Subaru invests in e-mobility R&D centre
Japanese carmaker Subaru wants to become more competitive in the all-electric vehicle segment and is therefore planning to build a $272 million e-mobility research and development centre near Tokyo.
According to a report, the seven-storey technology centre will open in spring 2024 and employ about 2,800 people in the fields of engineering, product planning and design. The development complex is not only intended to speed up the market launch of new models, but also to increase flexibility – in order to be able to react to the regionally varying demand for electric cars.
Subaru’s first electric model will be called Solterra and will be launched next year – initially in the USA, Japan, Canada, Europe and China. According to media reports, dealers in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington State, Washington DC, Vermont, New York, Maine, Rhode Island, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Colorado will get the vehicles first.
The Solterra is not an in-house development, however, but comes from a cooperation with Toyota – Subaru is taking over the entire e-platform from the largest Japanese carmaker. The counterpart of Toyota’s e-TNGA is officially called e-Subaru Global Platform or e-SGP for short. The development of the joint e-platform was already announced in 2019. The idea is to be able to combine modules and components to build “different types of electric vehicles”.
The new models will feature new hybrid powertrains, driver assistance systems and connectivity, according to a Torquenews report, and will achieve this with “very responsive electric motors, Subaru’s AWD capability and further improved driving dynamics”.
Subaru aims to bring its global sales of battery-electric vehicles or hybrid-electric models to at least 40 per cent by 2030. By 2050, CO2 emissions from new cars sold worldwide are to be reduced by at least 90 per cent compared to 2010 levels.
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