Subaru’s Best-Selling EV Faced The 70 MPH Highway Range Test. Here’s How It Performed

• InsideEVs contributor Tom Moloughney range-tested the Subaru Uncharted on the highway.
• The Uncharted is Subaru’s cheapest new EV, and it can deliver up to 308 miles of range, according to the EPA estimate.
• This highway range test put the top-spec Uncharted GT through its paces.

The Subaru Uncharted is the company’s newest, cheapest, and smallest electric model. And it seems to have a lot going for it, seeing how it was Subaru’s best-selling EV in the second quarter, outpacing both the long-standing Solterra and the new Trailseeker, according to Cox Automotive, albeit by fewer than 500 units.

In short, it’s an important car for Subaru, so InsideEVs contributor and State of Charge host Tom Moloughney took a top-spec Uncharted on the famous 70 miles per hour highway range test to see what Subaru’s smallest EV is capable of.

On paper, the Uncharted is capable of delivering up to 308 miles on the combined cycle, but that’s for the entry-level model, which has a single electric motor on the front axle. The base spec starts from $36,920, but Tom got his hands on the top GT trim, which is the shortest-range version.

With dual-motor all-wheel drive, the Uncharted GT makes 338 horsepower and 323 pound-feet of torque, and it has an EPA-estimated combined range of 273 miles. It starts from $46,215 and comes with 20-inch wheels, ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, a Harman Kardon premium sound system, and a panoramic glass roof with a built-in power sunshade.

All Uncharted models are powered by a 74.7-kilowatt-hour (gross) battery pack that can accept up to 11 kilowatts of power from an AC source and up to 150 kW from a DC fast charger. At full blast, the compact EV can go from 10-to-80% state of charge in 28 minutes, according to Subaru.

Before the range test, the car was fully charged, the tire pressure was set to the manufacturer’s recommended value, and the climate control system was set between 68°F and 70°F, with the fan on its lowest speed setting. The car was driven at a constant 70 miles per hour in its most efficient mode, which is ECO in this case.

At 75% battery level, the car had driven 67.7 miles, with an average energy efficiency of 3.6 miles/kWh. The guess-o-meter reported that the battery still had 189 miles of range left. At 50%, the Uncharted had driven 137.4 miles, with 126 miles left, while the average efficiency climbed to 3.8 mi/kWh.

Fast-forward to 0% state of charge and the end of the test, and the Uncharted managed to go 255.1 miles on a full charge, with an average energy efficiency of 3.8 mi/kWh (26.31 kWh/100 miles) That’s 6.6% fewer miles than the EPA estimate, but it’s worth noting that the EPA rating is based on both highway and city driving speeds, so the Uncharted’s result is quite good.

What’s more, the real-world energy consumption is 12.3% lower than the EPA’s 30 kWh/100 miles, which is always good to see. 

When it comes to driving range versus price, it’s up to the buyer, as always. The GT is the most expensive trim, and it comes with all the goodies, but it’s also the shortest-range model in the lineup. The lower-spec but still all-wheel-drive Sport offers six more miles of range, according to the EPA rating, while the base Premium model, which is FWD, delivers 308 miles on a full charge, all while costing nearly $10,000 less.