Rally-inspired Subaru EV unveiled

SUBARU has unveiled its aggressively-styled Sport Mobility Concept at the Japan Mobility Show, giving punters a taste of what its future performance electric models will look like.

The Sport Mobility Concept honours the carmaker's rally heritage, with Subaru claiming it “evokes the evolution of the Subaru Sport values” while also hinting at likely off-road prowess.

Visually, the Sport Mobility Concept shares few similarities with the BRZ instead scoring muscular wheel arches to complement its boxy and upright stance, as well as what appears to be a healthy serving of ground clearance.

The angular concept also looks to borrow design cues from the long-forgotten SVX, a two-door coupe which was ahead of its time in the early 1990s but saw limited success - in part due to its hefty $72,950 price tag at the time of launch.

Aero wheels fill the pumped arches on the concept, made with carbon fibre and featuring a distinct speckled finish that also makes its way onto the bumpers and side skirts.

A dark silver paint job is complemented by Subaru’s iconic World Rally blue which accentuates the lines of the body and highlights details like the aero wheels.

Slim LED headlights and tail-lights, with red Subaru badging at the rear, add an additional splash of colour and style to the Sport Mobility Concept.

The interior remains somewhat of a mystery, with Subaru hiding the cabin from onlookers but claiming it offers “excellent visibility and perceptibility”, with talk of a central driving position. The one interior shot doing the rounds doesn’t look particularly futuristic, but does look close to production ready.

While the BRZ is a rear-driven road-focused coupe, the Sport Mobility Concept will likely be a return to all-paw form from Subaru with the company outlining it will go “anywhere, anytime” and take drivers to “extraordinary environments”.

Subaru also said drivers will be able to control all four wheels at will, hinting at a potential future version of its iconic symmetrical all-wheel-drive system, although given the concept is electric it is likely the manufacturer has an even smarter torque-vectoring system in mind.

Key details like performance and range figures remain a mystery but, given Subaru has designed the concept to be a driver’s car with rally pedigree, our guess is it will be no slouch if it ever makes it into production.

While no actual production date has been set, the Sport Mobility Concept acts as a statement piece showcasing Subaru’s electric future focus - and we like what we are seeing.