Joined
·
104 Posts
I doubt there's a Solterra in my future, even though I had probably one of the first reservations in the nation at 8:56AM PST on Feb 8th. I have been trying really hard to like the Solterra, but unfortunately the colors and recurring costs are really driving a nail into the purchasing coffin.
Since Subaru setup a dedicated electric vehicle division at the beginning of the month, there will certainly be an acceptable "Real Subaru" EV in the next couple years, but I'm thinking in the near term Stellantis (Jeep) may mop the floor with Subaru in the off-road EV space if additional Subaru EV's continue to be partnerships with Toyota that ignore Subaru norms (and customer base).
There's also a huge story to be told in the amount of personal data being sent to Google as a result of the Toyota/Google relationship (as well as Volvo/Polestar). Google already productizes humans enough and actually paying them (via "required" subscriptions) to exploit people is something that should fundamentally be illegal.
Shortfalls (at least what I can think of off the top of my head) |
No Dark Blue Mica, even though it's available in Japan |
No Brown Interior, even though it's available in Japan |
No Cargo Area Tie-downs |
No Navigation System that works in remote locations |
Huge display that says, "Subscribe" |
No Navigation and other pay-for features without a continuous AT&T cell connection |
No Towing |
No Lockable Storage |
Practically No Storage for emergency and cold weather equipment |
Huge blind spots |
No Power Passenger Seat, even in the highest trims |
No indication of sound system capabilities or differences between trims |
Small fonts and distance from driver make digital gauge cluster difficult to read (Lexus did a fantastic job with the dash of the RZ 450e, the bZ4X clone in case you didn't know) |
No Rear Wiper; rear window will be continuously obscured (watch Arizona and snow testing in Japan videos) and only the Touring gets digital mirror that allows seeing behind vehicle with a dirty rear window (and a washer over the camera) |
Dismal (nonexistent) customer communications throughout vehicle development as well as post-production (now) |
Since Subaru setup a dedicated electric vehicle division at the beginning of the month, there will certainly be an acceptable "Real Subaru" EV in the next couple years, but I'm thinking in the near term Stellantis (Jeep) may mop the floor with Subaru in the off-road EV space if additional Subaru EV's continue to be partnerships with Toyota that ignore Subaru norms (and customer base).
There's also a huge story to be told in the amount of personal data being sent to Google as a result of the Toyota/Google relationship (as well as Volvo/Polestar). Google already productizes humans enough and actually paying them (via "required" subscriptions) to exploit people is something that should fundamentally be illegal.