338 HP and AWD: Subaru’s Uncharted Sport Surprises
A year ago, I was fortunate to film a preview of the Subaru Uncharted in NYC (you can watch it below). I remember when I first saw it, I liked the looks of it but was immediately skeptical of it being an EV. It was just a first look, so we couldn’t drive it, test it or really do much of anything other than get inside it to check it out and get a feel for what was to come. Fortunately, a year later I was able to have one from the press fleet for a week and honestly, I was surprised, because the Uncharted Sport caught me completely off guard, mainly because it doesn’t drive the way I expect a Subaru to drive. With dual motors, 338 horsepower and all-wheel drive, it is genuinely quick. No, 4.7 seconds to 60 mph isn’t record-breaking at all for an EV, but the instant torque feels uncanny in something that looks much more like a grocery getter, and that changes the personality completely. This isn’t a Crosstrek that happens to be electric. It feels much more like a small performance-oriented EV crossover that happens to wear a Subaru badge. The Sport also has just over 8 inches of ground clearance, so there’s still enough of the brand’s traditional utility baked right into it. And given the fact that it’s a Subaru, I intended to take it on some harsher New England roads to make sure it lives up to the nameplate.
I think the Sport is the version that makes the most sense. The FWD Premium gives you more range, but giving up Subaru’s AWD identity to gain those extra miles feels like an odd trade-off, and one that I don’t think any New Englander would make. The Sport gets an EPA-rated 287 miles, which is enough that I wouldn’t worry about range on a daily basis, and the instant torque makes it much more entertaining than the numbers suggest. Especially since it’s smooth, quick and compact enough that it never feels heavy and cumbersome, like a lot of EV crossovers do. The downside, however, is charging: 150-kW peak DC charging and roughly 28 minutes from 10 to 80 percent is barely considered respectable, and it’s definitely not particularly impressive in a market where the best EV platforms are now noticeably faster.
Personally, I think this car is suffering from an identity crisis. There’s a lot of Toyota underneath this car, and at times it feels more like Subaru has tuned somebody else’s EV than created one from scratch. That doesn’t make it bad, far from it, actually, because if you’re going to partner with anyone, Toyota is the company to develop your car with. However, longtime Subaru owners will notice, but they may not care, because the Uncharted is a delightful surprise. The Uncharted Sport is quick, useful and realistically sized, and I’d go with the AWD Sport over the range-focused FWD Premium. If this represents where Subaru’s electric cars are headed, it’s a pretty strong start.
