2026 Subaru Uncharted First Look: An Electric Crosstrek?

Subaru sold more than 12,000 units of the Solterra last year in the U.S. In the first six months of this year, sales are already up by about 21%, despite the electric crossover itself being somewhat mediocre. But it’s a clear sign that the company’s adventure-loving customers like EVs.

So the automaker is now offering even more options, with the latest addition being the 2026 Subaru Uncharted. Its global reveal was on Thursday in New York City, where InsideEVs checked it out in person.

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Source: Subaru

The Uncharted is born out of Subaru’s long-standing partnership with Toyota. It’s Toyota C-HR’s twin, which was revealed in May and is the Japanese automaker’s coolest EV yet. It will join the heavily updated Solterra and the new Trailseeker when it goes on sale in early 2026.

Subaru’s electric trio of Solterra, Trailseeker and Uncharted also get far cooler names than Toyota’s clunky alphanumeric mishmash. Subaru’s product planners deserve a pat on the back for their naming strategy.

There are some small differences between the C-HR and the Uncharted. The Toyota will only be available with all-wheel drive and 290 miles of range, thanks to a 74.7 kilowatt-hour battery. Subaru will offer the Uncharted with both FWD and AWD options.

The FWD will get more than 300 miles of Subaru-estimated range with 221 horsepower. The AWD will have identical output as the C-HR: 290 miles of range and 338 horsepower. Its 0-60 miles per hour acceleration time will be less than five seconds, Subaru says.

Photo by: Subaru

Another crucial addition is the factory-fitted Tesla-style charging port. That should help alleviate charging anxieties as Subaru owners will get access to more than 15,000 Tesla Superchargers in the country.

The charging speed is capped at 150 kilowatts, which isn’t industry-leading by any measure. Still, it is on par with other EVs in this segment, such as the Chevy Equinox EV and the Ford Mustang Mach-E.

Subaru said 10-80% should take about 30 minutes. It’s also expected to hold peak charging speeds for a longer duration compared to the current Solterra. Plus, it will get battery preconditioning, which optimizes pack temperature before the charging session even begins to reach the best possible charging speed.

Photo by: Subaru

On the design front, the Uncharted is in tune with the 2026 Solterra and the Trailseeker. It looks more futuristic and elegant than the gas-powered Crosstrek.

It gets Subaru’s signature LED daytime running lights; the headlamps are positioned discreetly right below the DRLs. The grille area looks clean, whereas the sloping roofline adds some personality. Blacked-out elements make it look sporty, including the wheels, body cladding, mirror caps, rear ducktail spoiler and the roof (GT trim only).

Inside, it faces the same shortcomings as Toyota’s EVs, with the squircle-shaped steering blocking the view of the gauge cluster—an issue that’s existed for years now on the Solterra and the Toyota bZ4X. It’s still not fixed.

No matter how much you adjust the steering rake and reach, or the driver’s seat, some portion of the gauge cluster always blocks out, rendering it partly unusable. Why not just delete the cluster altogether, like Tesla? Or improve its positioning over the dashboard?

Photo by: Subaru

Another gremlin is that the dual wireless charging pads on the center console have no mechanism to grip or hold your smartphone—it will most certainly fly towards the rear when you floor the throttle.

Other than that, the cabin felt pleasant. The Sport trim I sat in had high-quality leather seats and the materials on the dashboard and the door panels felt upscale, too.

Despite being a compact crossover with a sloping roofline, the room inside isn’t terrible. I’m 5’7” and sat comfortably in the front and the back. My colleague Maddox Kay, who is 6’2”, was also comfortable at the rear, with adequate head room and knee room.

The 25+ cubic feet of luggage space appeared inadequate, although it’s only slightly smaller than the 2026 Toyota bZ’s 27.7 cubic feet of space behind the second row seats. 

Photo by: Subaru

Subaru sold 12,000+ Solterras in the U.S. last year thanks to the federal tax credit, which allowed the automaker to offer insane lease and financing deals. The Solterra is still available with cheap lease deals with $0 down payment and 0% APR financing options.

But the federal tax credit will sunset on September 30. So Subaru’s new models will have to sell on merit. And so far, it seems like they have chops required to do so, but we can only really find out after they hit the market.

The Uncharted will go on sale in the U.S. early in 2026 and will be manufactured in a Toyota factory in Japan. So expect tariffs to bite—unless the auto sector sees some relief from a possible trade deal between the two countries.

Pricing and final specifications will be announced closer to the launch date, but expect the Uncharted to cost in the $40,000-$50,000 price range, which should make it a more stylish and sportier rival to the Hyundai Kona Electric, Kia Niro EV and the Chevy Equinox EV. 

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