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INFO With "designer" gas hitting $6.30 in my area and Costco/Sam's Club gas about 40-60 cents less, yeah it was getting to become a bit difficult to really keep the Crosstrek running with it's less than 30mpg and 16.6 gallon tank. I calculated out that with driving that as my daily, I was spending $600+ alone on gas for commuting, but of course there's use outside of the commuting context, so it could be even more.
Sadly this forced my hand in a dramatic way. We've not only traded in the Crosstrek, but we've traded in the gas pump for a charging station by going full electric. I had hoped to go back to Chevrolet, but after having a taste of Subaru's soft-roading prowess and just the base costs for a well equipped Chevy EV, I decided to stick with Team Subaru. So we're now the proud owners of the 2026 Subaru Uncharted Sport.
So far the transition from gas to electric has been smooth. Learning the nuances of charging and the world it entails has been fun, challenging, and at times stressful. But here's to hoping that it continues to overall go well. And I'll say it right now, although Tesla does still have the overall smoothest charging experience I think ChargePoint is not too far behind with their combo NACS/CCS stations.
But if there's one thing I've learned really quick it's that you can't be brand loyal when it comes to charging. If they build it you should charge. The biggest change going EV from gas is that we genuinely try to plan life around the ability to charge, for better or worse. We'll be taking a trip to So-Cal in a few weeks, and already I'm starting to map out the locations for Super Chargers and other charging infrastructure. We'll see what happens.
As far as EV's go, the Uncharted seems to be meeting my needs. An EV is definitely like a cell phone, you're going to need to charge it daily and sometimes multiple times in a day. But eventually it starts to become second nature. The Uncharted is nice to look at inside and out and it's pretty darn quick to launch off the line, so much that it sometimes struggles for traction at all 4 wheels.
Definitely put Uncharted on your list if you're thinking of moving to a pure EV.
Aggressive Front Fascia and Lighting
Breakdown of the high-clearance steel bumper and integrated skid plate protection.
Macro shots of the new geometric LED signature and amber trail-finder lights.
Detailed look at the functional airflow vents that cool the upgraded drivetrain.
Tactile Textures and Body Armor
Close-up inspection of the scratch-resistant matte cladding that wraps the wheel arches.
Analysis of the rock-slider side sills designed for heavy-duty trail deflection.
Visual tour of the recessed door handles and debris-shedding body lines.
Elevated Stance and Mechanical Details
Demonstration of the class-leading ground clearance and specialized long-travel suspension.
Technical focus on the exclusive 18-inch forged wheels and all-terrain rubber.
Inspection of the exposed recovery points painted in high-visibility Uncharted orange.
Utility Systems and Reinforced Roof Rails
Evaluation of the high-load stationary capacity for rooftop tent compatibility.
Showcase of the integrated tie-down points and modular mounting hardware.
Overview of the rear spoiler aerodynamics and integrated rear-facing work lights.
Tailgate Precision and Trail Ready Features
Examination of the reinforced hatch hinge system and wide-aperture loading bay.
Macro view of the ruggedized rear diffuser and protected exhaust tips.
Final aesthetic walkthrough of the 2026 signature badges and textured trim accents.
MORE INFO
Despite not having any EVs on sale just three short years ago, Subaru has now launched its third in the Trailseeker, effectively a fully electric alternative to the iconic Outback.
And the 280kW dual-motor wagon is the quickest Subaru production model ever released, bar none!
Priced from $63,990, Subaru’s large SUV sits above the Solterra medium SUV () and soon-to-launch Uncharted small SUV ().
With a wagon silhouette and off-road focus, the Trailseeker stands out from on-road focused SUVs like the popular Tesla Model Y and Zeekr 7X, though it does have a closely related cousin in the Toyota BZ4X Touring which will soon launch in Australia.
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COMMENTS
- Is it just rage bait at this point having every journalist calling this the fastest Subaru ever?! Subies have never been drag cars, this thing has no hope against even a barely modded WRX on a track or offroad.Terrible range and 20" wheels completely throws off the main purpose of this car.. Give me this chassis with 17's and A/T tyres, and a PHEV with decent range and I'd buy one today..
- It's an indictment of driver monitoring overall that one of the best features of this car is that the driver monitoring isn't too annoying.. Sounds like it's so quite annoying and doesn't make the car any safer. Guys what are we doing here?
- I can't believe there is no spare wheel, at least put it as an option. There is so much space in the boot! And no connected services, and NMC battery. Those 3 things are all dealbreakers for me.
- This car is not fit for purpose to go off roading into the Australian bush, no spare wheel, only 500km range and poor approach and departure angles. By the time you load up the car with camping gear, put in all terrain tyres, climb a few steep hills or go through sand and the range will get chewed up very quickly. So what do you do when you run out of charge in an EV in the middle of nowhere???
- thnx for detailed review. lack of connected services, intrusive central console and 20" wheel range zapping and off-road deterrents are giving me real pause on this vehicle. Some reviewers report overheating during acceleration (apparently a motor wiring issue). Pity...there is a lot to like otherwise. - That clickbait title says Tesla and BYD should be terrified, but let’s look at the actual reality: this car proves exactly why mainstream legacy brands are scrambling and struggling. Just opening the bonnet reveals a massive, squandered opportunity for a clean-sheet EV design. Instead of utilising the compact packaging freedoms of a skateboard chassis to give us a functional frunk and maximum cabin space, Subaru and Toyota essentially panicked. They treated the entire front end like an old internal combustion engine bay.
It’s an absolute engineering mess under there. They just slapped together a chaotic garbage heap of exposed high-voltage wiring, scattered fluid reservoirs, a massive old-school fuse box, and a web of separate mechanical bits. Because they couldn't build a highly consolidated, integrated architecture from the ground up, everything is massively compromised. They had to stack the battery pack higher into the cabin floor just to keep their ground clearance, leaving rear passengers with zero toe room and an uncomfortably high knee angle, plus a dashboard so choked with bulky, non-integrated hardware that they couldn't even fit a passenger glovebox.
The tragic part is that the Japanese automakers were once the undisputed kings of lean manufacturing, revolutionary packaging, and tight engineering optimisation. Now, because they refuse to break away from their fragmented legacy supplier networks, they are building brand-new cars that are structurally a decade behind the tech giants. If anyone wants to see the brutal "nuts and bolts" proof of how badly these legacy brands are botching EV layout and thermal plumbing parameters compared to clean-sheet designs, check out the Munro Live benchmarking teardowns on YouTube. Munro Engineering are the global masters of tearing cars down to the bare metal, and their analysis completely exposes why mainstream brands are missing the mark so spectacularly.
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