TOKYO — Subaru will attempt a record run at the Nürburgring with a new 1,000-hp four-motor electric race car that presages the all-wheel drive specialist’s dive into zero emissions.
The automaker unveiled the STI E-RA Concept on Friday at the Tokyo Auto Salon customized car show. Subaru said it developed the STI E-RA “with the aim of gathering experience with new technologies in the world of motorsports for the carbon-neutral era.”
Subaru Tecnica International, the company’s motorsports division, will test the car at circuits in Japan this year and try to set a lap record on Germany’s famed Nürburging from 2023.
In Subaru’s sights is a winning time less than 6 minutes 40 seconds.
The designation E-RA is short for “electric record attempt.”
Subaru’s new focus on a battery-powered performance comes as the company readies the midyear launch of its first mass-market electric vehicle, the Solterra crossover.
The STI E-RA will pack maximum output of 800 kilowatts, or around 1,073 hp, and sport a proprietary four-motor, four-wheel torque vectoring system. Yamaha Motor Co. developed and supplied the high-torque, high-revolution motor, integrated with an inverter and gear.