2023 Subaru Solterra
The 2023 Subaru Solterra is sold in the U.S. as an electric compact SUV with 2 EPA-rated configurations. Its longest-range version, the Solterra AWD, is EPA-rated at 228 miles with 104 MPGe combined efficiency. NHTSA lists 4 recall campaigns for this model year, 2 rated critical, which gives it a Safety Signal grade of D. Owners have filed 42 complaints, most often about the electrical system. NHTSA crash-tested it at 5 stars overall.

| Trim | Powertrain | Drive | MSRP | HP | Torque | MPG comb | Seats | Cargo (2nd row) | Wheels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premium | Electric | AWD | — | 215 hp | 249 lb-ft | 104 MPGe | 5 | 23.8 cu-ft | 18 in |
| Limited | Electric | AWD | — | 215 hp | 249 lb-ft | 102 MPGe | 5 | 23.8 cu-ft | 20 in |
| Touring | Electric | AWD | — | 215 hp | 249 lb-ft | 102 MPGe | 5 | 23.8 cu-ft | 20 in |
MSRP excludes destination. Open a trim for the complete spec sheet and standard/optional equipment. Have the car in front of you? Decode its VIN to see which of these trims it is and what it was priced at.
Specs & fuel economy
Source: EPA fueleconomy.gov| Configuration | Powertrain | Drive | Engine / motor | City | Hwy | Comb | Range | kWh/100mi | Charge (240V) | Annual fuel* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solterra AWD | Electric | AWD | TBD | 114 | 94 | 104 MPGe | 228 mi | 30.9 | 11 h | $700 |
| Solterra Limited/Touring AWD | Electric | AWD | TBD | 111 | 93 | 102 MPGe | 222 mi | 32.1 | 11 h | $700 |
*EPA estimate at 15,000 miles/year at EPA reference fuel and electricity prices. fueleconomy.gov record ids: 46030, 46031.
Emissions & certification
Source: EPA emission certificates| Configuration | Smog rating | Emission standard | Where it can be sold new | SmartWay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solterra AWD | 10 / 10 | California ZEV / Federal Tier 3 Bin 0 | All 50 states (federal, all altitudes); California and states following California standards | SmartWay Elite |
| Solterra Limited/Touring AWD | 10 / 10 | Federal Tier 3 Bin 0 / California ZEV | All 50 states (federal, all altitudes); California and states following California standards | SmartWay Elite |
Certified for all fifty states, so it can be registered new anywhere in the U.S.
The smog rating scores tailpipe pollutants other than greenhouse gases, 1 (worst) to 10 (best), and is comparable only within a model year. The standard is the federal bin or California tier the configuration was certified to. Both come from the EPA certificate behind the window sticker.
Factory warranty running out?
The 2023 Subaru Solterra is in the years where high-voltage electronics and module repairs land on the owner. What an extended plan does and does not cover is worth reading before a dealer quotes you one.
What to check before you buy →Affiliate disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you request a quote or buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Nothing on this page changes because of it.
Recalls (4)
Source: NHTSA recall databaseVisibility
25TB07,25LB04,WRD25Wheels
WRE-23Wheels
22TA06These are vehicle campaigns — the ones the automaker filed against this model. NHTSA also records equipment recalls, filed by a parts maker against a component (a tyre, a child seat, an aftermarket part), and those are not listed here or counted above. nhtsa.gov/recalls shows both for a VIN.
Whether any of this applies to one specific Solterra
A campaign covers a build range, not a model year, so two identical-looking cars from 2023 can differ. Both of these check a VIN against the manufacturer’s own list, free, in about ten seconds. Subaru publishes its own lookup because federal rule 49 CFR 573.15 requires it to, and to keep it current to within seven days.
Hear about a recall before the letter does
The manufacturer’s letter is the last step of a recall: it has up to 60 days after filing to mail owners, at the address on the registration. We email you the day NHTSA posts a recall on the 2023 Subaru Solterra, with what to do next. Nothing else, ever — no newsletter, no marketing, one-click unsubscribe in every message.
Parts & accessories for the 2023 Subaru Solterra
Search by fitment on eBay Motors — OEM take-offs, aftermarket, and the trim pieces dealers no longer stock. The listing and the price are the seller's.
Find parts for this Solterra →Owner complaints
Source: NHTSA complaint database5 involved a crash · 0 a fire · 0 injuries · 0 deaths reported
38 per 10,000 built · Subaru reported 11,175 Solterra built (its Early Warning production report to NHTSA)
Filed per year: 2022: 1 · 2023: 9 · 2024: 9 · 2025: 14 · 2026: 9
Most-cited components
In owners' own words
Filed with NHTSA by the people who own these cars, one per problem area. Quoted as written, with anything identifying removed.
On the 23-25MY Subaru Solterra there is piano black reflective material plastics on the center console. It is angled slightly and when the sun is shinning through the windshield from directly above the car, such as noon/lunch time.
I am writing to express my concern regarding a series of significant issues I’ve experienced with my vehicle, all occurring within a span of less than six months and well within the 3-year/36,000-mile warranty period.
Sudden unintended acceleration while maneuvering to park. The acceleration was instantaneous and forceful, that in less than 20 feet of rapid movement the car forced itself over some utility poles laying behind the intended parking spot, and jumped from the utility poles, fast enough so that the first ground contact was nearly 10 feet…
Solterra 2023 bought Dec 23, 2022 Report: 1. Unintended Acceleration while parking. 2. No braking power till few feet away from fence. Incident:1. Prior parking, owner had accidentally touched the Regenerative Braking Paddle which is right next to turn signal lever. 2.
My Subaru Solterra EV was parked in the driveway of an Airbnb in Virginia. We were about to depart to return home. Vehicle was turned on and driver commenced to back out of the driveway, however rear safety warning activated as car neared a bush.
The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Solterra. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the heating system became inoperable. The contact stated that the heating system failed to function properly and was blowing out cold air instead of heat.
Complaint counts are raw owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects, and scale with how many were sold. Use them to spot patterns, not to rank.
Reported by Subaru itself: 5 death-or-injury claims on this model year in its quarterly Early Warning reports to NHTSA (49 CFR 579.21): 6 injured, as claimed, not verified — about 45 per 100,000 built. Every Solterra model year, by year and system → Dated and by system, they are exhibit F of the defect dossier.
Crash ratings
Source: NHTSA NCAP| Configuration | Overall | Frontal | Side | Rollover | Rollover risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUV AWD | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ | 12% |
NHTSA New Car Assessment Program. Standard driver-assist: forward collision warning, lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking.
Service bulletins & campaigns
Source: NHTSA manufacturer communicationsMost often about: Electrical System, Equipment, Unknown Or Other, Engine, Power Train.
- 11037943 Other2026-10-05 · Electrical System
- This announcement provides information on a new software update for the Midtronics Dss and DCA machines.
- 13-109-26 Service bulletin2026-09-18 · Unknown Or Other
- This bulletin provides paint code information for 2027 model year vehicles.
- 07-243-26 Service bulletin2026-09-18 · Exterior Lighting
- This Bulletin was developed to help prevent water intrusion at the rear tail light connector.
- 11037930 Other2026-09-15 · Unknown Or Other
- This announcement provides an update to all 2027 model year Subaru warranty coverages for wear items and adjustments.
- 15-333-25R Service bulletin2026-09-14 · Electrical System
- This bulletin contains illustrations of exchange components and their manufacturer as well as a description of the proper exchange procedure. This is an revised version of the original bulletin.
- 15-304-22R Service bulletin2026-09-14 · Electrical System
- This bulletin has been developed to outline the steps for gathering basic but essential information during diagnosis of Infotainment concerns. This is an revised version of the original bulletin.
- 15-308-23R Service bulletin2026-08-20 · Electrical System
- This Service Information Bulletin outlines a systematic procedure for diagnosing parasitic draw (dark/standby current) in vehicles experiencing battery drain when the ignition is off, leading to no-start conditions or frequent jump-starts. This is an revised version of the original bulletin.
- 19-04-26 Service bulletin2026-08-14 · Electrical System
- This Bulletin provided diagnostic procedure information to be followed when addressing Dark Current / Parasitic Draw concerns on Subaru EV vehicles.
A service bulletin is the manufacturer telling its dealers how to diagnose or repair a known condition. It is not a recall, not a finding that the vehicle is defective, and the work is not automatically free — though a bulletin is often what a dealer works from when you describe a symptom, so quoting the document number can save a diagnosis. The count is every communication filed; the list shows the most recent, one entry per campaign, because a single campaign is usually filed as several documents on the same day. The summaries are NHTSA's; the full documents come from the manufacturer.
Diagnostic trouble codes on file
Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications and complaintsCodes documented against this model year in the federal record. A code appearing here does not mean this vehicle will set it — it means the code is part of this nameplate-year's documented history.
| Code | What it means | Most often filed under | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|---|
| B2A16 B2A16 on Subaru → | Manufacturer-defined — the meaning is set by the automaker, not the standard. | Electrical System · Battery → | 4 bulletins |
| B2A20 | Manufacturer-defined — the meaning is set by the automaker, not the standard. | Electrical System · Battery → | 2 bulletins |
Generic codes (the second character is 0 or 2) mean the same thing on every vehicle sold in the United States. Manufacturer-specific codes (1 or 3) mean whatever the automaker assigned, and no honest source can define them for you — which is why the ones here carry the evidence instead of a definition. A code is a link when enough separate federal documents name it across the catalogue to be worth a page of its own; the rest are listed here, where the vehicle is the context that makes them mean something.
Affiliate disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you request a quote or buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Nothing on this page changes because of it.
At the New York inspection station
Source: New York State DMVIn New York’s inspection lanes over the 12 months to Oct 10, 2026, the 2023 Subaru Solterra failed the safety inspection on 1.4% of first inspections — close to the 1.1% for every 2023 model-year vehicle inspected.
failed the safety inspection
511 initial inspections of 504 vehicles.
| Measure | The 2023 Solterra | Every 2023 vehicle | Behind it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Failed the safety inspection | 1.4% | 1.1% | 511 |
| Air-bag warning lamp stayed lit | 0% | 0.16% | 511 |
| Miles driven a year | 7,835 | 10,038 | odometer at inspection |
| Average odometer | 24,914 | 32,673 | odometer at inspection |
Electric vehicles get no emissions test in New York, so the safety inspection is the record here. First inspections only, so a car that failed and came back is counted once; private and special plates, not taxis, livery or commercial plates. A rate appears only where at least 200 inspections stand behind it. “Every 2023 vehicle” is every 2023 model-year car, SUV and pickup inspected in the same window, all makes. This is the state’s record of test results, not a reliability score by itself. Source: New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, Vehicle Inspections (data.ny.gov, Open NY terms).
Solterra by model year
all years, side by side →Common questions about the 2023 Solterra
Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kitsDoes the 2023 Subaru Solterra have any recalls?
NHTSA has posted 4 recall campaigns for the 2023 Subaru Solterra, 2 of them rated critical. The most serious on file is 23V064000, covering Wheels. 1 of them was filed with no repair available at the time — NHTSA's file records what the manufacturer had in hand on the filing date, not what exists today. There is an active do not drive advisory — act on it before driving. Check your own VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls; a recall applies to specific build ranges, not every car.
How safe is the 2023 Subaru Solterra?
NHTSA gave the 2023 Subaru Solterra 5 stars overall in its New Car Assessment Program tests — 5-star frontal crash, 5-star side crash, 4-star rollover. WhichTrim also grades it D (64/100) on its recall record, which is a different question from crash protection.
What is the fuel economy of the 2023 Subaru Solterra?
Across the 2 EPA-rated configurations of the 2023 Subaru Solterra, the longest EPA range is 228 miles on a charge. Figures are the EPA's own, per configuration, and every one is listed above.
What do owners complain about on the 2023 Subaru Solterra?
Owners have filed 42 complaints with NHTSA about the 2023 Subaru Solterra, most often about electrical system, unspecified, forward collision avoidance. Of those, 5 involved a crash. Complaints are unverified owner reports, so treat the pattern as a signal and the individual report as an anecdote.
How clean is the 2023 Subaru Solterra?
The EPA smog rating for the 2023 Subaru Solterra is 10 out of 10. That score covers tailpipe pollutants other than greenhouse gases, and it only compares vehicles within the same model year. It is certified for all fifty states, so it can be registered new anywhere in the U.S. Its configurations were certified to different standards — California ZEV, Federal Tier 3 Bin 0 — which the table above lists per configuration.
Are there service bulletins for the 2023 Subaru Solterra?
The manufacturer has filed 179 service bulletins and related communications with NHTSA for the 2023 Subaru Solterra, most often covering electrical system, equipment, unknown or other. The most recent is dated 2026-10-05. A bulletin is not a recall: it is the repair procedure a manufacturer sends its dealers for a condition it knows about, and the work is not automatically paid for. It is still worth knowing — if the symptom matches, quoting the bulletin number at the service desk can save a diagnosis. The document numbers and summaries are listed above.
How does the 2023 Subaru Solterra do at state inspection?
In New York’s inspection lanes over the 12 months to Oct 10, 2026, the 2023 Subaru Solterra failed the safety inspection on 1.4% of first inspections — close to the 1.1% for every 2023 model-year vehicle inspected. The figures are New York State DMV’s own inspection records, first inspections only, and the table above sets each one against every vehicle of the same model year.
What we hold, and what an empty row means
Paid vehicle-history reports will not tell you the difference between “nothing happened to this car” and “we never received that record” — both of the big two say as much in their own help pages. Most of what is on this page comes from complete federal registers, so we can tell you which is which, row by row.
| Data | Held | Source | What it covers — or what empty means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel economy & configurations | 2 configurations | EPA certification records | Every configuration the EPA certified for sale, with its own test figures. |
| Emission certificates | 2 configurations | EPA emission certificates | Smog rating, standard and the sales area that decides where the car can be sold new. |
| Recalls | 4 | NHTSA recall campaigns | A complete federal register: every campaign covering this model year, with severity and advisory flags. |
| Owner complaints | 42 | NHTSA complaint database | Also complete, but unverified: these are reports owners filed, not findings. Counts scale with how many were sold. |
| Crash ratings | 1 tested | NHTSA NCAP | Only the configurations NHTSA chose to crash-test, which is never all of them. |
| Service bulletins | 179 | NHTSA manufacturer communications | Everything the manufacturer told its dealers about a defect or malfunction, short of a recall. |
| Investigations | none | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation | No defect investigation has been opened. |
| Driver-assist crash reports | none | NHTSA Standing General Order 2021-01 | No report has been filed. Only entities named in the order report, and only crashes they hear of — so this is also what an unequipped car, or a manufacturer without telematics, looks like. |
| Specifications filed with NHTSA | none | NHTSA vPIC, decoded from VIN patterns | We had no VIN pattern to decode for this model year, or the manufacturer filed nothing usable. |
| Trims, pricing & equipment | 3 trims | Manufacturer press kit | Transcribed from the manufacturer's own press material, every value carrying the document it came from. |
Rebuilt nightly; this page was generated 2026-10-26. Every figure above is traceable to the source named beside it, and the JSON for this page carries the same values with their identifiers.
Sources & method
Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). The most serious recall counts in full and each further one counts 85% of the one before, because a vehicle sold in millions is recalled more often than a rare one without being more dangerous — and because a flat subtraction bottomed the scale out, scoring a vehicle with 22 recalls within a point of one with six. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Read it as what it counts: recall campaigns on the federal record, weighted by severity. The damping reduces the sales bias by roughly 40% but does not remove it: like our complaint counts, this is not normalized by how many were sold, so a best-seller still scores somewhat worse than an obscure model with the same real risk. NHTSA crash ratings, do-not-drive and park-outside advisories, and the crash, fire, injury and death counts in owner complaints are reported separately on every page and never blended into the letter — a vehicle can hold five stars and a poor letter at once, and where that happens we say so rather than leave you to notice. Because the scale subtracts from a clean sheet, a model year too new to have been recalled, complained about or bulletined scores full marks on an empty record; we label those grades provisional rather than present them as earned.
EPA figures come from fueleconomy.gov vehicle records. Recalls, complaints, investigations and crash ratings come from NHTSA's public flat files, refreshed nightly. Trim-level specifications and pricing are transcribed from the manufacturer's official press kit; every value carries its source in the data file.