Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra Luggage Test: How big is the trunk?

The Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra are the same electric vehicle apart from badges and the Toyota coming standard with front-wheel drive. As such, this luggage test will apply to both of them even though I literally tested the Toyota. It also means that I will be calling this vehicle "Solterra" for the rest of this post because bZ4X is a gigantic pain to type. Go ahead, try, then let me know what garbled version your poor fingers came up with instead.

On paper, the Solterra has 27.7 cubic-feet of cargo space behind the raised back seat. That theoretically puts it ahead of the Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5, but behind the Mustang Mach-E and VW ID.4. In my tests of those, which you can find by clicking their linked names, I found the hierarchy of luggage-carrying capabilities did not necessarily align with their official numbers. For example, the EV6 was able to hold more bags than the Mach-E.

Let's see if that trend continues!

Here is the space in question, but there are caveats.

First, the Solterra has a dual-level cargo floor like oh-so-many SUVish vehicles these days. It's in its lower position here, and as the upper position really only exists to provide a fully flat floor when the back seat is lowered, there's no need to test with that height. (OK, so there's one, sorta, which I'll get to at the end.)

Second, you'll note the cargo cover can be stowed inside. You can put the cargo floor below or on top of it, so I decided to go with Low Floor + Cargo Cover for my first go with the bags. Turns out, that's all I needed.

As with every Luggage Test, I use two midsize roller suitcases that would need to be checked in at the airport (26 inches long, 16 wide, 11 deep), two roll-aboard suitcases that just barely fit in the overhead (24L x 15W x 10D), and one smaller roll-aboard that fits easily (23L x 15W x 10D). I also include my wife's fancy overnight bag just to spruce things up a bit (21L x 12W x 12D).

So all the bags fit, but then, they also fit in all those other EVs mention above, plus the Kia Niro EV. Whoopty-doo.

We're going to need to get more granular.

First, this is clearly better then the Hyundai Ioniq 5, which only barely stuffed everything inside.

To see how the Solterra compares to everything else, let's move those bags around to see how much space is really left over.