The adventure wagon brand might soon have three electric all-wheel-drive models here.

LOCAL availability of what’s being considered the single electric alternate to two well-supported petrol Subarus here, the Crosstrek crossover and Forester sports utility, has heightened.

Reawakened interest in electric vehicles has inspired Subaru New Zealand to consider the Uncharted, a small coupe crossover co-developed with Toyota.

Subaru’s smallest electric is easily accessed, as national distributor Inchcape also provisions Australia, where it has been on sale since June.

NZ would adopt an identical specification with introduction coming down to dealer and public sentiment and getting the price right - which could yet be challenging if direct currency conversion has meaning.

The sticker Uncharted holds across the Tasman converts to $75,000 here, which if adopted here would put it slightly above the Trailseeker, which is against brand convention.

The five-chair electric crossover is designed to be a smaller and cheaper alternate to the Trailseeker and the Solterra, whose re-introduction is also on the cards.

Subaru NZ general manager Paul Mallard says that’s one of several challenges his team has to work through.

He acknowledges Uncharted needs to be the entry choice of Subaru electrics.

That probably means both it and Solterra having to pitch into the sub-$68,000 pricing arena, which is heavily contested by numerous cars out of China.

Nonetheless, he contends Uncharted is an obvious next step here, hence why there are two examples here for evaluation, presented at yesterday’s Trailseeker media event. These will make their public debut at the NZ EV and Tech Expo on November 13-15 at the Auckland Showgrounds.

“We know to make them work in the market as it is at the moment, we have to have the right pricing, the right positioning,” Mallard says.

“Obviously this slots in a decent step below Trailseeker. And we know that's a very, very price competitive market. So we want to make sure that it's a really relevant market.

“Solterra fits between Uncharted and Trailseeker. Three in a competitive landscape is tricky to support.”

In respect to using Australia’s pricing as a guide, he commented: “Ii’s easy to look at Australia and go, they've got this and they've got that, but their Subaru business is 10 times ours, give or take.

“But yeah, it's an interesting car. So we want to bring it here, understand it and we'll come back to you (the media) when we've got a bit more news.”

However it plays, don’t expect to see Uncharted in the showroom imminently. Pre-Christmas priority is to establish the Trailseeker.

“We want to give the Trailseeker a good go and see how that goes for us.”

In respect to Uncharted “we will gauge some interest from dealers and start talking to the public about it … and see what interest we have.”

It is not clear whether Toyota’s version, which produces as the CH-R Plus, will also show.

Toyota New Zealand of course already has the Solterra and Trailseeker twins, which it sells as the bZ4X and bZ4X Touring. It has also been trialling the Urban Cruiser, another small electric crossover, but a sister to the Suzuki e-Vitara.

All the Toyota-Subaru co-share cars have common platforms and technologies; points of difference basically come down to styling, so minor specification tweaks and price position.

When Subaru NZ previously tried to insert Solterra, there was a high degree of uncertainty about the market environment, the EV sector having all but completely collapsed after Government pulled rebates and implemented Road User Charges.

Those impacts deeply rattled all sector involvers, but the scene seems to have altered radically this year, with military action in the Middle East having pushed up petrol and diesel prices and created supply concern. This has caused a spike in EV buying.

Mallard says EV uptake now is such that there is greater certainty of battery cars being here to stay.

But he still wonders about political sentiment and says the industry is watchful of how the impending general election will play out, as party views about EV adoption and how it might be supported varies widely.

“We need to see what happens with the market and what happens with the election as well.

“We'll evaluate that and also work with our Subaru friends in Japan on exactly what it would look like for a New Zealand market to make the car competitive.”

The Uncharted runs in dual motor format, with 225kW and an estimated 0–100kmh time of five seconds.

The feed comes from a 74.7kWh CATL battery providing a driving range of up to 522km on the WLTP cycle. DC fast charging of up to 150kW can replenish the battery from 10 to 80 percent in approximately 30 minutes.

Uncharted also features 1500W Vehicle to Load (V2L) capability, allowing compatible devices to be powered directly from the vehicle.

As with its sister cars, Uncharted has a 211mm of ground clearance and a comprehensive suite of traction and control technologies including Symmetrical All Wheel Drive, X-Mode and Downhill Assist Control.

The fastback silhouette elevates a sportiness, which dictates it riding on 20‑inch alloy wheels hand having bold LED lighting and a vibrant colour palette.

The interior includes a 14-inch touchscreen, dual wireless device charging and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. Key functions retain physical switchgear for intuitive, distraction-minimising operation, Subaru says.

Options in Australia run to a panoramic sunroof and two-tone paint.

Intelligent safety and driver-assist technologies include Subaru Safety Sense, Subaru Vision Assist with Blind Spot Monitoring, a 360-Degree View Monitor and Driving Monitoring System (DMS).

Mallard says however things workout with Uncharted and Solterra, the Crosstrek and Forester are set to stay n circulation, because there is a strong enduring interest in both. There is intention to work harder to create interest in the Forester Hybrid, he says.