The sports utility vehicle (SUV) launch comes amid
accelerating demand for EVs as nations around the world tighten environmental
regulation to cut carbon emissions. Toyota last month announced its version of
a battery electric vehicle (BEV), the bZ4X.
The technological shift away from internal combustion
engines poses a challenge for smaller carmakers, such as Subaru, that are less
able to fund expensive development of EVs. At the same time, its an opportunity
for top-tier automakers, such as Toyota, to draw smaller rivals closer.
Toyota, a pioneer of hybrid electric cars but a late comer
to the full EV market, plans to have a line up of 15 BEV models by 2025. It is
also spending $13.5 billion over the next decade to expand auto battery
production capacity.
Subaru's vehicle sales are less than a tenth of those at
Toyota, the world's biggest automaker by production volume.
The front-wheel drive Solterra has a cruising range of 530
km (329 miles), while the all-wheel drive version can drive 460 km on a single
charge, Subaru said in a press release.
Toyota owns a fifth of Subaru, and has a 5 percent stake in
Mazda, which plans to launch 13 electrified vehicles by 2025, including hybrids
and BEVs that will incorporate Toyota technology.
"The EV market is not mature yet, so we will respond to
it by deepening our cooperation with Toyota," Subaru CEO Tomomi Nakamura
said during a launch event.
For now, he said, the Solterra would be built by Toyota in
Japan and Subaru may move production to its main market, the United States,
when it had sufficient sales volume.
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