Orange County, California — You know the popular subcompact Subaru Crosstrek. Now meet its electric doppelganger, the Uncharted.
I entered Interstate 5 North at San Juan Capistrano into dense, midday California traffic. ZOT! I merged with authority despite wet pavement. ZOT! I shot the gap between two cars into the middle lane. ZOT! I was in the left lane, adaptive cruise control set at 75 mph. It’s good to have instant electric torque in a 338-horsepower, all-wheel-drive Subaru.
The much-ballyhooed electric revolution of the 2020s has fizzled to a niche market, with EVs settling in at about 5-8% of U.S. sales. But for niche makers like Subie, the EV niche is opportunity.
The Japanese company’s off-road green brand has attracted a core of all-season, off-road tree-huggers who crave EVs at higher rates than mainstream mega-brands. We’re talking 37% of customers interested in buying an EV versus, say, Chevrolet at 23%.
So Subaru has invested in three EVs that parallel the brand’s most popular gas models: the $41,445 Trailseeker (across from gas Outback), $39,945 Solterra (boxy, gas Forester sibling), and the $36,445 Uncharted (gas Crosstrek hatchback sibling).
The latter brings Subie swagger to the subcompact SUV market, but it’s a tough sell next to the terrific Crosstrek.
Take the $35,810 Crosstrek Hybrid Sport, for example. It comes loaded with 11.6-inch center screen, multiple standard safety features and rugged looks. With 600 miles of range, it can slog 568 miles from Detroit to Chicago and back without stopping to drink. My Uncharted GT tester? Its 273-mile range would require three stops, tacking on another hour and a half to your 9-hour round trip.
Three stops? Let me explain.
Because EV charging slows considerably over 80% of battery capacity, you only fill an EV to 80%, unlike a gas car’s 100%. And, considering EVs’ actual range is about 80% of EPA estimates due to 75 mph highways speeds (plus cold, heat, other weather), the actual range of a Subaru Uncharted is about 175 miles.
And if you insist on going ZOT! a lot in traffic, it will cut your range even more. I know, EVs are complicated.
What about the competitive $36,445 Uncharted price I quoted above? Oh, that.
The $36K Solterra is a front-wheel-drive model … whoever heard of a FWD Subaru in all-season Michigan? The Uncharted Sport is the first EV model with all-wheel drive and it costs $41,245 — a healthy five grand north of the comparably equipped Crosstrek Hybrid. And that’s before you shell out around $2,000 to get a charger/charging wire installed in your garage (assuming you have a garage).
EV lovers, don’t be mad (I’ve owned three Teslas, I’m one of you). Be mad at Subaru for making such a darn good, affordable, gas-powered Crosstrek.
Better to consider Uncharted as part of its EV-competitive niche.
There, Uncharted stands up quite well thanks to a brand that’s built a special reputation thanks to, well, all those rugged, gas-powered AWD Crosstreks (and Foresters and Outbacks) it’s sold over the years.
My top model $46K Uncharted GT model looked luxurious dressed in orange with a leather interior to match, including stylish leather door inserts and horizontal dash layout. EV enthusiasts will notice it shares features from the Toyota C-HR/bZ/Lexus RZ models, with which the Subie shares an electric platform. In the expensive EV era, niche-makers like Subaru must partner with behemoths like Toyota on small-volume cars.
The partnership yields features like a clever, space-saving rotary shifter (push down, select REVERSE or DRIVE), fat console knobs to control temps and Toyota’s familiar screen operating system. I have one caveat: steering wheel controls are Toyota’s, not your typical excellent Subaru toggle switches. This meant a lot of looking down at the wheel to find buttons for increasing, say, adaptive cruise speed. Sigh.
My favorite Toyota-sourced feature is the recessed driver display that acts as a combined instrument panel and head-up display. For better viewing, Subaru has squared off the steering wheel, just like Lincoln, and its similarly recessed display. Very fashionable — and practical, as Toyota curiously does not claim this ergonomic advantage in its similarly-sized C-HR SUV.
The Uncharted interior is a premium experience, in keeping with the EV market’s appeal to upper-income customers, and a match for the Tesla Model Y AWD, which dominates the compact SUV EV segment.
The drive experience is identical to Uncharted’s sister cars — the Solterra and Trailseeker — but, ahem, for rear legroom.
Uncharted is tight (32 inches) for six-footers compared to its siblings (Solterra and Trailseeker offer 35 inches) — and to the Tesla’s 35. Uncharted is more in line with another premium EV, the Volvo EX30, which also measures 32 inches. Like the Volvo and Tesla, Uncharted is a looker with its cool, six-point headlights and swept, coupe-like roofline.
Sharing a platform with the bigger Trailseeker (which, at 4,450 pounds, is competitive with an Outback on weight), however, means Uncharted weighs in at a porky 4,480 pounds compared to its 3,297-pound gas Crosstrek sibling — but comparable to a 4,400-pound Model Y. It skimps on a frunk — one of Tesla’s (and Mustang Mach-E’s) most useful storage features. None of the Subie EVs comes so equipped. Nor can ‘Ru hold a candle to the Tesla’s confident, hands-free driving abilities, which make for easier road trips and more relaxing daily commutes.
But where Uncharted and Model Y cross is where it matters most: charging.
For the 2026 model year, Subaru has outfitted its three EVs with a NACS charging connector so you can use Tesla’s supercharging network (the most comprehensive and reliable in the United States) for charging. Subaru goes the extra mile by syncing its app with Tesla’s network so you simply plug ‘n’ go. Tesla transfers the charge to your credit card via the Subie app.
“Hey, Subaru, navigate to San Francisco,” I barked at the voice controls for a mock, 500-mile journey.
Nothing. My tester was not yet equipped with software upgrades to navigate via the charger network. Watch this space for a road trip in the future.
The future roadmap is foggy for Subaru with customers uncertain whether they want trendy EVs — not to mention hidden potholes lurking if government decides to ban gas engines.
Subaru is ready with ICE or EV depending on where these uncharted roads lead. But don’t expect Uncharted to be equipped with all-terrain tires like the Crosstrek Wilderness gas model. All-terrains degrade range by 60 miles.
It’s an EV thing.
Next week: 2026 Chevrolet Bolt
2026 Subaru Uncharted
Vehicle type: Battery-powered, front- and all-wheel-drive, five-passenger SUV
Price: $36,445, including $1,450 destination fee ($45,245 GT as tested)
Powerplant: 74.7 kWh lithium-ion battery with single or dual-electric-motor drive
Power: 221-338 horsepower
Transmission: single-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 4.7 seconds (mfr.); top speed, 101 mph
Weight: 4,480 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA est. MPGe: 109-111; range, 273-308 miles (273 for AWD GT as tested)
Report card
Highs: Sleek looks, head-up instrument display with square wheel
Lows: Pricey; lacks range compared to gas Crosstrek
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Payne: Stylish Subaru Uncharted EV a hard sell next to Crosstrek ICE
Reporting by Henry Payne, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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