Category: General

Mercedes-Benz on Thursday teased a camouflaged prototype of the dedicated electric SUV for its AMG performance division.

AMG primarily makes sportier versions of existing Mercedes models, and has already done so with some of the automaker’s electric vehicles. And it’s launched standalone models like the current GT coupe (in two- and four-door forms), SL Roadster, and the discontinued SLS AMG sports car. But this will be the first SUV designed as an AMG model from the ground up, and one of two planned EVs based on the new AMG.EA platform.

Teaser for standalone electric SUV from Mercedes-Benz AMG

The prototypes show that the sleek silhouette shown in a sketch when the AMG electric SUV was announced last month was not exaggerated. Despite this being an EV, with different cooling requirements than combustion cars, AMG also appears to have installed a large grille up front, with a hood and headlights arcing around it.

Mercedes confirmed that the SUV will start testing on schedule. It’s currently heading up to the Arctic Circle for cold-weather testing at the some location where the first AMG.EA-based electric vehicle was sent for testing this past spring. That other model is a fastback sedan that may replace the current AMG GT 4-Door Coupe, and is scheduled to arrive in showrooms next year. Expect the SUV to follow sometime after that.

Prototype for first EV fully developed by Mercedes-Benz AMG

Both models will likely use axial-flux motors from British firm Yasa, which Mercedes acquired in 2021. Mercedes also mentioned a “new high-performance battery concept,” without giving further details. The automaker could be hinting at its tech that will enable EV batteries with mixed cell types.

In addition to the two confirmed AMG.EA models, a report earlier this year suggested AMG was mulling an electric supercar based on the Vision One-Eleven concept unveiled in 2023. An AMG version of the 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA EV is also expected.

• Equinox EV has $34,995 base price and $7,500 EV tax credit eligibility
• 319-mile EPA range, but no efficiency or charging standout
• Although it’s Chevy’s current entry EV, it’s family-sized
• Well-equipped except for lack of smartphone connectivity

The Chevrolet Equinox EV is one of our Best Car To Buy 2025 finalists, and it shows how families on a budget can trade in their gasoline vehicle for a fully electric one that probably offers many of the same features and comfort, for a bottom line that’s no more than the equivalent gasoline model. 

While some Equinox EVs were delivered for a brief 2024 model year, for the purposes of this award we’re focusing on 2025—because that’s when the lower-priced Equinox EV LT version arrives, with a price tag starting at just $34,995 including destination. That includes the 85-kwh battery pack and an EPA-rated 319 miles.

For now the 2025 Chevy Equinox EV is an absolute steal, as those base Equinox EV models, like the whole lineup, qualify for the full $7,500 EV tax credit. That brings the effective price to just $27,495 for the LT. 

2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV

You get a lot of car for the money—not just a lot of electric car for the money. All versions include a full set of active safety features, automatic climate control, wifi hotspot capability, adaptive cruise control, six-speaker audio, and a huge 17.7-inch touchscreen infotainment system that does pretty much everything you might want except play well with your phone through Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. 

Opt for the Comfort Package for $2,000 extra and you get heated seats, a heated steering wheel and a power driver seat, plus an HD surround-view camera system, rear pedestrian warnings, and more. A dual-pane panoramic sunroof costs $1,500 extra. And GM’s Super Cruise (for three years) plus an enhanced automatic parking assist feature come together in a $3,355 package. 

Base LT front-wheel-drive versions of the Equinox EV make 220 hp and 243 lb-ft of torque. They’re the $34,995 bargain here, while dual-motor all-wheel-drive versions are more powerful and quite a bit more expensive, making 300 hp and 355 lb-ft and starting at $40,295. 

2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV

2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV

2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV

2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV

Chevy is marketing the Equinox EV as an SUV but really, it’s a station wagon. At 190.6 inches long, the Equinox EV is almost exactly the same length (and shape, except for the longer wheelbase of a modern EV) as a 1980s-era Chevy Celebrity wagon—albeit with a higher seating position. 

For reasons we don’t completely understand—even comparing them back-to-back, as we did at Best Car To Buy testing in Georgia in October—the Equinox EV has easier ingress and egress than its Chevrolet Blazer EV cousin, and what amounts to better backseat space for most situations. Flip down the Equinox EV rear seatbacks and you can expand the 26.4 cubic feet to 57 cubic feet. 

GM has to watch the pennies somewhere to make this all work. In that in-person testing, our cohort included a range of different EVs and it did become apparent that this isn’t quite as focused toward tuning out road noise. And interior trims and the general cabin ambiance leave a lot to be desired—unless you feel a certain nostalgia for surfaces and switchgear that you might have thought GM left in the early days of the millennium. 

2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV

It’s also worth pointing out that Equinox EV isn’t a charging or efficiency standout. For instance, the Lucid Air Pure goes more than 100 miles farther on a charge with slightly less battery. The Chevy’s 10-80% charge in a bit over 30 minutes is certainly good enough for a road trip, though—and plenty of fancy lunches while you’re waiting with the money you’re saving. And it’s compatible with GM’s suite of energy products, should you care to use that big battery to back up the home. 

2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV

So to sum, we certainly need more of this. The Equinox EV offers up the electric-car bargain that’s in short supply. And it delivers on some of GM’s earlier Ultium buzz, even if the strategy has been reeled back a bit. 

Will the Chevy Equinox EV’s set of credentials top those of the other four Best Car To Buy 2025 Finalists? Check back Jan. 6.

New electric vehicle battery chemistries and configurations are constantly under development, but a new study highlights the importance of testing them under realistic conditions.

Published in the journal Nature Energy by researchers from Stanford University and the Energy Department’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and first spotted by Electrek, the study follows up on research into battery longevity—including a 2022 study from the same research team detailing a way to “revitalize” lithium-ion batteries by adjusting the charging protocol, potentially extending their useful life by nearly 30%.

Audi battery assembly at Brussels, Belgium, factory

The tests used for studies like this generally involve many cycles of charging and discharging at a constant rate. The assumption is that the number of cycles a battery experiences is the main factor in degradation, meaning this appears to be the most straightforward way to push battery cells to their limits.

But for this study researchers compared four discharge profiles, ranging from constant discharge to profiles meant to simulate real-world driving conditions, such as short bursts of acceleration. These were tested on 92 commercially-available lithium-ion batteries over two years.

Panasonic cylindrical EV battery cells

Researchers found that the profiles with more variation in the discharge rate helped batteries last longer—potentially by up to 38%. That insight could help with the design of more accurate tests for new batteries, and it could help guide rules for battery degradation should they be enacted.

The findings show that for EV owners, varied driving patterns might help maximize battery longevity, and that’s also encouraging. But there are other simple best practices to keep in mind for limiting battery degradation, including parking cars in the shade or in a garage when temperatures climb.

Startup Lightship on Wednesday unveiled the production version of its battery-powered travel trailer.

Originally called the L1, the trailer is now known as the AE.1, and is due to start production in mid-2025 at the company’s Broomfield, Colorado, facility, Lightship said. The first 50 units will be Cosmos Edition models priced at $250,000, but Lightship expects tax credits to reduce the effective price to $239,900.

Unveiled in 2023, the Lightship trailer uses a battery pack to not only power appliances, but also propel the trailer. The propulsion system means EVs towing it won’t lose range, and internal-combustion vehicles will get more mpg, Lightship claims. At the time of its unveiling, Lightship said an 80-kwh pack would allow a 300-mile EV towing the trailer to “remain a 300-mile EV.”

Lightship AE.1 Cosmos Edition

Battery power—supplemented by a solar roof—allows campers to avoid the noise of a generator or the hazard of propane tanks, Lightship notes, while enabling features like an “automotive grade” climate control system and a full bathroom and kitchen, the latter equipped with a dishwasher, refrigerator, microwave, convection oven, and induction cooktop.

The start of production has slipped a bit from Lightship’s original target of late 2024, and the asking price for the Cosmos Edition is much higher than the $125,000 base price the startup previously announced. That likely applies to one of three additional grades—Atmos, Panos, and Terros—that will follow the Cosmos Edition. That launch version will initially be offered to early reservation holders before being opened to all customers, and Lightship is also taking reservations for the three other grades.

RV life with electric vehicles will require some new approaches, and Lightship isn’t the only company working on them. Airstream in 2022 unveiled the eStream, a travel trailer that’s also designed to boost EV range, or mpg in gasoline or diesel vehicles. Colorado Teardrops connects a battery pack in the trailer to the tow vehicle, which is then used to give it an extra charge.

Electrify American on Tuesday announced that it would install DC fast-charging stations at five Costco locations as part of the retailer’s return to electric vehicle charging.

The rollout includes Costco stores in Clermont, Florida, and Denver, Colorado, which will each get six chargers, plus three California locations, according to a press release. A Costco in Loomis, in the northern part of the state, is slated to get 14 chargers, while stores in Pleasanton and Sacramento will get 10 chargers each.

Costco adds Electrify America DC fast-chargers

The 350-kw chargers will be integrated with the Electrify America network, allowing drivers to find them and pay for charging sessions via the Electrify America app, but prices will be set by Costco.

Costco periodically offers deals on electric cars and plug-in hybrids, and was one of the first big-box retailers to install Level 2 AC chargers at some locations, back in the 1990s. However, the company pulled the plug on those original chargers in 2011 and 2012 and has only recently started adding EV charging back.

Costco

The first new Costco-branded DC fast charger opened at a new warehouse store in Ridgefield, Washington, in October. This station was installed by Electric Era in what the company claims was just seven weeks from from contract signature to opening. That’s impressive even compared to the Tesla Supercharger network.

It’s unclear if Costco will continue working with both Electric Era and Electrify America, or perhaps even invite additional firms to bring EV charging to its stores. But Electrify America could likely use a large retail partner to replace Walmart, which in 2023 signaled that it was parting ways with the charging network with an announcement that it would be shifting toward its own EV charging network.

Meanwhile, Costco on Tuesday announced a partnership in which customers in 48 U.S. cities can buy new Hyundai vehicles from their local participating dealer directly on Amazon. With an initial emphasis on electric vehicles, the partnership could spur yet another wave of attention to charging infrastructure.

• Lucid Gravity follows efficiency approach of Air sedan
• 450 miles of EPA range, 3.4-sec. 0-60 mph, available third row
• Grand Touring arriving soon, Touring coming later in 2025

Something felt amiss as I hustled this prototype 2025 Lucid Gravity around cloverleaf ramps near Lucid’s California Bay Area headquarters last week.

I’d flown around faster than I’d intended to. And yet on the imperfect pavement the Gravity felt like it had so much more to give, with good poise and balance, loads of stability, communication through the steering wheel, and maybe some fun ahead—if, well, this were a closed course. 

It’s just that the Gravity is an SUV. And I’ve never, in 25+ years of evaluating vehicles, been in an SUV that drives quite like this. Lucid has somehow managed to dial its dynamics in like a sport sedan—or, perhaps aptly, a sport wagon. My inner g-sensors were reeling and I kept glancing into the rearview mirror—at two more spacious, minivan-like rows behind, which is what got me all turned around. 

In a good way, you hear? Based on a speed date with one, it’s really, really good.

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

A breath of fresh Air—for SUVs

Taking a few steps back: If you’ve somehow dismissed Lucid’s very strong opening act, the Lucid Air sedan, the Gravity makes the automaker’s unrelenting focus on efficiency impossible to overlook or ignore. 

The Air already presented its case for the numbers it can achieve with its compact and powerful yet efficiency-focused fully electric propulsion suite. Now the Gravity carries all this innovation into a form far more Americans will be likely to consider as their own: a three-row SUV. In this case, it’s one that goes an EPA-rated 450 miles (according to Lucid) with a battery pack that’s relatively modest for the mission—about 118 kwh—and one that can add 200 miles of range in 15 minutes via a 350-kw fast-charge connector (CCS port on early cars, Tesla-style NACS port to come). 

The 2025 Lucid Gravity gives in to the reality of the market and its undeniable forces but it does so on Lucid’s own terms. So it should come as no surprise that the Gravity isn’t aiming to play in the world of boxy, nubby-tired bricks named after off-road trails. 

“We’re not going to Utah and climbing rocks,” said chief design officer Derek Jenkins. “But to get to the cabin, to do the dirt path, to do medium off-roading, the Gravity is going to be excellent for that type of activity, with the suspension capability.”

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

Ahead of my drive, Lucid’s chief engineer and senior VP for product Eric Bach reminded me that it’s not developing vehicles for 0-60 mph times. Performance could be on a track, he underscored, or going up a windy mountain road. Or it could be crash-safety performance. Or NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) performance. 

The crew at Lucid by all accounts aren’t dyed-in-the-wool SUV guys. But they’re going to change a lot of minds with this vehicle. 

Gravity starts with an efficient shape

Lucid is relentless about efficiency because it puts the brakes on a series of cascading factors. If you use components or a design that together amount to a less-efficient vehicle, it’s then heavier because it needs more batteries to go the distance. It then can’t fit passengers and cargo as well. 

To that, the brand made clear to Green Car Reports that it’s proud of how the Gravity isn’t bigger than it needed to be; it stretches 198.2 inches long and it rides on a 119.5-inch wheelbase. Its height of around 65 inches overall (in its lowest setting, we have to assume) makes it lower overall than a Subaru Forester—so yup, no problem fitting into parking garages.

Gravity’s lean profile maps out in all directions except width, where its 78 inches not counting the mirrors is standard for the class. The Gravity has a frontal cross-sectional area, in CdA, that’s much lower than any of its rivals except for the Tesla Model X. It’s said the coefficient of drag will land around 0.24, but with final test numbers not yet out, it could land slightly better than that. 

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

It’s not an Air with a different top hat. Bach emphasized to Green Car Reports that Gravity was conceived as a completely new SUV platform, with a modular set of Air’s existing components arranged to the new architecture. Bach said that’s so that Lucid arrived at “a real off-road-capable as well as luggage- and occupant-optimized package that looks like an SUV.”

Design-wise, Gravity fits right in next to the Air. It has a completely different profile, of course, plus a little more depth to its taillights, while its headlights are a little more vertical—partly to leave room for a wider frunk opening (with optional net at the front).  

It’s an attractive profile with a graceful roofline and nice stance. But it doesn’t compare directly to any SUV on the market. As my colleague Joel Feder pointed out in a drive of an earlier Gravity alpha build prototype, this is a model that was shaping up as a bit chameleon-like—straddling the lines between wagon, minivan, and SUV at times. 

I don’t disagree. But the Gravity drives like no minivan I’ve ever been in. 

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

Drives like a Lucid not an SUV: Check

One of the tuning goals was essentially that Gravity “should drive not like an SUV but like a Lucid,” said chassis and dynamics tech specialist John Culliton, who rode along for my drive. 

To assure that, the steering rack and the fundamental geometry are carried over from the Air, but the rear suspension, including the air suspension, is new, as is the rear-steer functionality. The front subframe is rigidly mounted and steering gear is rigidly mounted, to carry as much feedback as possible. But all the versus Air, the hard points have been moved around to better distribute the load. Every link is new, but massaged the layout to reduce loads into the steering and utilize the same gear. 

The Gravity’s body structure is a combination of materials but fundamentally “aluminum rich,” according to Bach, with just 2-4% steel at a few specific points. Lucid has used a megacasting process for body pieces at a few locations. 

To make the most of the aero form and the lean, strong propulsion system, all Lucid Gravity models will get a height-adjustable air suspension and continuously adjustable dampers. A series of drive modes dial in different levels of firmness from the dampers, and there are five different ride heights, all mostly selected independently by the driver. 

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

There’s no Auto mode for the multi-mode air suspension, which leaves it up to the user to feel the differences in ride versus responsiveness. Although, as Culliton points out, selecting the Sprint performance mode will drop the Gravity into its lowest ride height. It also makes the behavior of the rear-wheel steering a little more aggressive, the damping firmer, and the torque split more rear-biased. 

All these smart decisions allow enough torque for sub-3.5-second 0-60 mph times, and a turning circle of 38 feet—as well as a natural seat height that’s easy to get into and out of and body 

On a lonely stretch of road, Culliton aims to show off the dual-motor propulsion system, at 828 hp and 909 lb-ft combined, and he has me do a controlled launch, standing on the brake, flooring the accelerator, and releasing, and the Gravity leaps ahead with none of the feeling of lightness in the front end that characterizes fast dashes in other high-power SUVs. The Gravity felt like it lunged forward.

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

Lucid Gravity is a quiet athlete

With its playful steering feel and muted-yet-communicative demeanor overall, it had some of the same qualities as the Porsche Macan Electric we drove for our Best Car To Buy roundup—about a foot shorter but also with rear-wheel steering. 

The Gravity I drove was also fitted with the largest and sportiest wheel and tire combination in the lineup—staggered width 22- and 23-inch Pirelli PZero tires that really seemed to be able to make the most of the Gravity’s available grip at the front wheels. This one feels like it’s going to be a hoot on a closed course, in terms of staying sports-car neutral on grippy surfaces. 

Furthermore, ride quality with this combination was great. The Gravity doesn’t float along like some other luxury SUVs; you do feel the road, but never excessively.

Lucid has also soft-mounted the motor to the body to yield more drive-system isolation from the body versus in the Air. Although the surfaces around Lucid’s California offices were hardly a challenge for the Gravity, heading up past normal freeway speeds for a bit didn’t expose anything—a testament to all the tuning of the body and chassis, and to that acoustic glass overhead, perhaps.

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

Space efficiency for seven and stuff

The cabin feels bright and airy, allowed partly by the vast expanse of glass overhead. The glass is acoustic, and structural, and flows continuously in two runs—one from the base of the windshield through to just over and behind those in the front seat. Then a second run goes from there all the way over the third row. It’s the only three-row SUV I can recall with the blue sky overhead, so uninterrupted. 

What strikes me most as I first as I walk up to the vehicle is how low the passenger cabin floor is, while the bottom of the vehicle isn’t especially low. According to a source, the air suspension spans from about 135 to 235 mm (5.3 to 9.3 inches) of ride height—meaning in its lowest setting, it’s essentially the same ride height as Air.  

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

Just like the Air Grand Touring, the Gravity Grand Touring has 22 battery modules, with four of them “upstairs” on a second layer. In the Air, that’s under the rear seat, but in the Gravity it’s been pushed to the area under the front seats, so as to allow a continuous cargo floor, with the seats folded, of more than eight feet. 

Including the frunk’s additional space, the Gravity has 120.6 cubic feet of cargo volume with the second and third rows folded—40% more than the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV, Lucid boasts, and about 15% more than the Rivian R1S, which also has a frunk. 

As Bach put it, “you need such a ginormous truck to get to some of the attributes that we can pack into this small Gravity space concept,” pointing to the Chevy Suburban and its huge body-on-frame counterparts.

Lucid hasn’t said much about the Gravity’s off-road ability yet, other than that there will be some. Its Terrain mode will take advantage of the stability system in the high-performance Lucid Air Sapphire. That system, capable of reading inputs from all four wheels 1,000 times per second, can handle the braking portion of the traction control in Gravity at that rate, albeit not for each rear wheel separately. That helps assure peak regenerative braking, which still arrives in standard and high settings when you lift off the accelerator, saving the brake pedal specifically for the brake pads. 

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

Gravity back seat: Tables not screens

I’m 6-foot-6 and can truly sit directly behind two of myself, reasonably comfortably, in the Gravity. 

The way the third-row floor stays flat, and the way the seats swing around into a well at the back of the vehicle. Bach says that the team made a lot of decisions throughout the engineering process not to compromise any of that space. For instance, it split its active rear steer actuators in half, while it could have gone with a combined unit that would have compromised third-row legroom. 

The third row is optional for $2,900, but it only adds about 130 pounds to the Gravity’s curb weight (yet undisclosed). The team behind the Gravity see this as a road trip vehicle, with the second row good for eating, playing games, and watching things on devices. So they opted for a pair of sturdy utility tables, in place of a native entertainment system for the rear.

What the Gravity ended up with is a solution that might be right out of a first-class air cabin. 

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

“We talked to customers, we talked to business people, we talked to families, and everyone said just give me a table for food, for laptops, for the kids’ iPad, charging, and make sure it’s easy to stow. “I’m super-proud of this, because it was a big push to make this happen and not sacrifice second-row space and do something robust and solid,” said Jenkins. 

A 90-degree-opening rear door also allows easier loading of kids into child seats, took some extra level of engineering to make sure the latches were strong, and the doors have a special low safety cinch helps bolster side protection when the impact is just above the lower sill. 

Counterintuitively, Lucid was able to put its H-point for the third row higher up than in the Suburban, allowing more relaxed leg angles. You won’t be looking only at your knees. 

Jenkins also noted that Lucid has also thought much more about the robustness and cleanability of all the materials It’s offering four different themes for the Gravity: Tahoe and Ojai are leather, while Yosemite and Mojave are non-leather.

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

Gravity interface: Landscape, swipes, and vibes

Inside, the Gravity doesn’t entirely trade in what Lucid has established as an interface, but it reworks it. The instrument panel is even slimmer, with updated vents for better heating and cooling and a larger center console. Fundamentally, new hardware offers a full OLED display side to side with no interruptions and better contrast

Maybe most notable of all, the steering wheel has been replaced by a “squircle,” and based on the quick drive my hands felt natural at 9 and 3 in tight corners and in high-speed cruising.

There are new mood-and-ambience modes called Vibes. It’s taken a close look at what it’s including in the augmented-reality head-up display to make sure it’s not adding to clutter, and the touchscreen has moved to a landscape format, with new thumb controls that offer a swipe function good for dismissing alerts plus a tactile thumb switch for menu selection. In the new layout, menus always open to the right

As of my drive, some of the interface points still stood out as works in progress, as it aimed to quell some switchgear and menu-latency issues. 

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

Luxury in price, but more affordable later

So far Lucid has only said that the Gravity Grand Touring will start at $96,550 (including $1,650 destination) and include the larger battery pack and dual-motor all-wheel drive, with initial deliveries set to start late this year. The $81,550 Touring model, coming in late 2025, will have a smaller pack, and officials say it’s fair at this point to assume that offerings will parallel those of the Air Touring—which gets a smaller 84-kwh pack. Do the math and in the Gravity that would still mean well over 300 miles of range from the small battery. 

Loaded up with options, the Gravity is well into luxury territory. The Dynamic Handling Package adds the rear-wheel steer system, triple-rate air suspension, and painted brake calipers. And a $2,500 Comfort and Convenience package brings power rear sunshades, soft-close doors, a heated steering wheel, heated wipers, heated second-row seats. Two different levels of Lucid’s DreamDrive assisted-driving and active-safety features are also optional, for up to $6,750. And the $750 towing package brings a tow rating of up to 6,000. 

Add the works, including $2,900 Surreal Sound Pro audio and the biggest (22/23-inch wheels), and the grand total amounts to $117,400 for a fully loaded Grand Touring, not including other cosmetic upgrades.

2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring

My drive, while it left a very good first impression, was a very quick take in a well-fettled prototype with company handlers. I didn’t get to head off pavement, and I noticed a few different quirks in the switchgear and touchscreen interface that, in all hopes, Lucid will have fixed by the time the first vehicles are delivered. Arizona production of the Lucid Gravity started last week. 

There are so many reasons to love this vehicle, and it’s surely one of the year’s greats. But what it amounts to is this: If you need an SUV, but you’d rather be in a sport sedan, this is your leading edge. 

Once a year, Green Car Reports takes a closer look at the market’s best and brightest green vehicles—models that help assure a cleaner future for us. 

One of these will be named Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2025 on Jan. 6. Read on for a quick snapshot of each and a quick summary of our priorities, and then check back for a closer look at each of their credentials over the next couple of weeks. 

2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV

Sometimes it’s simple: The 2025 Chevy Equinox EV costs $34,995 for 319 miles of EPA range, in a vehicle sized and shaped like today’s most popular kind of family vehicle—a wagon-like crossover SUV. Even before the $7,500 EV tax credit, the Equinox EV amounts to a bargain for freeing your family of gas pumps and tailpipes. Quite simply, it’s on this list because it makes electric vehicles affordable to mass-market car buyers not in a niche commuter-vehicle form, but in one they might pack the whole family into. 

2025 Hyundai Kona Electric

Where have all the small-but-practical, urban-savvy EVs gone? The closest new entry we have in the U.S. market, this year is the Hyundai Kona Electric. It’s not a dedicated electric vehicle, but it might as well be one as it outshines the gasoline Kona in performance and drivability. With the base Kona Electric SE, Hyundai’s offering a modest 48.6-kwh battery pack that will still be plenty big for commuters, at 200 EPA miles, while SEL and Limited versions get a 64.8-kwh pack and a 261-mile range. Much-upgraded cabin trims plus meaningful cabin-tech updates amount to a car that’s easy to park but not short on amenities. 

2024 Porsche Macan EV

The Taycan, which was known as Mission E until it was almost ready for deliveries, started as a special project, set to face off with Tesla and reckon with a mostly fully electric future for this storied sports car brand. But now Porsche is carrying those smarts from its electric experiment into its top-selling model, the Macan SUV. With a new platform that learns from the Taycan’s original range and efficiency shortcomings, downsizes key components to save weight, and maximizes acceleration performance, charge rates, and brake regeneration—plus rear-wheel steering and an air suspension for some of the lineup—the Macan EV looks like the heart of Porsche and of high-performance luxury SUVs.

2025 Rivian R1S

We usually reserve our Best Car To Buy finalists to models that are completely new or extensively redesigned or reengineered. So why did we put the R1S on the list a couple years after it was first delivered to customers? It takes some looking past the mostly-carryover appearance of Rivian’s R1 models to get to why it’s here. It’s here because it’s better in every way. 

With re-engineered battery packs, motors, and body structure, plus an simplified electrical architecture, updated sensing suite, and flattened interface, these revamped electric trucks have earned a place. In everything from performance and ride and handling, the R1S does it better and a little more efficiently. It may not yet deliver the 800-volt or bidirectional charging Rivian had said was on the way—or any significant charging boost—but it innovates in manufacturability and a suite of tech it can scale up and use for its mass-market R2 and R3 models. 

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz

Unless you’ve been living in a commune, disconnected from pop culture for decades, you’ve no doubt heard the news: VW brought back the Bus as an EV. It’s a smart move, as it lures you with hazy nostalgia from the 1960s counterculture icon, draws you into a thoroughly modern interior, and leaves you altogether in a different kind of family vehicle—the first U.S.-market electric minivan and, perhaps, the start of a new EV segment. 

All that said, there are many pros and cons to juggle. The ID.Buzz took a long time to get to the U.S., but it’s only arriving here in a long, three-row version with a much higher price tag. Despite a bigger battery that fumbles the flat floor, its EPA range numbers only span up to 234 miles. But with available all-wheel drive, relatively perky performance, and a decent interface, it covers all the functional bases without muting all the buzz.

2024 Kia EV9

How we decide Green Car Reports’ Best Car To Buy 

Amassed peer-reviewed papers and respected scientific sources agree that in the vast majority of typical use cases, electric vehicles are better for the environment. 

We know that assembling an electric vehicle, making the battery, and sourcing the materials for it adds to the vehicle’s carbon footprint. These impacts are offset versus gasoline models within a few years of the EV’s service life, but in looking at any EV we consider the size of the battery and whether it’s truly necessary for the purpose of the vehicle.

In averting tailpipe emissions, the effects on health for your community and household are immediate and positive.

Efficiency is the priority

Sure, range matters in an EV, but shorter-range models with smaller battery packs can be among the greenest picks in some households. With families making second (and third) vehicles fully electric too, who needs all that range in every vehicle?

Yes, we chose the reigning range champion, the Lucid Air, two years ago, but it wouldn’t have made it to the top had it not also been one of the most efficient EVs.  

2024 Tesla Model 3

Big market impact—now or long-lens

The Best Car To Buy needs to make a big impact (short- or long-term) on the market. That could be interpreted as going for volume and affordability, making a new segment of the market electric, or setting a new standard for efficiency or technology. It needs to be the best, but as we’ve seen in past Best Car To Buy winners, that can take many different forms. 

PHEVs on ice

Green Car Reports continues to cover the range of hybrid and plug-in hybrid technology in vehicles, and we respect that an all-or-nothing approach isn’t always the best way to electrify the fleet or to convince a mass market to choose more environmentally sound vehicles. For the greater good the next-best option is often better than not opting for a greener pick at all. 

Cutting out performance models working regulators’ loopholes with a charge port, plug-in hybrids remain an intriguing pick, especially when the charging infrastructure just won’t meet needs for weekend trips but drivers are dedicated to keeping zero-tailpipe-emissions for the commute. Efficiency-focused PHEVs are coming with 40, 60, or more miles of all-electric range. Will they convince a new type of shopper to plug in?

All that said, placing another internal combustion vehicle into service, as a potential emissions source for decades, carries with it a high bar for making our Best Car To Buy shortlist. And there simply aren’t any new ones this year making that cut.

Canadian electric school bus firm Lion Electric faces financial difficulties and is looking to be rescued, reports Bloomberg.

Lion on Sunday announced the layoff of 400 people, representing more than half of its workforce, and said it was suspending manufacturing at its U.S. factory in Joliet, Illinois. When the factory was announced in 2021, Lion said it would be the largest for medium-duty and heavy-duty electric vehicles in the U.S.

Lion is one of three companies—including Blue Bird and Thomas Built Buses—that have delivered the majority of U.S. electric school buses to date, amid a push to replace dirty diesel fleets spurred by state and federal incentives. 

Lion A Electric School Bus

Mach Capital, the investment arm of Canadian real estate developer Groupe Mach Inc., is in talks to provide additional funding to Lion, according to the report, citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter. In 2023, Groupe Mach and the Mirella & Lina Saputo Foundation were among a group of investors that bought more than $90 million (CAD).

The Canadian province of Quebec has also given Lion 192 million Canadian dollars. Economy minister Christine Frechette told Bloomberg and other media Monday that the provincial government was prepared to provide additional funding “if the business plan holds up, and if there are other players besides the public.”

Lion C Electric School Bus

Lion is one of a small group of manufacturers touting electric school buses as a replacement for diesel. In the U.S., that transition has accelerated recently with increased state and federal incentives. The EPA has begun distributing $5 billion in funding for electric school buses mandated under the Biden administration’s infrastructure law, awarding $965 million in 2022 and $1 billion earlier this year. But the future outlook isn’t so good.

While it has been assembling vehicles in the U.S., as a Canadian company Lion might be targeted by the incoming Trump administration, which is expected to place a 25% tariff on auto parts shipped across the border. It’s also unclear if Biden’s EV-friendly policies will survive under Trump. Both factors could make Lion’s electric school buses a lot more expensive for cash-strapped school districts.

• Offers better power-to-weight ratio, only 220 pounds more than original Miata
• Required creative use of space to accommodate 42 kwh—and 150-mile range
• Electrogenic claims conversion is fully reversible

Electrogenic has launched an electric conversion kit for the Mazda MX-5 Miata, which the U.K.-based company claims will preserve the sports car’s nimble handling traits.

In a press release, the company claims a weight increase of only 220 pounds over the stock version, at 2,425 pounds, but with a 21% improvement in power-to-weight ratio and identical weight distribution (these comparisons are based on a first-generation NA Miata rather than newer models). Range for this fully electric Mazda MX-5 Miata is estimated at about 150 miles.

Electrogenic 3D-scanned a Miata and designed the battery setup to fit into whatever space was available. It managed to cram 42 kwh of battery modules into the small sports car, placing them under the hood where the gasoline inline-4 engine would normally be, and in the rear space normally occupied by the fuel tank. This leaves trunk space unchanged, while keeping mass as low in the chassis as possible, Electrogenic claims, adding that the conversion is entirely reversible.

Electrogenic electric MX-5 Miata conversion

Electrogenic electric MX-5 Miata conversion

Electrogenic electric MX-5 Miata conversion

A single electric motor produces 160 hp and 228 lb-ft of torque. The conversion retains the stock rear-wheel drive setup, and while Electrogenic notes that it can be applied to automatic or manual-transmission cars, actual drive is through a single ratio, as in most electric cars. Electrogenic claims a 0-60 mph time of around 6.0 seconds and a 115-mph top speed.

Electrogenic also includes a range-focused Eco drive mode and a Sport mode that provides more immediate throttle response. Regenerative braking is incorporated as well, with intensity ramped up in Sport mode.

Electrogenic electric MX-5 Miata conversion

Electrogenic electric MX-5 Miata conversion

Electrogenic electric MX-5 Miata conversion

Electric conversions for big SUVs have become rather common, as there’s a lot of space and they’re easy to get right for that reason. But Electrogenic has done some cool conversions over the years of some distinctive cars, including a Citroën DS and a classic Mini. And it even recently worked with Kia to mark its 80th anniversary with a restomod.

Up until now EV conversions have primarily been very specialized hobbyist projects, mostly for special-interest vehicles, and unless you really know what you’re doing in procuring used packs and parts, they can be expensive. But a California bill proposed last year sought to change that with a rebate for EV conversion projects. A few companies have attempted to build lower-cost conversion kits—France’s Transition One, for instance—but none with large-scale success yet.

Porsche has opted not to use one-pedal driving in its current EVs, and that won’t change with electric sports cars due to replace the current gasoline 718 Boxster and Cayman.

It’s all about giving the driver more control and confidence, Porsche research and development boss Michael Steiner said in a recent interview with Autocar.

“If you ask any race driver, none would choose a one-pedal system because you should have control of recuperation and braking on the same pedal as seamlessly as possible,” Steiner said. “In cornering, if you don’t have the right feeling on the pedal, you don’t have trust in the stability of the car.”

2025 Porsche 718

Porsche’s current strategy, as seen in the Taycan and Macan Electric, taps into regenerative braking only with the brake pedal. This is more efficient, the automaker argues, because it makes better use of built-up kinetic energy for deceleration. Steiner reiterated that point here, while adding that Porsche’s approach gives the driver greater control and awareness.

“If you have all the braking on the brake pedal, then you as the driver can do the modulation you need—and also feel the reaction of the tarmac, steering, and things like that,” Steiner said. “So you can control the car with the brakes as well as the throttle and, in our view, this is superior to a system that does something you can’t control.”

Porsche Mission R concept

Announced in 2022 and due to arrive in 2025 as 2026 models, the 718 Boxster convertible and Cayman coupe will replace the gasoline equivalents as the entry points to Porsche’s sports-car lineup.

Spy shots from earlier this year show proportions similar to the gasoline 718 models, which may stick around alongside the EVs for a period of time, combined with styling elements from other electric Porsches. Some elements are expected to carry over from 2021’s Mission R concept, including a T-shaped battery pack filling the central tunnel and the space behind the seats, although it’s unclear if production models will match the concept’s 670 hp, which could be briefly boosted to 1,073 hp.