Just like everyone else in the automotive industry, Subaru is getting real weird with it. The company revealed its new STI E-RA concept at the Tokyo Auto Salon, which is an all-electric hypercar designed to demolish records.
The outlandish-looking electric hypercar packs 1,073 horsepower from four electric motors – one for each wheel. It also has four-wheel torque vectoring and a 60 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack. Subaru worked with Yamaha on the car’s development.
You may be asking yourself, why would Subaru — a company built on its off-road prowess — build a road track fighter? Well, it seems to be for one big reason: It wants to set some really, really fast lap times around the Nürburgring Nordschleife, because who doesn’t? While Subaru is at it, it also wants to learn a thing or two about new technologies as the automotive world shifts more and more toward batteries and electric motors. So, the E-RA is pretty much a rolling test bed.
A byproduct of that rolling test bed? Subaru is aiming to hit the 6:40 mark around the Nürburgring. That’s just 400 seconds.
Interestingly, that is not even the EV record around the ‘Ring. That honor belongs to the Volkswagen ID R, which set a 6:05 lap time in 2019. Subaru did say they plan to test the car at Japanese circuits throughout 2022 before heading to Germany sometime in 2023. It just wants to go fast.
Alongside the STI E-RA at the Tokyo Auto Salon was the Solterra STI Concept, which is based on the all-electric Solterra SUV. Right now, there’s no real information on performance upgrades the Solterra STI will have, but it does come with a few exterior enhancements. Unfortunately, the ungainly plastic cladding remains.
The whole setup of the E-RA, including its structure, follows guidelines for future FIA E-GT regulations. The company said it felt it was most appropriate and the best direction to work in. Does that mean Subaru could eventually go racing with their new E-RA? It’s certainly possible. However, one thing is for sure: this is a big step in a new direction for the Japanese company.