Japan’s Subaru partners with Toyota, goes public with first all-electric vehicle

Japanese vehicle manufacturer Subaru Corp showed the public its first all-electric vehicle (EV), the Solterra, on Thursday. Solterra is the culmination of a two-year development project with the company’s largest shareholder Toyota Motor Corp.

The launch of the sports utility vehicle (SUV) came amid a global-scale clamor for EVs as nations tightened environmental regulations in an effort to reduce carbon emissions. In October, Toyota unveiled bZ4X, its version of a battery electric vehicle (BEV).

Moving away from internal combustion engines is not an easy feat for smaller automakers like Subaru that cannot readily fund the high cost of developing EVs. On the other hand, leading carmakers, such as Toyota, are presented with an opportunity to draw smaller rivals closer.

Toyota, one of the first to launch hybrid electric cars but a latecomer to the full EV market, intends to make a lineup of 15 BEV models by 2025. The automotive giant is also spending $13.5 billion within the next decade to improve battery production capacity.

Subaru’s vehicle sales are less than a tenth of Toyota’s, one of the leading car manufacturers globally.