In 2024, electric vehicles made up nearly 10% of all new cars sold according to data from Cox Automotive. In 2023? It was only 7.6% , but that’s up from 5.9% in 2022. Not only is the EV adoption rate increasing, but the number of compelling options is growing as more automakers look toward an electrified future.
At the same time, the ever-evolving rules around federal EV tax credits have changed once again. Fewer vehicles are eligible for these credits in 2025, but they are applied in a much more direct way now, fundamentally altering vehicle prices. It’s worth researching which vehicles qualify before heading to the store or prepping your trade-in.
But what are the best electric vehicles one can buy right now?
To help you sort through it all, CarGurus has compiled a list of some of the best electric cars for sale. By no means does this list contain all of the options, like the Audi E-Tron, or popular crossovers like the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Volkswagen ID.4. But we think these are the most compelling choices for most buyers.
The Best Electric Cars of 2025
- BMW iX
- Ford F-150 Lightning
- Hyundai Ioniq 5
- Hyundai Ioniq 6
- Kia EV9
- Lucid Air
- Polestar 2
- Porsche Taycan
- Rivian R1T
- Tesla Model 3
- FAQs
BMW iX
BMW’s first electric SUV, the iX debuted for the 2022 model year and hasn’t changed all that much since. It’s looks are no less shocking to the uninitiated, but its love-it-or-hate-it lines do grow on you. They also make it very practical. Thanks to its tall, upright layout, the iX it provides 77.9 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seats folded and 35.5 with them in place. There are also two very comfy rows of seats in its futuristic interior, and its backseat even looks a little like a Natuzzi sofa. There’s no front trunk, but travelers won’t be disappointed.
Nor will drivers. The iX weighs nearly 6,000 pounds, but unlike some other large electric SUVs, it handles in ways that almost entirely belie that heft. It drives much like an X5, only faster and quieter. It also offers more range and more compelling performance than the Audi Q8 e-tron or Mercedes-Benz EQE or EQS SUVs.
The iX features dual electric motors and all-wheel drive. In the xDrive50i, the motors combined to put out 516 horsepower, with an EPA-rated driving range of 307 miles. The M60’s motors make a combined 610 hp and range falls to 296 miles. Its DC fast-charging capability allows the battery to go from 10% to 80% in about 40 minutes, or even add about 90 miles in 10 minutes of charging.
Ford F-150 Lightning
Many full-size electric pickups are coming to the market, but the best one you can buy right now is the Ford F-150 Lightning. With the exception of long-distance trailering, the Lightning does everything the regular gas-powered F-150s do, only better, and it offers on-pavement speed on par with the heady F-150 Raptor R. It makes adapting to EV life easy, too, by preserving all of the familiar feel and features of the regular F-150 Crew Cab body and bed. Until the Ram 1500 REV arrives, it’ll be the only conventional full-frame, traditional-shaped EV pickup on the market (the Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV don't feature a distinct cab and bed).
The interior is comfortable, functional, and loaded with high-tech features, such as the SYNC infotainment system, with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. In addition, the lack of a traditional engine means it has a front trunk, or “frunk,” which provides a huge amount of secure, lockable storage space, something most trucks don’t have and with an area unmatched by any other EV, car, truck, or SUV. As an electric truck to actually use for truck things or work duty, it’s hard to beat, but it doesn’t come cheap, with base prices ranging from the low $60,000s to the mid $80,000s.
The range of the standard model is only 240 miles, but extended-range models offer up to 320 miles on a single charge. However, reviewers at other publications have seen a bit less in real-world driving. If you opt for the top-trim Platinum with its larger wheels, mileage falls to 300. Home charging isn’t hard, and the Lightning also offers more onboard power capability than the regular F-150. Hooked up to a DC fast charger at your local charging station, you can add around 54 miles of range in just 10 minutes.
Hyundai Ioniq 5
If we were to nominate the Best EV, the Ioniq 5 would certainly be in the running. Its striking design was inspired by the brand’s very first car, the 1970s-era Pony, penned by Italian design maestro Giorgetto Giugiaro. Hyundai’s current stylists, led by SangYup Lee and Hak-Soo Ha, revisited those old looks and gave them a futuristic update for the Ioniq 5, which looks simultaneously both retro and contemporary. It also has a very modern interior, with a very spacious front seating area opened up by moving the shifter controls to the dash and a variety of other design flourishes.
Beyond how it looks, the Ioniq 5 is very well thought out. It blurs the line between a big hatchback and a small SUV, but that yields a very generous 59.3 cubic feet of cargo space with the seats folded and 27.2 with them up. Passenger room is also generous, with almost 40 inches of rear legroom, nearly on par with the Tesla Model Y despite the Ioniq 5 being a smaller vehicle overall. The company’s engineers filled the cabin with cleanly designed, easy-to-use software and plenty of available tech features, all focused on a big slab of a dashboard.
The Ioniq 5 is offered in rear-wheel drive (RWD) and AWD variants. The RWD Ioniq 5 also offers a Standard Range with a 168-hp motor, or a Long Range, which features a single 225-hp motor. The AWD models feature two motors that produce a combined 320 hp. A 641-hp, track-focused Ioniq 5 N joined the lineup for 2024, with an expected 221-mile range. Like the Electrified GV70 and Hyundai Group’s other E-GMP platform vehicles, the Ioniq 5 can charge very quickly on DC fast chargers, and charge at up to 350 kW. For buyers looking for a less expensive option, the Hyundai Kona Electric, redesigned for 2024, may hold some appeal.
Hyundai Ioniq 6
Though the Hyundai Ioniq 6 is based on the same platform as the Ioniq 5, you’d never know by looking them parked next to each other. Where the 5 is a boxy, retro-chic crossover, the 6 is an ultra-aerodynamic sedan with Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and even Saab overtones. It’s a pretty wild look, but it’s meant to deliver spectacular aerodynamics. With a drag coefficient of just 0.21, just shy of the Mercedes-Benz EQS, the rear-drive, long-range Ioniq 6 can eke out 342 miles of rated range.
Since it shares the same 800-volt architecture and charging bits as the 5, the Ioniq 6 can also charge very quickly (10% to 80% in 18 minutes on a 350-kW DC fast charger). Home charging is a little faster than some alternatives, too, as juicing up to 80% on a Level 2 home charger in only about five and a half hours. The base-model Ioniq 6, priced in the high $30,000s, gets a 53.0-kWh battery pack and a single, 149-hp motor driving the rear wheels. This model isn’t much fun to drive and only offers 240 miles of range, but it’s still a good value for the money, and higher-tier models possess more appealing specs.
The single-motor Long Range models have a 77.4-kWh pack and make 225 hp, while dual-motor AWD long ranges use that same pack but have 320 hp. While the rear-drive long range boasts the most miles-per-charge, other versions have less, and opting for 20-inch wheels cuts your maximum travel distance even more. None are as quick as the Tesla Model 3, but they’re not bad to drive. Inside, the Ioniq 6 is nearly as comfy as the 5, with plenty of space and a more capacious back seat than the Model 3. Unfortunately, the trunk is pretty small thanks to the 6’s teardrop shape.
Kia EV9
Kia offers a trio of electrics in this day and age. The diminutive Niro EV anchors the bottom of the line while the svelte, overachieving EV6 is a sportier equivalent to Hyundai’s Ioniq 5. Both are good options, but the big news at Kia this year is the third and newest member of the family: the three-row EV9 SUV. While it’s true that the most desirable EV9 trims crest $60,000 and some go even higher, the EV9 is the first relatively affordable three-row electric family SUV, and has a starting price more than $20,000 lower than alternatives like the Rivian R1S or Tesla Model X, and nearly $50,000 less than the Mercedes-Benz EQS luxury electric SUV.
The EV9 rides the same E-GMP platform as the smaller EV6 and Ioniq 5, but stretches out to almost the same dimensions as Kia’s very popular gas-powered Telluride SUV. The Korean automaker has essentially given the EV9 all of the traits that buyers like about the Telluride but even more daring styling and more passenger space. The open-feeling front row is backed by a second-row bench or roomy captain’s chairs, and even a six-foot adult can sit in the third row. Cargo space is good too, with 20.2 cubic feet behind the third row, 43.5 with it folded, and 81.7 with both rows stowed. Plus, the cabin just feels upscale by family SUV standards.
There are three basic power configurations, the standard Light RWD with a 76.1-kWh battery and 215 hp, the Light Long Range with a 99.8-kWh pack but only 201 hp, and the Wind and Land e-AWD models using the larger pack but a dual-motor, 295 hp setup. The Light Long Range can return up to 304 miles of range, but most models earn between 240-270. Those single-motor versions are cheaper, but still quite a bit more expensive than the Telluride, and they’re pretty slow. The Wind and Land Models are the ones to have, but they’ll cost $63,900 to $69,900, not factoring in incentives or sales tax.
Lucid Air
Lucid Motors is an electric vehicle startup just like Tesla, and indeed, many of its key executives came from Tesla and set their sights on building even better products. The Lucid Air is the first of this California company’s offerings, and as “first vehicles” go, Lucid has knocked it out of the park. The Air not only looks and feels very luxurious, it offers more range than any other electric vehicle, near supercar performance from its top trims, and fantastic energy and space efficiency up and down the lineup.
The Air is about the same size as a Honda Accord, but it offers a back seat similar in size to a Mercedes-Benz S-Class or BMW i7. The big 16.1 cubic-foot trunk opens like a clamshell, making loading and unloading very easy, and has a hidden storage well underneath. There’s also a 7.1 cubic foot frunk, offering much more space up there than rivals like the Tesla Model S. There are now steel and glass roof versions of the Air, with higher trims getting the latter, and a high-tech cockpit full of screens. Those screens are a mixed bag though. They look great, and unlike Tesla you can use Apple CarPlay on them, but the software is complex and unintuitive.
There are four Lucid Air trims, each differing in output and range. The entry-level Pure features a single 480-hp electric motor and up to 419 miles of range—talk about a top candidate for road trips. The Touring earns 425 miles of range but gains an additional electric motor for 620 hp. The Grand Touring features two electric motors with a combined 819 hp and 516 miles of range (the longest range of any EV on sale today). The Grand Touring Performance offers 1,050 hp and 446 miles. The new range-topping Sapphire has incredible 1,200 hp and a zero-to-sixty time of less than two seconds. Despite its performance focus, the Sapphire still notches 427 miles of range.
Polestar 2
Polestar was once a Volvo-focused tuner and motorsport company, then it became Volvo’s in-house performance division for its enthusiast-gear gas cars. Finally, it’s spun off into a stand-alone electric vehicle brand, and, while still tied to Volvo in style, corporate parentage, and dealer networks, Polestar has been increasingly branching out in its own direction. The Polestar 2 is a high-riding sedan based on the same platform as Volvo’s XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge electric SUVs (and the gas-powered XC40 crossover).
While a single-motor powertrain was previously offered, The most powerful dual-motor Performance Pack model is the sole available trim this year, which produces 476 hp and 546 lb-ft of torque, and can travel up to 254 miles on a single charge. When it comes to charging, the rate maxes out at 205 kW, allowing it to go from 10% to 80% charge in just 28 minutes. Polestar’s gradual upgrades of their driver-focused 2 go a long way in making it more compelling when judged against the BMW i4 and Tesla Model 3.
Behind the wheel, the Polestar is fun to drive, even if the ride is a bit stiff, and there’s no denying it’s Scandinavian style. The easy-to-use infotainment system is powered by Google and much more intuitive than Tesla’s alternative, and it also features over-the-air update capability and many connected services. Polestar has also added Apple CarPlay functionality. The 2’s most serious demerit is its small back seat, with just 33.9 inches of legroom (less than the Model 3’s also-confining rear). Cargo room, however, is good thanks to the car’s is hatchback layout.
Porsche Taycan
Though it’s no longer the fastest EV in a straight line, the Porsche Taycan is a sports sedan par excellence, and with its four-door coupe or fastback wagon profiles, gorgeous to behold. Especially after a mild styling refresh by the Stuttgart brand. The updated 2025 model is even faster than in 2024, with hottest trims are about as close as it gets to piloting an exotic Rimac, yet they’re as practical to use as the plug-in hybrid Panamera.
The entry-level Taycan features a single motor at the rear wheels that puts out 402 hp. The Taycan 4S has dual motors producing a combined 536 hp, whereas the GTS now makes 690. At the top of the lineup is the Taycan Turbo S which puts out an eyebrow-raising 938 hp when conditions are right, though drops to just (just) 764. Then, there’s the bonkers Taycan Turbo GT, which produces a whopping 777 hp, but can put out as much as 1019 in short bouts. It’ll hit 60 mph in just 1.9 seconds—wild.
The Taycan has a cockpit that is futuristic and upscale, yet still more conventional than that of the rival Tesla Model S. Porsche has also announced a Sport Turismo version of the Taycan, which is Porsche-speak for “wagon.” The Taycan Sport Turismo is about as sexy as you can get for a station wagon, and more practical than the sedan. The Taycan’s main weaknesses are its tiny back seat (due to it’s coupe-like lines) and limited range.
Rivian R1T
Rivian is yet another American EV startup, but while Tesla and Lucid have focused on cars and crossovers, Rivian is targeting outdoorsy EV buyers with its all-new electric truck, the R1T and its SUV sister, the R1S. Both offer lots of style, serious performance, clever features, good range, and a fair degree of luxury. The R1T came first, and there still isn’t any other truck on the market quite like it. It’s about the same size as a crew cab Toyota Tacoma, and it’s targeted at off-road enthusiasts just like the Toyota. In performance terms, however, it lives in another universe entirely. For the 2025 model year, Adventure, Premium, and Ascend trims are available, all with increasing levels of creature comforts and amenities.
However, the key to the R1T are its available powertrains. The latest dual-motor makes 553 hp and 610 lb-ft of torque, whereas the dual-motor Performance puts out 665 and 829, respectively. Jumping up to the tri-motor achieves 850 hp and 1103 lb-ft of torque. But the top dog is where it’s at: off-road, the beefier quad-motor setup offers amazingly precise control on trails and the suspension can offer a range of ground clearance from 7.9 to 14.4 inches. And it makes an astronomical 1050 hp and 1198 lb-ft of torque—hitting 60 mph from a standstill takes just 3 seconds at this level. Not bad for over 7,000 lbs. of EV truck.
Tri- and quad-motor powertrains get a 141.5 kWh battery, whereas the more budget-friendly dual motor can come with either a 92.5, 109.4, or 141.5 unit. All top out at a 220 kW charging rate, though the smaller battery in the dual-motor only reaches 200. Inside, the R1T has plenty of room and a cabin more like the upper luxury trims of full-size trucks than any other midsize pickup. It’s luxurious, and filled with cool features. There’s also a frunk and a secure pass-through tunnel/storage locker ahead of the rear wheels. What lets the truck down is the complexity of Rivian’s software and, like other EV startups, its heavy reliance on touchscreen controls.
Tesla Model 3
The Model 3 is the most affordable member of the current Tesla lineup, and it got a major revision last year. Like its larger Model S sibling, it has sharp handling, telltale exterior styling, and a futuristic, minimalist cabin. The interior’s design is dominated by a large central touchscreen that replaces the conventional instrument panel and controls, and Tesla even removed the turn signal and shifter stalks. While cool to look at, stuffing so many functions into a central screen can be annoying in daily driving, and there’s certainly a steep learning curve. Nor are Apple CarPay or Android Auto available.
Tesla has also given the interior materials a major upgrade, answering one of the prime criticisms of earlier Model 3s. While still not necessarily “opulent,” the new door fittings, redesigned standard heated-and-ventilated front seats, and ambient lighting make the Model 3 feel more like other cars in its price range. The back seat is still relatively small, but no worse than a BMW i4 or 3 Series. In cargo terms, however, the Model 3 is a serious overachiever, with nearly 20 cubic feet of rear trunk space and a useful 3.1 cubic foot frunk (front trunk) as well as lots of bins in the cabin.
In terms of performance, the Model 3 offers genuine handling prowess and plenty of power. The latest models also get improved suspension damping, which help smooth out the previously firm ride. The standard RWD model offers 272 miles of range and a zero-to-60 time of 5.8 seconds. The dual-motor Long Range offers up to 333 miles of range and 4.1-second zero-to-60 runs. Finally, the Model 3 Performance offers 315 miles of range and 3.1 seconds.
FAQs
What new EVs are launching in 2025? Several new models will arrive for 2025 from automakers including Jeep, Lincoln, Lotus, Maserati, and Ram, among others. Additionally, Hyundai debuts the hot Ioniq 5 N and the 2025 Volkswagen ID.4 hits dealer lots with a host of updates.
Why isn't the Chevrolet Bolt EV being recommended? The Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV were discontinued in 2024, but the latter will return with new battery architecture this year. The Bolt, Nissan Leaf, and Tesla Model 3 now also make excellent used car options.
Is Tesla launching any new EVs in 2025? Last year saw the debut of the controversial Cybertruck and an updated Model 3, and Tesla has announced plans for a more affordable models in 2025, but details are scarce.
