Subaru E-Outback review

Nice enough, but nothing to write home about, in essence. Five decent seats, with heating for four and extended heating pads on the shoulders and thighs. Black or blue leather, vegan or nappa. Driver’s display up front of the square steering wheel which gets obscured for shorter drivers, a standard 14in touchscreen in the middle. Though the bottom bit is always the climate control widgets. It’s comfy though, with everything you need; plenty of storage, dual 15w wireless phone chargers, CarPlay and Android Auto wirelessly available.

There are lots of cameras called the ‘Panoramic View Monitor’ when in chorus, and a digital/normal rear view mirror. Though someone’s thought about it, because the camera for that is inside the rear windscreen and within the arc of the rear windscreen wiper, with a washer. And there’s heated door mirrors, headlamp washers and a wiper de-icer, plus a heated radar unit - ever have ADAS sensors tell you they can’t see in bad/cold conditions? The E-Outback won’t suffer.

As mentioned though, it’s the massive boot and general space that’s impressive, as well as the usefulness of the shapes. Too many EVs boast about litreage in the boot, but it tends to be weird, awkward shapes. A pit-like underfloor cubby between the rear wheels makes the total volume sound good, but you can’t put a dog in there. The E-Outback is just a traditional big, wide hatch.

And there are again, lots of useful touches; flop-down seats from levers in the boot, loads of tie-down hooks, lights for the rear space. These are not things that make a revolution, but they matter day-to-day. No rear ski-hatch or pass through for the 60:40 split rear seats though; and that feels weirdly missing for such an outdoorsy car.