as I had a long and very fun test drive that ranged from city to highway to backroads. But my next car will almost certainly be my last purchase (I will be 70 next year), and I don't want to end up with something that is not all there yet. Still looking for the EV of my dreams. PS The dealership is in Gresham, OR, if anyone wants to try to snap it up (it is on the lot). Limited in dark gray. They probably have a waiting list.

I recently came to the same conclusion and didn't buy the Solterra I had ordered. It was time to let go of the Outback I drove for 15+ years and I bought a Bolt instead. Hopefully Subaru has more EV options in ~5 years when I might be looking again - my old Outback and current Ascent have been great.

I agree, this forum has been very helpful in helping understand the issues involved in the Solterra and other EVs and make a better informed decision for my situation!

 

[BinPNW]

Putting the tax rebate aside, The Ioniq 5 and EV6 are great road cars. Among the fastest charging (800v charging compared to 400v in the Solterra and most other EVs), 10% to 80% charge in 18 minutes, 300 mile range in the RWD model (260 mi in the AWD), battery pre-heating, snow driving mode, heads-up display among other things.

Agree. The funny thing is that just for me I really wanted wireless car play for my EV. The Inoiq and the EV6 didn't have this feature, and I'm not sure if they do yet. If they did, I probably wouldn't have been a Solterra owner.

 

[DocinNC]

Agree. The funny thing is that just for me I really wanted wireless car play for my EV. The Inoiq and the EV6 didn't have this feature, and I'm not sure if they do yet. If they did, I probably wouldn't have been a Solterra owner.

There is car play, just not wireless in the I5 and EV6. No biggie to just plug it in, and it’s a more secure connection, or there are 3rd party devices that you can plug in that provide wireless car play.

 

[Crumas]

I recently came to the same conclusion and didn't buy the Solterra I had ordered. It was time to let go of the Outback I drove for 15+ years and I bought a Bolt instead. Hopefully Subaru has more EV options in ~5 years when I might be looking again - my old Outback and current Ascent have been great.

I agree, this forum has been very helpful in helping understand the issues involved in the Solterra and other EVs and make a better informed decision for my situation!

It was painful for me to let go of my reservation, but there were just too many downsides for me.

However, I’m still hanging around on the forum as I’m still pulling for Subaru to be successful in the EV market, and the people here are really great.

 

[jpfriction]

Yeah I lucked into finding an ioniq 5 for about the same price as the solterra I ended up buying and felt a little silly for passing but I was a bit disappointed in some of the little techy things, no wireless carplay, no 360 camera in the SEL trim they had, etc. I also hated that surfboard display, couldn’t see the dashboard one at all with the steering wheel where I wanted it.

Hard to argue with the better range and charging, of course, but who knows when I’d ever take advantage of that.

 

[md.]

I recently came to the same conclusion and didn't buy the Solterra I had ordered. It was time to let go of the Outback I drove for 15+ years and I bought a Bolt instead. Hopefully Subaru has more EV options in ~5 years when I might be looking again - my old Outback and current Ascent have been great.

I agree, this forum has been very helpful in helping understand the issues involved in the Solterra and other EVs and make a better informed decision for my situation!

I went with a Bolt instead of the Solterra, too. I got a 2023 EUV Premier. Absolutely love it! But really disappointed that the Solterra didn't work out. I have a 10-year-old daughter, so I'll probably be looking to add a vehicle in 5-6 years, too, and pass the Bolt down for her and her younger sister, so hoping that Subaru makes great progress on EVs in that time.

 

[md.]

It was painful for me to let go of my reservation, but there were just too many downsides for me.

However, I’m still hanging around on the forum as I’m still pulling for Subaru to be successful in the EV market, and the people here are really great.

Totally agree with this sentiment. Pretty sure I still haven't allowed a post here to go by without reading it!

 

[n6nl]

I enjoy the Solterra Forum. There are plenty of useful opinions and facts, A pretty decent group of enthusiastic people. Worth the time to read and contribute to. People here are way more into the Solterra, and BEV in general, than the bZ Forum. Much different feel. If Subaru pays attention to both, perhaps they can gleen some hints about what differentiates the Solterra buyers/owners from the bZ4X (and RZ) and the less-direct competitors.

 

[Smoky]

Very exciting news that your Solterra has arrived @PacificWren! What kind of road trips would you be doing with your Solterra if you get it?

There were talks about a loophole for the Solterra to still be eligible for the credit. If you're financing it's not eligible because it's not built in the US. But you might still be eligible if you lease.

Subaru might be trying to make EV credit loophole work

My Solterra came in a week or so ago, and at the time I asked about getting the $7500 credit passed on through leasing. I heard back yesterday that they are waiting for Subaru Motor Finance to approve using the tax credit for down payment on a lease. I don't think they'll make a decision in...

www.solterraforum.com

Electric Cars and Plug-In Hybrids That Qualify for Tax Credits Under the Inflation Reduction Act - Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports details the list of 2022 and 2023 model-year electric cars and plug-in hybrids that qualify for tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act.

www.consumerreports.org

• Eliminates tax credits for vehicles not assembled in North America, including the BMW i4, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Subaru Solterra, and Toyota bZ4X, that are purchased by individual consumers. This rule may not apply if a vehicle is leased.

We are leasing and yes, we received the $7500 "rebate" off the total price of car.