The Best Alternatives to Every Tesla
So, okay, being someone that reviews a lot of cars, one of the most common questions that I actually get is, “What are the best non-Tesla electric cars that I could buy?” And I always like making videos about like answering the most frequently asked questions, but if you’d asked me to make this video like 10 years ago, it would have been a really short video. I would have said, “Nah, good luck. The Tesla is the EV you should buy.” But now it’s 2025 and Tesla still makes a great product, but with them opening up the supercharging network and lots of other competition getting way more popular and way better, now there are way more alternatives that are actually worthy of considering. So, in the fiveish categories that Tesla makes a vehicle, I’m going to actually give you my top five, no, top three alternatives to Model 3, Model Y, Model S, and Model X. and Cybertruck. And this is the video that I’m gonna send to people who ask me that question. Also, me standing in front of this new facelifted EV6 and it not making any of my lists. The irony is not lost on me, but this is a good runner up. Anyway, let’s get into it. Okay, let’s start with uh Tesla’s most popular vehicle, their best deal, Tesla Model 3. So, Model 3 buyers are looking for, you know, a pretty reasonable compactish four-door sedan they can take friends around in. good range, efficient, nothing too fancy. So, my top pick, and I’ve reviewed this car, actually, actually, I’ve reviewed every single car that I’m about to talk about in this video on this channel, so you can go back and watch them, but I’ll say my top pick for this is the Hyundai Ionic 6. The six is uh basically the same range as a Model 3. It’s about 320 mi. Uh the new one in 2026 is going to have an NACS port, so you can plug in without an adapter into a bunch of Tesla superchargers. The design, you know, some people might like it, some people might not. It looks like kind of a baby Porsche from certain angles, but it’s also a little unique. Definitely have to like the look of it to spend the money on it. But it has CarPlay andor Android Auto if you want that, too. Unlike a Model 3, of course. Cheap used ones, like you can get a good clean title used one for like 20 grand now. So, that’s a good deal, a good range, a good reliable EV, and as long as you don’t mind the looks, that’s my top pick. Now, to round out my top three, I have two cars that I think are a just a little bit more interesting than the Model 3. Something that I hear also a lot from people about why they don’t want a Tesla is because there’s so many Teslas on the road that just feels like another one of the cars everyone has. So, I’m going with Polestar 2. This is not a very common one. It’s not even the best deal, but it is definitely more interesting. It’s very similar, you know, super plain and high-tech interior. You can get a used one for 20 grand. And I happen to really like the exterior design of Polestars a lot. Uh, but they’re not the most practical. I will also say Volvo EX30. I really like the Volvo EX30. I think it’s way more fun to drive. It has CarPlay and Android Auto, and you can get one in the range of 40 grand uh used. They’re they’re pretty new still, but it is a smaller EV, more compact back seat, a little bit more environmentally friendly materials on the inside, but just a little bit more interesting than a Model 3. So, that’s my top three Model 3 alternatives. Now, next up, Tesla has the Model Y, which is literally I think it might still be the most popular vehicle on the planet. So, obviously, there’s a lot of them and it is popular for good reason. It’s really good. It’s a really good deal and uh wouldn’t shock me if most people decide to get one of them anyway. But, if you want an alternative to one, my top pick is going to be the BMW iX. So, we’re thinking Model Y, two rows, obviously, but a little bit taller, a little bit higher off the ground. BMW EX is very similar size. Also has a very similar 300 plus mile range, but if you don’t want to pay Model Y performance money, it is a bit of a a sportier ride and a general sportier feeling interior. Uh, it’s not the prettiest thing on the outside, but they did refresh the exterior, so it looks pretty good, too. I think the suspension is a little bit better. And yeah, it’s going to have a lot of the same upsides in terms of space and a simple, modern interior. plus CarPlay and Android Auto. So, you can find used EX’s around the 40 grand mark for a clean title one. Now, my second on this list is is actually one of my favorites I reviewed a long time ago when there were almost none of them on the road, and I called them underrated. Cadillac L. So, the Lyric is what you get if you want a more premium interior version of the Model Y. The Model Y is super clean, obviously, but the Cadillac interior does it much nicer. Uh, it has better sound dampening. It has better uh seats, I think, and it also rides a bit better. It’s a bit softer. So, if you want that softer ride, Cadillac L is pretty sweet. It has Super Cruise standard. So, if you want that hands off the wheel driving experience, you got that. And then NACS via an adapter. I don’t think they have a native NACS port yet, but you can charge a Tesla superchargers. And you can get down into the 35ish range for a used Cadillac L. So, I’ve also reviewed the Optic and some other Cadillacs, but L I can give a thumbs up to for sure. And then rounding out my top three, Genesis GV60. So, this one I’m putting in the list because it it has the basics, but it’s also just it’s definitely more interesting than the most popular vehicle on planet Earth. Um, it has a lot of interesting features like fingerprint reader. It has that the little crystal interior elements and obviously a very different looking interior. It also has CarPlay and Android Auto. That’s going to be a theme here for a lot of the alternatives to Teslas which don’t have that. But it also is just a good performer. The maxed out performance version of the GV60 is a better performer than the Model Y performance if you’re interested in that. But if you want a base one or if you’re just trying to get to a lower price, you can get all the way down to 30 grand for a used GV60. So, with features like summoning it out of a parking spot with the remote and all sorts of other weird stuff, like they just did interesting things with the GV60. And it turned out to be a really good product and a good enough deal that it rounds out my top three Model Y alternatives. So, that’s Model 3 and Model Y. But, what if you’re in the market for a Model S? What if you’re looking at some of the slightly bigger, slightly more spacious, and maybe more premium uh luxurious feeling, but just general larger sedans? Well, I’ve already talked quite a bit about this category. I daily drove a Model S for many years. I said they were basically the best daily driver you can get. But then I found one that I feel like oneuped the Model S in every useful way, and that was the Lucid Air. And there’s a bunch of trims of Lucid Air. I think the Lucid Air GT is probably the sweet spot. 400 miles of range and also 800 horsepower. And I think they just do the packaging so much better. They have a lot of space on the interior. They have a power opening frunk. They have more frunk space. They have more rear foot space. They have better headroom. And just all the things about uh just being in the car are great. It drives super well. It also has CarPlay and Android Auto. And I think they’ll get down to like I got to double check, but I think somewhere in the 50s for a used Lucid Air Grand Touring and that’s a pretty great deal. These things depreciate a lot. Obviously, when they’re new, they’re very, very expensive. But yeah, Lucid Air, that’s the obvious alternative. But my second top alternative here is going to be something that does the sporty part a little bit better. Um, and I did a main channel video on this as well. It almost took me away from a Model S. It’s the Porsche Tyan. Now, the Tyan 4S, the base one, uh, even that base one is going to have better interior materials than a Tesla Model S. Uh, it’s also it just does the fun factor better. It drives better. It feels sportier. It handles incredibly well for an electric car. Uh, even though they’re still heavy. And then there’s other higherend trims as well. But yeah, Tyan 4S you can get down into the 40s for a used one. They depreciate so much. uh the range is not going to be as good, the comfort is not going to be as the back room space is not going to be as good. But if you want an alternative that does the sporty side of that fullsize EV better, go Tyan. And then rounding out my top three, I would say look at the BMW i5 M60 trim. So again, this is going to be around 50 grand used and it’s a lot of the basics are the same. Uh, it is a four-door full-size sedan, but with, I think, a more interesting interior and definitely a very different look. It still is very sporty and has a really torquy uh response to the pedal, which is really fun. So, it does the fun factor really well and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. So, all those things that generally make a good fundamental EV are still there. Good range and all that. But if you just want something a little more interesting than all the Model S’s you see around the BMW i5. The i7 is huge. You could still go i7. The i3 is a little smaller. We’ll get there, but I think i5 is a nice sweet spot. But then of course there is the Tesla Model X, the big three row SUV with the falcon wing doors. And uh well there is obviously again maybe it’s not obvious, but there is one go-to. Again, the same way that the Lucid Air was so directly aimed at the Model S, my top pick, and I reviewed this very recently, the Lucid Gravity feels very much aimed at the Model X. Now, it’s not perfect. All these have flaws. There’s been a lot of software bugs and weird stuff that they’re working out. And there is no CarPlay support yet with the Lucid Gravity, but in general, as far as a rock solid like does all of the normal fundamentals of an EV better, 350 plus miles of range and 800 plus horsepower, drives amazing, has great suspension, great NVH, super quiet, ton of space on the inside, a ton of storage, great premium materials. like it’s just aimed at being the ultimate alternative to the Model X. So, yeah, it succeeded. Now, a very close second and third on my list are vehicles I really like. Second, I think you guys should check Rivian R1S. I mean, that’s a pretty clear one. Three row SUV, but much more skewed towards like the adventure capability side. So, they have a ton of specs, a ton of SKs for it. You can get a base one, you can go all the way up to a quad motor. So, if you want a plaid alternative, you can go quad or you can go base. But the three rows are are pretty similar in terms of space. They have a little bit more of like this action off-road capable oriented. Like, you can go off-road tires, you can go, you know, a ton of air suspension travel, you can go camping in this thing. That’s the type of thing that it’s aimed for. And the second generation version does all of that phenomenally. It drives better than the first gen. But if you want to use first gen, you can go as cheap as like 60 grand. So, Rivan R1S is a is an interesting character alternative. It also doesn’t have CarPlay or Android Auto, so it’s not like better in that way, but Tesla people are used to that. So, that’s pretty good. But then you should also definitely look at Volvo EX90. This one was a surprise to me. I hadn’t reviewed a bunch of Volvo stuff before like the past year, and the EX90 is their three row fully electric SUV. It does have 300 plus miles of range, but it does the premium feel so well. I think my review I said it basically felt like Rolls-Royce levels of premium interior trim. It’s so quiet on the inside. The soft seats are really comfortable. The speakers, oh my god, the speakers in the EX90 are ridiculous. Uh, now it does have that that little LAR box at the top that’s not activated yet. And almost all of the alternatives that I’m talking about so far and and most of this video don’t have as good of self-driving features as a Tesla. So if you’re really into that, you’re probably not looking at any of these alternatives. But as far as just pure comfort, pure luxury, and pure feel, and still nailing the fundamentals, it has the full size three rows and a lot of storage space and a little trunk, front trunk. I think Volvo EX90 is pretty sweet. You can get those used if you really want used. I think there are some now as low as like $7 something thousand. And so then there is the Cybert truck. The Cybert truck is a full-size pickup truck. Okay. So obviously it’s a pretty polarizing vehicle. Lots of people are looking at alternatives for it because they do like the idea of an electric pickup truck. But uh actually I had a Cybert truck for a while and I ended up selling it which made headlines for some reason. But it’s because I had two electric trucks and I actually like the other one better. That other one is my top pick which is the Rivian R1T. So the Rivian R1T is very similar to the Cybertruck. It is definitely smaller. So if you’re thinking about like a full-size truck, this might not make your list. The back seat is for sure smaller. It has a 4ft bed, so utility is different, but again very much in the adventure vehicle type feel. So very capable off-roading. They have a whole bunch of different specs like I talked about before. You can go base, you can go all the way up to quad, which was an incredible performer. I guess it’s quicker than the Cybert truck if you care about that. But it is definitely a premiumba and adventure oriented electric truck that can really road trip and have 350 plus miles of range if you want it to. Shout out to the Rivian R1T. It even has an NACS port and just like a Tesla, no CarPlay and no Android Auto. But the second on my list I think is really more onetoone as far as pure capabilities because a lot of people considering a cybert truck are at least thinking about the different capabilities of the thing. And the Chevy Silverado EV is a strong competitor in the same exact segment of a full-size pickup truck, but does a lot of rock solid things. Like it has a vastly superior range, 400 plus miles of range. I think I was seeing like 450 when I was testing mine. So you should watch that review. It also has things like the midgate which allows you to get extra storage. It has a six foot bed as well and obviously all the things that Silverados do so well. It has super cruise as standard. It has I believe a better towing capacity if you check those numbers and you do tow with your EV. You want the one with a huge battery, more range and better towing capacity. And uh I think you will need an adapter to charge via NACS, but in general a really well-built and obviously also luxurious premium electric truck. So, you can get into one of those now for around 60 grand for a good clean used one, which is I mean, Cyber Trucks have also depreciated quite a bit, so that might not be an advantage for it, but the fact that it’s available for 400 plus miles of range, pretty sweet. It’s also huge. And then to round out the top three, you’ve probably heard this before, but like the original competitor to the electric truck from Tesla, it’s the Ford F-150 Lightning. It’s just an F-150 but electric which means it’s going to do the fundamentals of like being built well. It’s going to have it has a similar range. It’s about 300 miles of range and also a similar towing capacity but the shape, the compatibility with accessories, all the stuff people like to do with their F-150s. Uh typically you can do the same thing with the electric F-150. It has blue cruise assisted driving and it does have Android Auto and Apple CarPlay available. and they’ve been around so long that they’ve gotten down to like the $ 35 to $40,000 price range for a good used one. So yeah, F-150 Lightning is like the safe bet. If you if the Cybertruck’s a little too risky for you, a little too crazily designed, you want to blend in more, then the F-150 Lightning is the opposite of that. So yeah, that’s that’s my alternatives. Model S, Model X, Model 3, Model Y, Cybertruck. People buy them all for good reasons. I have nothing against Tesla or any hate for them. Obviously, their products are really good and sell a ton for uh a lot of good reasons. Uh but yeah, this is my video answer to literally the most frequently asked question I get from a lot of people who are shopping for this stuff. And there’s a lot of good reviews on this channel of other EVs that I didn’t even mention in this video. So, check those out as well. But there you have it. Thanks for watching. Catch you in the next one. Peace.
My alternative EVs for Tesla Model 3, Model Y, Model S, Model X and Cybertruck.
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