Author: EVAI

As luck would have it, I got scheduled into a weekend with the 2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter exactly when I needed it.

The third wettest Spring on record in Southeastern Wisconsin flooded my mom’s basement. Prior to moving from a condo to a house three years ago, I stashed a lot of my own clutter downstairs at her place to streamline my life, and three years before the death of my niece’s father had already stockpiled other possessions down there. 

The flooding meant the time had come to move all that crap out to clear room for contractors to work.

I took possession of the eSprinter with a 99% charge on the battery and an indicated 199 miles of estimated range. An official range hasn’t been released, but the 2024 eSprinter has 273 miles of range on the more lenient European WLTP cycle.

I must admit to having a little range anxiety. I figured the roundtrip would be about 140 miles, and I didn’t want to risk running out of charge mid-trip. Turns out I didn’t have to worry. My mom’s house is 42 miles away to the north and west, while my niece’s house is a little more than 14 miles away to the south and east, which would account for about 112 miles for the day. That left a lot of wiggle room between the actual efficiency and the eSprinter’s real-world range, which appears to be at least 200 miles.

My tester was the same as all 2024s: a high-roof model with the 170-inch wheelbase and larger 113-kwh (usable) battery (the 2025 eSprinter also offers a short roof, a shorter 144-inch wheelbase, and a smaller 81-kwh battery). The tester also had the more-powerful 201-hp motor that spins up the same 295 lb-ft of torque as the 151-hp base version.

2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter

As a big empty box with a very generous 488.1 cubic feet of cargo volume, the eSprinter arrived with a 48x48x28-inch wooden box mounted in the middle of its cargo floor, as well as a pair of spare tires mounted in front of it. The box contained 440 pounds of weight that combined with the spare tires to help settle the ride when empty the same way pickup owners use sand bags in an unladen bed. That big box of nothing was going to rob me of possibly vital space to move a life and a half.

Well, it wasn’t exactly a full life and half. It was more like the leftovers of two lives, the stuff that you want to keep but don’t need regular access to. The box provided a natural divider between my model cars, magazines, and automotive books and his guitars, amps, and survivalist gear. With everything loaded, there was still plenty of room left over.

2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter

2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter

The load didn’t have a noticeable effect on the eSprinter’s range or limited power. The 83.9-mile trip to mom’s and back, half loaded and half not, used 48% of the range, and the trip computer indicated I had between 85 and 98 miles of range remaining, depending on driving style and climate control usage. With the A/C running and most of those miles on the freeway at 70 mph to the top speed of 75 mph, I understand why it slightly underperformed its expected range.

The van had no problem keeping up with traffic in the city or getting up to freeway speeds. However, laden or not, highway passing proved a challenge. This powertrain is tuned to work as needed in the real world and offer little beyond that.

Another 28.7 miles to my niece’s and back, again mostly on the freeway, took the trip total to 112.6 miles and left the eSprinter with 73-85 miles of estimated remaining range and the battery with 37% of remaining charge. All told, the van averaged 1.7 miles per kwh for the trip, which seems perfectly reasonable given it amounts to a big beast cutting through the wind like a brick wouldn’t.

2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter

After I recharged the van overnight on my Level 2 home charger the trip computer indicated 192 miles of range with a 100% charge. The system obviously learns how the van is being driven and adjusts its range estimate based on the most recent miles. A lighter load and slower speeds would certainly increase the range estimate.

The 2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter strikes me as a smart choice for fleet buyers. Priced at $77,611 with $3,430 for the larger motor, it’s about $16,000 more than a gasoline model. It has enough range for a full day on the job and its electric power will make it much cheaper to operate, though it will take quite some time and many miles to up for that price premium. It will be a lot cleaner to use, too.

It’s especially helpful when one is offered to you just when mom needs your crap moved out of her basement.

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2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter
Base price: $74,181, including $2,295 destination
Price as tested: $77,611
Powertrain: 201-hp motor, 113-kwh battery, rear-wheel drive
EPA efficiency: Estimated 200-220 miles of range
The hits: Just enough power, lots of cargo room, efficient for a fleet
The misses: Power ends where the speed limit ends, big and cumbersome, much pricier than gas version

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Hybrids and plug-in hybrids accounted for a record 11% of U.S. car sales in the first quarter, reports Automotive News, citing data from Cox Automotive. Sales of hybrids more than doubled in Q1 compared to a year earlier, the Cox data showed, while plug-in hybrid sales rose 59% in the quarter. Owner loyalty was also strong, with 42% of hybrid…

• Despite being discontinued, the Chevy Bolt EV has outsold the Blazer EV in the first half of 2024
• Launched last year, the Blazer EV appears to have overcome a problematic rollout
• GM promises that when the Bolt EV comes back for 2026 it will be the most affordable EV

The Chevrolet Bolt EV is no longer in production, but it still outsold the Chevy Blazer EV over the first half of this year, according to General Motors’ most recent financial results and sales update.

GM delivered 8,414 units of the Bolt EV and its crossover-like Bolt EUV variant in the first two quarters of the year, compared to 7,234 Blazer EV deliveries. However, in Q2 alone, Blazer EV deliveries were higher than Bolt EV/EUV deliveries, at 6,634 units and 1,374 units, respectively.

2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV RS

The difference is a reflection of the fact that Bolt EV/EUV deliveries have been trailing off since production ended at the end of 2023, while Blazer EV production has ramped up. But the fact that the Blazer EV hasn’t yet pulled away from the discontinued Bolt EV in year-to-date sales shows just how gradual that ramp up has been.

GM technically started Blazer EV deliveries last July, and it’s been slow going since then. It struggled to accelerate EV deliveries through 2023, due mostly to issues ramping up its Ultium battery cells. GM reported 21,930 EV deliveries in Q2, up 34% from Q1 and 40% year-over-year, indicating that it has started to turn a corner. But previous goals to deliver 400,000 EVs through 2023—and then the first half of 2024—have clearly been dashed.

2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV RS

GM cut prices of the Blazer EV in March, and so far, beyond addressing a backlog and software issues that led to a stop-sale late last year, it doesn’t appear to have sparked more sales. Those meager sales do at least include a high number of sought after “conquest” customers trading in from other brands. GM claims 40% of Blazer EV buyers are new customers, coming from rival brands like Jeep, Ford, Hyundai, and Kia.

The Bolt EV will only be gone for one model year. CEO Mary Barra has said that the 2026 Bolt EV will be the most affordable U.S. EV and will switch to an LFP battery chemistry to help make that happen.

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• The 4 packs a 102-kwh battery pack, with up to 200-kw fast charging

• Range? It’s 270 miles in two-motor form, 300 miles with one (both estimated)

• No 800-volt charging, but the Polestar 4 has Android firmware on deck

• About that rear glass…or the lack of it…

Polestar has marched through its debut as a brand with a plug-in hybrid 1 coupe, then on to a conventional-ish 2 hatchback as it leafs out with a full battery-electric lineup. 

This year the Polestar 3 swings for efficient performance with its seven-seat body style and U.S. assembly site. It seems a surer bet than the Polestar 4, an intriguing new entry that blends coupe, sedan, fastback, and SUV cues as its come-on to drivers lured otherwise by the Genesis GV60, Tesla Model Y, or the upcoming Porsche Macan EV. 

If you’re looking to define it with a body-style label, don’t. Its ground clearance is on the low end of the SUV norm. Its four doors rule out the coupe tag. The fixed glass over the rear-seat passengers nixes the hatchback idea. Sedan? With that roofline? 

For the Polestar 4, genre is a construct. It’s curious about a lot of body styles but not fixated on any of them. That makes it a fascinating new thing that grants it much leeway with its distinct but not fatal flaws: a hyperfocus on touchscreen functions, moderately fast charging, and an occasionally brittle ride.

How do I know? I drove it from central Madrid to the hills northwest near Segovia, and back. The Polestar 4 does have plenty of familiar electric-car feel. But in some ways, it’s all by itself.

2025 Polestar 4

2025 Polestar 4: Fast acceleration, quick charging

• 0-60 mph: 3.7 seconds (AWD), 6.9 seconds (RWD)

• 300 miles of range (single-motor), 270 miles (dual-motor)

• 400-volt DC fast charging at 200 kw maximum; 10-80% in 30 minutes

• One-pedal drive in all drive modes—via a screen tap

• More specifications: 2025 Polestar 4

Two Polestar 4s lurk inside its slick body. There’s an amply quick single-motor car with rear-wheel drive, and a fast hustler with two motors and all-wheel drive. Neither has much steering sensation and big wheels tax their adaptive damping, but both still feel next-wave. 

A 102-kwh battery underpins both versions. In the single-motor Polestar 4, it’s not exactly juiced, with 272 hp and 253 lb-ft of torque. That’s good for a 0-60 mph time of 6.9 seconds, Polestar says, and for 300 miles of driving range by their estimates (by EPA standards, not WLTP). If so many other EVs didn’t have unnecessarily blinding acceleration, this would all be fine.

Until you drove the two-motor 4, that is. That same battery surges here for a net 544 hp and 506 lb-ft. That clips the 0-60 mph time to 3.7 seconds—and range, too, to 270 miles. It’s the car you’d want on the mountain passes that thread northwest toward Segovia, where Seats and cyclists pace progress in 20-kph increments. Find a spot in the lane ahead, flick the accelerator, and the dual-motor Polestar 4 snaps to attention and finds the slot—all without the zithery soundtrack of some other luxury EVs.

Single-motor cars have standard dampers and struts, but the all-wheel-drive, dual-motor Polestar 4 gets adaptive dampers that want to help it cope with the enthusiasm the powertrain can generate. It needs more compliance, even when it’s fitted with the mid-range 21-inch Michelin Pilot Sport EV tires from my test car. (The 4 comes with 20-inch wheels standard, and 22-inchers come with U.S.-bound AWD cars.) With its power delivery set to performance mode and its steering left to its normal weighting—light—the 4 could track precisely down the highway while it got ruffled by stretches of scabby pavement, skittering across instead of absorbing it. 

The solution? Brake into those patches, or deploy one-pedal drive mode to lessen the impacts. The two stopping systems work in concert well, though the one-pedal mode feels less eager to decelerate than in some other performance EVs I’ve driven recently.

In other bona-fides news, the two-motor Polestar 4 has a 3,500-pound tow rating and a claimed 6.5 inches of ground clearance, but with these looks, who’d press either rating?

2025 Polestar 4

2025 Polestar 4 exterior and interior: Lots of space, even in the interface

• Great style, inside and out

• Great room, too: 190.5 inches long, 118.1-inch wheelbase, 18.6-54.2 cubic feet of cargo space (and a small front trunk)

• Too many functions buried in the touchscreen

• Interior lighting themed on the solar system

The 4’s exterior and interior style wrap around a cabin with lots of space—and Polestar takes that to a literal conclusion in the ambient lighting. It’s patterned after objects floating in our solar system: a rolling planetarium, minus the Doobie Brothers.

The 4 serves up an exciting wedge shape decorated by pickaxe LED headlights, and capped by a Polestar logo. Down its sides, the 4 gets chunky and angular sills that hollow out what otherwise would be thick spans of sheet metal. A single strap of LED taillights pulls in the tail toward the rising rear roofline, all to good spartan effect. 

Where I think the 4 falls flat is with the long panoramic roof that extends over the rear seat, and in the stubby decklid hidden in its profile. Polestar uses these two to omit a rearview windshield, and it actually doesn’t go far enough to make the car so visually distinct as to overcome the vision problems it induces. For those of us with prescription glasses or motion sickness, the Polestar solution of a digital rear camera mirror is no solution. Mazda took the 3 hatchback further to the edge of the styling ice—and it’s more of a standout. 

The 4’s cockpit has been pared down more than needed, too. The 10.2-inch digital gauge cluster and 15.4-inch tablet-style touchscreen work fine as displays. When they’re put to work through the Google built-in interface to host lots of functions normally toggled or switched or spun with a knob, they breed the kind of J.D. Power dissatisfaction that other car companies avoid like inquiries from reporters. So many functions depend on the touchscreen and on steering-wheel controls—adjusting head-up display height and information, steering-wheel position, et al—that it can take minutes to set up the car for a driver that isn’t in one of the car’s available “favorite” setups. 

It’s a setback, since the rest of the cabin perfects the uncluttered and matte-luxury touch of the EV genre. The woven-textile seats have excellent support and hard controls for adjustment. Polestar offers real leather upholstery, too. The 4 has lots of footroom and headroom thanks to the flat floor and form factor. And the lack of rear glass doesn’t induce back-seat anxiety as much as I expected. The rear bench needs better support stitched into it, though its electric-recline option will coddle two large passengers while the third middle passenger snoozes on their shoulders.

2025 Polestar 4

2025 Polestar 4

2025 Polestar 4

2025 Polestar 4

2025 Polestar 4 prices and technology: OTA all the way

• $56,300 for the rear-drive 4

• $64,300 for the AWD 4

• Wireless CarPlay and smartphone charging standard

Available to order now, with deliveries to begin in a few months, the Polestar 4 costs $56,300 for the single-motor car, inclusive of a $1,400 destination charge. The AWD dual-motor car costs $64,300. 

Every Polestar 4 has automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitors, adaptive cruise control, active lane control, and a surround-view camera system. Limited hands-free driving comes with an option package that knits together 12 lidar sensors, 14 cameras, and a radar sensor—and Polestar promises upgraded ability through OTA updates without committing to the “full self driving” schtick. Other standard features include a power tailgate, a panoramic roof, power front seats, and 20-inch wheels. 

Options range from the $1,500 lidar-sensor Pilot Pack on single-motor cars (dual-motor cars carry it standard) to a Pro Pack ($2,000 or $600, single- or dual-motor) which adds 21-inch wheels, gold valve caps, and gold-striped seatbelts. 

A Plus Pack lifts prices to $61,800 or $69,800, respective of motor count. It sports  12-way power front seats, synthetic leather upholstery, heated and reclining rear seats, a head-up display, and Harman Kardon audio. 

Dual-motor cars with the Performance Pack cost $74,300, which nets them a sport-tuned suspension, 22-inch forged wheels and summer tires, as well as Brembo brakes with upgraded discs and gold-painted calipers. 

The first versions of the 2025 Polestar 4 will be assembled in China, an untenable situation given tariff talk. Early next year, the vehicle moves to a plant in South Korea, which might or might not resolve those tariff issues. For now, the price is the price, Polestar says. With its standout style and intentional quirks, the Polestar 4 could turn out to be a cult favorite. In EV circles, where as we’ve seen, usually it pays to be different.

Polestar paid for travel so that we could bring you this test drive review.

• For the first time in nearly 18 months, the average new EV cost less than the average Tesla
• Dealers are cutting prices on used EVs and offering incentives on new ones
• The average discount on an EV was 12.4% of the average transaction price in May, nearly six points lower than the industry average

Average EV prices have fallen over the past two months, with the rest of the industry catching up with Tesla’s price cuts, reports Cox Automotive (via Automotive News).

The average EV transaction price across all brands (including Tesla) was $55,235 in April, or $433 less than Tesla’s average. That marks the first time the industry average fell below that of Tesla since February 2023, notes Automotive News. In May, the industrywide average for EV transaction prices was $721 less than the Tesla average, at $56,648.

2024 Tesla Model Y. – Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.

Tesla has cut prices many times over the past year, but other automakers now also appear to be joining in. The average EV discount was 12.4% of the average transaction price in May, nearly six points higher than the industry average, according to Cox.

EV prices have been volatile over the past six months, Cox noted. They remained around $57,000 from December to February, fell to $53,000 in March, but in May they rose back up to nearly the same place as they were in December. The gap to Tesla completely disappeared in that time, though. In December, the overall average price of an EV was $7,276 higher than Tesla’s average, according to Cox.

2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5

Discounts may be an acknowledgement of reality. Concerns over new EV costs are at the core of a drop in consumer consideration, according to a J.D. Power study published in May. A dearth of affordable EV models and shrinking availability of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit due to new rules that went into effect at the beginning of the year haven’t helped matters.

Cox also noted an 84% surge in sales of used EVs in May. That’s helped by a shrinking price gap with used gasoline cars, which narrowed to $1,100 the week of May 6. Earlier this month, iSeeCars reported, based on surveying posted asking prices for used cars, that used EV prices actually stood below internal-combustion prices. Lower used EV prices could also put pressure on automakers to discount their new EV models.

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The are no self-driving cars on sale today, despite what some automakers claim Limited hands-free driving systems are considered Level 2 in terms of the six levels of autonomy Mercedes-Benz Drive Pilot is considered Level 3, and legal in Nevada and California Several tech and car companies have launched Level 5 robotaxis in select cities In many…