EV of The Year

IT'S BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND. WE SPEND WEEKS TESTING, CHARGING, DRIVING, CHARGING, MEASURING, AND (DID WE MENTION?) CHARGING ALL THE NEWEST EVS TO DETERMINE THE BEST.

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THIS IS HAPPENING.

Just a few years ago, you'd find a desultory Tesla or Chevy Bolt at our 10Best testing, usually plugged in while the rest of the vehicles cycled in and out of the lot. Now there are enough EVS to warrant their own showdown. And that happened quickly. The EV shopper can choose from pickups, SUVs, and sedans, some courtesy of entirely new companies. Charging is getting faster and easier to find, if not easier to get working.

At least two new models, the Rivian R1S and Cadillac Lyriq, were launched the same week as our event. Many more are on the way.

Eventually, whether in 10 years or 20, all cars will be electrified, and staging an EV-specific contest will be like choosing the best tires made of rubber. Right now, though, we're at an inflection point-EVs are still a small fraction of the overall market, but a staggering 40 percent of the new-car launches we covered last year were for battery-powered vehicles. The momentum is building, so we figure now's the time to weigh in and prod and nudge the manufacturers to build the kind of stuff we like to drive.

And there's plenty to celebrate hereamong our fleet of contenders, we had two vehicles with at least 1000 horsepower and two others with more than 800 horses. Our EV-only parking lot included both the quickest production Ford F-150 and one of the quickest Volvos ever built. We had funky frunks, concept-car interiors, and vehicles that can send power to your house, or campsite, or each other. EVs are unleashing a wave of design and engineering creativity unseen since the advent of the car itself.

Just like internal-combustion cars, though, some EVs are better than others. But only one of our 20 contenders is great enough to earn the title of EV of the Year.

Porsche Taycan 4S Cross Turismo

A GREAT CAR THAT HAPPENS TO BE ELECTRIC.