The 5 Best EVs We Drove In 2025 + Ford Kills The F-150 Lightning | InsideEVs Podcast Ep54
If you don’t believe that your car should be a featureless pod that you get into and it plays music, but otherwise there’s nothing to touch and you’re sitting in a Scandinavian prison, like that’s your car. Hello and welcome back to the Pluggedin Podcast, a weekly news show all about the future of transportation. I’m Patrick George, editor and chief of Inside EVs. And I’m Tim Leven, senior editor at Inside EVs. On this week’s episode, Ford makes a surprise U-turn on EVs, including killing the F-150 Lightning. Patrick drives the new Mercedes-Benz CLA, which sounds awesome. And we discuss the 2026 Breakthrough Awards, which is our end of the year honors. And for that, we are joined today by a familiar face, Inside EV’s deputy editor, M Hogan. Uh, how’s it going, M? Thanks so much for joining today. Yeah, thank you for having me. Uh, I’m doing great. I’m happy that Breakthrough Awards is out, that we got it out without a hitch, and uh, yeah, I’m excited to talk about it with you guys here today. >> Yeah, super amp. Now that that’s out in the world, uh, that’s a tremendous amount of work by this team, by Mac especially, who spearheaded all of it, and now we are just going to like pretend to do work for the next uh, two weeks till the year’s out. And then we have CES, uh, which is horrible, but hey, you know, I know. Sorry. It’ll be a Yeah, >> two weeks of peace and then and then we and then and then the war begins again. Uh, but, uh, very quickly before we dig into the car news, I have something I’d like to say. Um, so a few months ago, uh, because, you know, Tim and I on the show like love to bant banter about ourselves. Uh before we kick things off, I I brought up that my wife and I had adopted a senior Pomeranian dog uh with a big heart literally and and a lot of health issues named Panda. Um then a few weeks after that I mentioned that we unfortunately lost him very unexpectedly right before Thanksgiving which sucked. Um and you talked about how not fun that was as anybody who’s been through it or is going through it knows. But, you know, we have a lot of industry listeners on this show. I I I made a joke on that episode about rushing Panda to the emergency vet in a Cadillac Escalade IQ because that’s the kind of car you want for that sort of thing. Uh, I got a call from a contact at General Motors and they were so moved by this story. Uh, they made a very generous donation uh to the rescue agency where we got Panda. It’s called Peace, Love, and Palms Rescue out of Pennsylvania. So, I I just want to take this moment uh to thank some very kind people at General Motors for doing this. Uh this was like totally totally unexpected. Certainly not something we asked for, and I’m I’m not involved with that group in any way, shape, or form besides taking on one of their dogs. Uh but I just uh to think that our podcast like got a Fortune 100 company to donate money to a group of folks who help some amazing animals find new homes. Uh yeah, I just want to say like I’m profoundly grateful and and very moved by this and uh got got through that section without tearing up, which I’m proud of. So to to Stu, Mike, SAS, Nick, and everyone else at GM’s Panda Task Force, I just wanted to say there that was a real name, apparently, too. Uh I I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. And for anybody listening to this, it’s a solid reminder that there are still good people in this world. All right. All right, now let’s let’s abruptly shift tone and talk about Ford. All right, cool. So, we we uh we almost went right into breakthrough award stuff this week, but we had some news we kind of have to discuss, which is that Ford is taking a big step back from EVs in what may be the starkkest symbol yet of how quickly the landscape has shifted for this whole industry. >> Yeah, this was a big one and there are a lot of pieces to this news. Um, I’ll run through kind of the big parts of it. Ford has cancelled the F-150 Lightning and other second generation EVs as it pivots away from big electric vehicles. In addition, the T3, which is a clean sheet pickup that was going to replace the Lightning, is cancelled. A next generation electric van that was supposed to come after the current Etransit is also dead. Um, instead, Ford is directing resources to gas and hybrid pickups. The Lightning will return at some point, but as an extended range EV with a gas generator. Ford says that truck will have 700 miles of combined range between the EV and the gas engine, but it didn’t go into any more details about when that will come or what it’ll look like. Yeah, but that wasn’t all. A lot of battery news and not of the good kind. Ford canled a $6.5 billion battery deal with LG. had dissolved its uh joint venture with SKON, which is another Korean battery manufacturer, and it’s now going to use battery plants in Kentucky and Michigan to build uh energy storage systems for AI data centers and residential use. Yeah. And if and if all this sounds familiar, which it did to me, it’s because this isn’t the first time that Ford has restrategized around EVs in kind of a major way. Last year, the automaker canled a three row electric SUV that it was working on. Uh this time it chalks up the move to consumer choice, which is something we’ve heard a lot lately. Um >> we love consumer choice, don’t we folks? >> Ah, the best. >> As well as as well as um regulatory changes. So here’s what Ford President Andrew Fick said on a call with reporters. It kind of sums up Ford’s Ford’s line here. Uh he said rather than spending billions more on large EVs that now have no path to profitability, we are allocating that money into higher returning areas, more trucks and van hybrids, extended range electric vehicles, affordable EVs, and entirely new opportunities like energy storage. Uh Ford will take a $19.5 billion write down as a result of the shakeup. Uh so now with all that kind of laid out, I want to turn it to you guys. What do you what do you guys think of this move? Um, let’s start with Mac. I know you you wrote about this for the site. So, I mean, do you think this is smart? Do you think it it recognizes the reality of of the market or is it kind of like, you know, just another company backing off in a in what might end up being kind of a rather short-sighted move? You know, I I see this as sort of a broad tapestry of moves this year that is sort of not maybe the best, but a decent option among a lot of bad options, which is I think Ford uh had an interesting strategy with EVs. They were earlier than most to really put a lot of weight behind these two models that they made, the Mache and the Lightning, um with a lot of expectations for that. And I I think both of those vehicles represent different problems for Ford. The Maky I think is has been a commercial success uh but I don’t think has done a lot to show the company’s leadership. I I feel like the Maky I was in one recently. It feels old. It feels very old. And uh you know the Lightning while it was a lot more impressive. I mean it was an F-150. We love the F-150. Uh you know it was facing the fundamental problem that I’ve been writing about for years which is that these big electric pickup trucks don’t make money. And >> I was surprised by how surprised people seem to be about this move given that Ford’s kind of been signaling that the Lightning’s a big problem for a while. I mean, at one point they suggested that it would sell up to 150,000 units a year and it never got above 40,000. The price was higher than expected. All those reasons. I think I’m not surprised the Lightning is going away and I think it’s kind of smart for them to cut their losses on this. It’s the battery news that didn’t really break through as much that I think is a much, you know, bigger retreat. But again, everyone’s overs supplied on batteries right now. The the real question is just like Ford is okay, fine, being brave enough to say this isn’t working and cutting things that, you know, don’t have a path to profitability. But the company has yet to show that it can really make an EV product that is profitable that people like >> and match its cross. I mean, right now, you know, after this announcement, Ford has fewer electric models on sale than Stalantis and nothing else coming until the skunk works. >> When you put it that way, that’s wild to think about. From from like this early first mover, like you said, that they were um and really disappointing. Um, I think I I where where it goes back to for me is like this this is a company that’s led by, you know, a CEO who I think has probably been the most vocal in the American auto industry of like the threat of China, the threat of Chinese EVs and how much the like jobs and the industry in America could be displaced by these newcomers. And it’s almost like turning into like a self-fulfilling prophecy at point like they warn and warn and warn about like the the dominance of China and then they retreat retreat retreat and everything hinges on the skunk works EV program uh which will be made in America underpin a lot of new cars starting with a um $30,000 electric truck which is not even due out till 2027 and that feels like forever from now. Um I’m I’m very skeptical honestly of the E-Rev Lightning. you know, they’re going to add a gas engine to the Lightning and uh but I don’t know. It’s it’s like that that that’s what kind of came out of the blue like, okay, when >> who’s working on it? When does it come out? Like based on what? What are you benchmarking? Have you ever done a car like that before? Like e-revs don’t really exist in America. >> I I I would not be shocked if they’re just like at some point, you know, well, we’re following the customer journey and that’s why the next four Lightning’s getting a Power Stroke diesel. Like I just I’m >> I’m deeply skeptical of this company at this point. Um, and I think that they have a they’re resting a tremendous amount on the Skunk Works project. So, for their sake, that better work out. >> I would also add that, yeah, I agree with that. The just in general, they basically traded a product that they know wasn’t working to bet everything on two things that are unproven. And I do think the lack of detail on the Reev Lightning um is a problem in that the press release and the vibe was framed as like, “Hey, we’re going to launch an e-reving.” And then there’s one sentence at the end that by the way the current lightning’s dead. Um and this to me read as Ford is retreating and wants to tell investors that it is advancing. Uh and I that’s to me you know again skunk works could still work. It’s too it’s too early to count them out or anything like that. Um but man it is interesting to see them basically say oh yeah we’re going to do an e-reving eventually. No real promises. It’ll do 700 miles. Catch you later. >> Yeah. I think they’re losing a lot of benefit of the doubt and really need to more aggressively show their work on this stuff at that company. You know, Tim, what do you think? >> Maybe not show their work so much. I mean, they keep talking about products years before they come out and then canceling them. Ford has canled more electric models than it is produced. Like, we’ve seen T3 go away, right? We’ve seen the three row SUV go away. We’ve seen an East Sprinter. And the East Sprinter, by the way, successor going or not East Sprinter, sorry, Etransit going away. I would say is the most surprising news because I thought the commercial van segment was the one place where there was a voracious appetite for EVs. So, anyways, Tim, you were going to move on to uh your take on this all. >> Um, yeah, no, I think I think I agree with a lot of uh what you guys said. I think it’s interesting how like we’ve talked a lot about e-revs being this really interesting solution and potentially a really great solution to EV trucks and you know a solution to the fact that something like the Lightning could never really take off just because of the price and the kind of limitations >> the towing problem. Yeah. But it also seems like now the default kind of um you know strategy is like we’re canceling like we’re adding gas engines to our to our EVs and that’s going to solve everything. And that’s Ford isn’t the first company to announce a move like that. >> And it it just makes me wonder whether in a few years we’re going to have the exact same conversation we’re having about EVs right now about e-revs where like >> we just we just did we just overestimated the market. We bet on the wrong things. >> Exactly. That like >> America’s e-re bet is isn’t panning out. Yeah. >> Yeah. Totally. Ford, Scout, Ram, they’re all like we’re going to make 100,000 of these things a year and then turns out like it’s also a kind of unknown technology. It’s something that people have to get used to and something that >> dealers have to get excited about selling and explaining. >> Can’t wait for that. Yeah. >> And these are all things that kind of um really dogged EVs over the last few years. So, who knows? I think I think to Max’s point, I think the big takeaway for me is like Ford does have promising things in the works. The skunk works, you know, this like universal EV platform supposed to be cheaper, totally new manufacturing method that could be good. All we know about it is that it’s a pickup truck in 2027 costing around $30,000. They’ve released a few >> tidbits here and there about the technology, but they say there are going to be more different models after that, but like we don’t really know. There’s not there’s not a really distinct product road map from Ford right now on EVs. It’s it’s kind of like we’re going to do more of the same thing that we do right now. And like stay tuned, stay tuned for the EVs. And until then, we’re just selling it seems like it’s just going to be the Mache for the next couple of years, >> which is already old. Um, >> yeah. And I would add, by the way, you said Ford has good things coming, plural, and then you described the one thing that they’re talking about. They they used to have good things coming. >> They had five things that they said they were going to do, and now we’ve collapsed back down to the one that they’ve been talking about the longest. And I, you know, again, they put so much weight behind it. Clearly, they’re signaling confidence in this. Um, but there’s just something to be said for actual u just experience in the market. And I do think that’s something that like cross town rival GM is getting right now where sure like I don’t think all of the GM EVs are necessarily going to be profitable road maps to the future. Like I don’t think the future of the Silverado EV is going to have a 200 kWh battery. But if you sell someone that truck now, even if it’s for a small buyer set, and you keep them loyal, you know, loyalty in the truck business and in the car business in general is so big. And just being out there and competing is really valuable. And for all of Toyota, like for all of Ford’s talk about leadership here and how much Jim Farley talks about the Chinese companies, as Patrick mentioned, like we don’t actually see the results of that. We see them talking about how they’re going to do this and then scaling back the plans before they ever come out. So, so they’ve lost some credibility here and they need to >> just deliver. >> Last thing I’ll say before uh we move on to CLA because we do need to move on. Um the the skunk works project is a $5 billion project and this week changing its EV plans was a $20 billion write down for Ford which gives you some perspective on like the difference between like planning and changing your plans in the auto industry. So that that that was that was crazy to me to think about. Um, but yeah, I think it’s really I mean I don’t want to like over over dramatize it, but we all were there covering this industry when the Lightning launched a few years ago. >> And this really does feel like like we’ve been talking about a slowdown about regulatory changes. I think that’s a big part of it is just like they don’t they’re not under the same pressure to sell this thing anymore. So they’re not >> it’s also the wider environment of like EVs and EV trucks are harder to sell >> than these companies thought. But it really does feel like finally once and for all the book closing on like this era of the EV transition of like 2020 or 2019 to 2025 was like the sort of you know there was more hype hype cycle gen two lot of hype >> and then it kind of fell off in the last couple of years. Um and we’re really looking forward to an era where like the products have got to be better. Um, >> which feels like a good segue into our next thing where we can talk about a car that was better or seems better, right? >> Yeah. Uh, so on a brighter note, EVs are getting better. Uh, better, cheaper, more high-tech, easier to live with. And this past week, Patrick drove a car that really embodies that, the new Mercedes-Benz CLA. Uh, Patrick, what’s your take on the CLA? Uh, >> my exclusive take is it’s good. What what else what else did you like about it? >> Okay, cool. I’ll I’ll elaborate a bit. No, I I I was I was massively impressed with this thing. This is the new electric sedan from Mercedes. Uh it’s technical full name is this Mercedes-Benz CLA 250 plus with EQ technology. Um we don’t put that in head we don’t put that in headlines because it doesn’t fit. Um but no, like this is this is this is something totally different from them. This is on a new EV platform. It does away with all the EQ cars of the past. the EQS, the EQ8, it’s all been shelled. This is brand new. Um, on this thing, 373 miles of range officially, although Edmonds uh tested this car before I got to San Francisco, they managed 434 miles in this thing, which is insane. Um, 320 kilowatt fast charging, so some of the best speeds in America. Adds 200 miles of range in 10 minutes. And it costs under 50 grand. Uh, for the single motor version I drove, that was about 47. So that this is cheaper than you know your average new car in America today. So uh I I know I was really impressed with it when I when I was buying the wheel for a bit. >> Uh tell us about how it drove. You drove it around the the Bay Area. What you think? >> Yeah, I you know I wanted to I actually wanted to see if I could zero out the range and fast charge it, but like I realized I did not have time to drive to the middle of Oregon that day um for eight or nine hours. So, like, yeah, this thing’s a monster. Um, it’s it’s great. It drives like a Mercedes. It’s real smooth. It’s athletic. It’s not as athletic as like a BMW, but better ride. Lot of power for a single motor car. Like, you don’t really need a dual motor there, honestly. Um, I never once worried about the range in it, which is like usually I only feel that when I’m like like a Tesla or something. Um, that we have a lot more to say about this stuff soon, but like they have like a hands on urban point-to-point automated driving system. It’s like Tesla FSD, but you keep your hands on the wheel and it works in cities. And uh more on that in January when I can talk about it. But like that’s there’s some really cool stuff coming from Mercedes soon, too. And like I I bring this up because this is an example of like one automaker that like really struggled with EVs and like really kind of like got their asses kicked the first round um with the EQ cars were really expensive and you know, compromised and just really didn’t go over well. And you know, it’s it’s a it’s a company. It’s Mercedes-Benz like they’re known for technology and like they’ve they looks like with their next attempt they’re really hitting back hard and that’s kind of cool to see. And they’re cheaper too, you know. >> Yeah. I think I think we should get to breakthrough. I think next year like I don’t want to already minimize this year’s breakthrough because we had a lot of great cars that we evaluated this year. Um and I’m really happy with the winner we chose. >> Yeah. Yeah, >> but I do think next year’s Breakthrough Awards are going to be like the cars are only going to be better than they were this year. Between CLA, the BMW EX-3, um the, you know, the the R2, like you’re getting new startup efforts >> and new >> just just the legacy automakers just like really shaping up and putting out cars that are their second or third generation efforts that are substantially better than what we’ve seen over the past couple of years. >> Yeah. But with that, let’s let’s get into what was good this year on the EV market. >> Yeah. Time for the the main event title fight. Uh this is the part where are we all fighting? >> Yeah. >> No. No. I mean it was a fight between >> breakthrough competition. >> It was a fight between the different cars. Exactly. Like they >> they battled totally got that wrong. >> Some of them >> some of them kissed which which is cool. Like you know things things happen. Uh it’s in the in in you know what you don’t expect. So yeah, this is uh this is our second year of the our basically our EV of the year award program and um you know I I’ll let Mac is the guy that conceived this and took it took it over the line. So I’ll let him explain a bit about how this test works, what we’ve done and how it went this year a little bit. So tell us more about Breakthrough Awards, Mac. >> Yeah, for sure. So the idea is basically, you know, we didn’t want to do another of the year award that’s just like what car do we like best? We want to focus on for inside EVs. Obviously, there’s a lot of barriers between us and our all electric future. For instance, the president or No, I’m just kidding. The uh No, but uh in charging anxiety, technology, um you know, just appeal stuff. Some people still don’t want EVs. Sometimes the EVs like in the truck space are maybe not as capable as their gas powered counterparts. So, the idea is to celebrate cars that are breaking down these barriers, either making EVs, you know, more engaging or more attainable or more practical or all these things. And you know, this second year, I feel like the test and the actual uh contestants came into a bit more maturity because last year we were figuring out, but also 2024 was a weird year for EVs. I know they’re all year weird years, but on the product side, I think this year was a lot better in terms of we saw steady progress across the board. And what I was excited about is not only are just range and charging stats and all that stuff getting better, but to me the actual maturity of the cars is so much better, so clearly better. >> Um, besides one car that we’ll talk about later, uh, that had some maturity problems. But generally speaking, I think any of these cars are things that you could recommend to a friend or family member and they would be super stoked if they drove it every day. Um, and it’s a good reminder that like breaking up with gas is the huge benefit and all of the details about EVs like are for us nerds. Like who has 150 kow versus 320 kow fast charger? You put somebody in any of these cars, nobody knows, >> right? Exactly. >> Um, yeah. So, if you want, I can go right into our list of contenders. Um, who >> very quickly before you do, I wanted to give a quick rundown of what the rules were for this test. This is the same as last year. So, >> we we had five contenders for it. You know, we’re we’re a small team of USbased uh full-time staff writers and editors at Inside EVs. So, five was a good number for us. Um the car had to be new or substantially updated as a 2025 2026 model. So, no Mustang Mache, for example, because it was basically a carryover. Nothing too new there. Um it had to be on sale in America at the time of testing, which started like this fall for us. So, this excluded that CLA that I just drove that’s not really out yet or the BMW iX3 or the Chevy Bolt, for example, which probably is going to be in the mix next year, but it’s not out yet. We also decided uh only one car per manufacturer or automaker group. So, like we have a Cadillac here and that kind of stands for the entire General Motors family and we have a Hyundai that stands for the entire um you know, Hyundai Motor Group >> cinematic universe. So, uh, that’s >> if we didn’t have that rule, the test would only be Korean cars and Cadillacs. I feel like >> Yeah. >> So, there’s like 11 Cadillacs. There’s like we had to choose between Vistic and Optic and Optic V and Lyric V and Escalade IQ and who the hell knows. >> I’m not sure we chose the right one, which we’ll talk about soon. But, do you want to run run down the the cars that that were in the the arena for this? >> Yes. So, first off, just a phil philosophical point, which is that everything here is a contender and it’s also an editor’s choice. Like, we only, >> you know, when I was at Road and Track and uh in other awards, you know, conversations, we ended up inviting cars that we kind of knew weren’t going to win just so that we it was new and we had to give them an opportunity. This time, you know, we wanted to say if you’re here, that’s an honor because we all test drove, you know, a dozen plus cars over this year. Uh, you know, we’ve driven cars from Shanghai to Columbus, Ohio to like all over the place in all kinds of conditions. And so these were the ones that sort of passed that first round where we just said, “Okay, these are our super exciting cars.” So we’ll start off with the Cadillac Optic, uh, which again bring in that, you know, uh, $50,000 starting prices big. >> Then we have the Hyundai Ionic 5, the Lucid Gravity, the Nissan Leaf, and the Tesla Model Y. >> All right, let’s run through the highs and lows of each. what made each one an editor’s choice and why they didn’t or maybe did take top honors. Uh, we’ll start with the Cadillac Optic. Um, I I I really like this machine a lot. I I I think I of of all of our judges, I think I I like the Optic the best out of anybody. Um, >> what did you guys think? So, like very quickly, this is this is a it’s ostensibly like a Cadillac version of the Chevy Equinox. I don’t think it feels like that at all personally. Kevin Williams, who’s not here today, he disagreed, but you get over 300 miles of range. Um, they updated the electric motors this year in the middle of testing, honestly. So, it’s actually more powerful, more fun to drive than it used to be. You get super cruise, you get like a really cool interior. Um, what did you guys like about this thing? >> Yeah, I mean, I Oh, sorry, T. Go ahead. >> Yeah. No, I think I think just just to um add to that, I think what’s important is some of those things you mentioned, a lot of that is standard. Like it’s not just like you get you can get super cruise >> super cruise standard on the optic. Um 19 speaker AKG audio system with Dolby Atmos which I didn’t know what that was until I went on the first drive for this is it’s so cool. >> Love atmos. I’ve been wanting at and I love that they put Apple Music on this by the way cuz it was insane to have Atmos support and not have Apple Music the one place where you can get Mercedes does Atmos support too and it’s it’s one of those things that once you hear it like you don’t >> want to car >> it’s like um the instead of just like left right music coming from left right stereo you can have different sounds in the song coming from all different directions. It’s really, really cool. And it’s cool >> surround sound for the car. >> Surround sound. Um, it’s cool they put it as standard in >> um, you know, their kind of budget, their entry level uh, luxury V. So yeah, I think what stood out to me I I liked it a lot. I went on the first drive for us. I also >> had it um later for a week and I think it was just like a great value. It was one of these >> there aren’t there are some cars that are good but you can’t really envision yourself actually like owning or driving. And the optic is just like charming, easy to live with. I I found it just really appeal. I was like, if I wanted if I was in the market for something like this, like I would totally totally buy it. >> You know what I liked about it was it wasn’t just like it’s a great EV. It’s like a great Cadillac that happens to be electric. Like it felt super normal. It feels like a mature product. Like you said, Mac, it feels like something that like this company’s been at this a while and they’re getting really good at it because they have and they are. And it just it fel like like this is a perfect replacement for like a gas powered XT4 XT5 just just happens to have a battery and and plenty of range and like that was like that was really cool to me. You know how normal that felt. >> Yeah. I would take it a step further and say you know it’s a perfect gas replacement for the Lexus RX and it’s a shame that Toyota didn’t build it and that like I think you know when you said I know Kevin had mentioned that it drives like an Equinox and you said you don’t feel that way. I did feel like getting out of my Blazer EV and into the Optic. I was It was like going from a Toyota Highlander to a Lexus RX. It’s a plusher, nicer version of the same thing. And I don’t think that’s a problem. I think that’s a that’s a market for a real reason. The Lexus RX is the bestselling luxury, you know, SUV in the country, many years. Um, and I think Cadillac is one of the few brands that has the ability to pull this off because they can provide the batteries and the range at a price so low that they can then, you know, spruce up the interior and, you know, make the rest of it great. And that’s why, you know, the Optic ended up here because it’s just like for $50,000, that’s price parody with a a gas powered competitor. And you know, you get all the benefits of EVs and the I’ll tell you, switching from having one year where the car comes out in 2025 and then the next year it gets more power. It switches from frontwheel drive and front biased all-wheel drive to rear wheel drive and rear biased all-wheel drive and it gets an ax port. I mean, that shows the price go up, >> right? That shows how flexible the platform is, how aggressive GM is being because they’re finally realizing like this is the first hot streak for Cadillac since the Escalade came out, really. and you know they’re just going to double down on it which is why I’m super glad it’s here. I would say in the end you know this one didn’t end up winning for the simple reason of just like being a really good car is not actually what the test is about. Um and that that is what being an editor’s choice is about which is why we’re happy to have it here. Um but I don’t think I think we were all mostly in agreement. I don’t want to speak for you guys but that the optic >> it’s not >> it’s not changing the game. You’re not going to think about this car in EV history. It’s just a It’s a sign of GM strategy, which is another really solid option in a category that there’s not a lot of competition for. And so I’m happy to see it here. It’s just it’s not our EV of the year. >> Part of me wishes we had nominated the Escalade IQ instead, which just won Motor Trends SUV of the year. And I I kind of I kind of scoffed at that a bit. Then I drove the Escalade IQ and I was like, “Oh, this thing rules.” But like we we tend to be a little turned off by like stratospherically expensive cars. But like if you’re asking like my personal favorite GM EV I drove last year was probably that one. >> I saw a Vistic this weekend and that looked really good and I’ve heard only good things about the Vistic and we just didn’t get to test the Vistic before we got to >> um book conversation. But either way, I mean I love the Lyric V2. I I like I would own any of them honestly. >> Yeah. Good stuff for GM this year. All right. Next next pick. Um, a car that a car that needs no introduction. Uh, that’d be the new Tesla Model Y. >> Yeah. Uh, Tesla Model Y. Obviously, I think this one we could have sent an automatic invitation to. Uh, there wasn’t much debate about whether it had to be here. Uh, especially because, you know, Tesla doesn’t do press cars, so we don’t all instantly get experience in all the new ones. Uh, >> yeah, we paid to rent all of them on Turo. All of them. >> Yes. Yeah. All the Teslas. And I think uh I definitely, you know, just by the fact that it is the was the bestselling car in the world in 2023 and is still the bestselling EV in the world, it obviously deserves to be here. Tesla has an incredible product and it’s still something that most of the competitors can’t beat. The software experience, the driving dynamics, the integration of all the features, the value, the range, the charging infrastructure. It’s one of the few EVs you can tell a normal person to get in and be like, “Okay, drive to Ohio.” And they’ll put it in on the car’s GPS and it’ll just figure it out and you don’t have to check on your route planning app if that station is good. There’s not a new line or anything. Um, yeah. And so, of course, it had to be here. And it for 2025 and 2026, they basically just made everything better. They made it a little nicer inside. They fixed the ride quality, which I would say was the one really big catch of the last Model Y. Um, yeah, they spruced up the interior. They added, you know, ventilated seats, a couple things like that. >> Best adaptive headlamps I have ever used in my career. I mean, like by by a pretty wide margin. Like a lot of like they a lot of little things to it, but that add up in big ways. And like I >> I really like that car when I drove it over the summer and like was like it it reached that level of like was sad to give it back >> like but which we’re going to talk about that butt in a second but like it is a it is a very impressive product and Tim you also got a lot of seat time with Model Y the new one. What you think? Yeah, totally agree. Um I didn’t expect to want to buy one as much as I did after I got out. I mean, here in the Bay Area, like every other literally every other person has a Model Y, and I was like, “Oh, this is why.” Because you get in and um it’s just really easy to live with. And it’s it’s a great it’s a great EV and all the other cars better. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Exactly. Half are wise, half are way. >> See, this is an interesting >> Oh, sorry. >> And I No, and I was I’ll just say I was really impressed with FSD, too. Like, I think >> it has it has its issues. It it can do things weird sometimes. It obviously uh you know I don’t know if every single person can necessarily be trusted piling that kind of thing. Um but it really impressed me like more so than it did last year when I drove into Cybertruck for our Breakthrough Awards. >> I just put in destination and and as long as you’re on like kind of normal roads, it did everything really really well and smoothly. The one problems I had with it was um I was on these kind of roads in like a like a park area and I kept trying to pass cyclists on blind around blind corners which is like very >> Yeah. Like I was like pretty scary. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Um, but other than that, just like the whole technology package in that car, it it just reminded me how much better Tesla’s technology overall and especially the user interface, the user experience is than than everybody else essentially >> once you get past the learning curve. Cuz like I I drive I I don’t own a Tesla so I drive one probably you guys like I don’t know two, three, four times a year. Every time I’m in it’s like 20, 30 minutes. Like how the hell does this work? Oh, right, right. you swipe up on the screen to go back and forth and like then I get used to it. I’m like, “Okay, this this makes sense.” But like there is a learning curve to those that car. Um, you know, on the con side for Model Y and like let me tell you like I I spent a lot of this year wondering if this if this was going to win, you know, that interior, you know, button-free, very sparse. It’s still not for everybody. It’s nicer than it used to be, but it’s still very stark and like like a just a like a like anonymous office park inside. Um, there’s no one major breakthrough here. Like honestly, I feel like if they had just like come from the top rope and like it has like 500 kilowatt fast charging or something, like we would not be having this conversation, you know? Yeah. But it was just a lot of incremental improvements and then like last but not least, it’s like we could not ignore like the Elon thing like I’m >> you know. Yeah. Yeah. What do you say? I I would of course that’s part of it for me, but I just want to jump in with a little bit of disscent from you guys talking about how at the end of this you really wanted to own one of these because to me I was amazed also Tim by FSD which I you know I was I’ve been a skeptic of that for a long time. It’s amazing how far it’s come. I’m still not happy with how they you know marketed all of that. >> Um honestly I do >> I think it’s good on the highway. I think it’s great it’s great in the highway. It’s great in traffic jams in the cities. I don’t it’s >> I did an entire meals on wheels route for two straight hours and I did not >> touch the wheel or pedals except for to park the entire >> so to me I was amazed by it. Um I honestly regret that I spent so much time on FSD because I I don’t know if I drove the car enough to develop the connection that you guys did with it. But to me I while one day into my 3-day review I was like oh my god this car is amazing. 3 days in I was just like I could not be happier to give it back because to me it it really >> nothing makes me feel less satisfied as a consumer and as an you know someone out of you know evaluating cars than the feeling that I’m getting chiseled and I like I just feel like so many corners get cut in the Model Y. There’s so many things that to me still feel just actively user hostile >> that like >> to me the award is all about making the tent bigger, right? It’s about getting more people into EVs, getting people excited. And I think Tesla made the biggest tent at the beginning by having such an amazing car. But every year it feels literal. They were building Model 3s in it. >> Yes. Literally. Um but every year, like especially for the past couple, it doesn’t feel like Tesla’s 10 is getting bigger. It feels like it’s they’re more and more leaning into like if you don’t believe that your car should be a featureless pod that you get into and it plays music, but otherwise there’s nothing to touch and you’re sitting in a Scandinavian prison like that’s your car and great for all the people who like Teslas, this is still the best car in the world. Um, but to me, like I at the time I also had like a Mercedes EQE and my personal Chevy Blazer EV and I was just like, “Oh my god, getting back into an actually nice, comfortable seat in like an interior that has little bits of design and and little thoughtful things like, I don’t know, >> a windshield wiper stock and these kind of things that just, you know, not the reinvention of all of these things.” And that to me is part of why the Tesla >> there’s no they are doubling down on their >> you know you buy this because it is a car it is a transportation pod and uh for some people that’s perfect and for me it just doesn’t doesn’t hit that note. I think I where I struggled was just when I recommend this car to people, it’s kind of with an asterisk a little bit because of like it’s hard to separate the art from the artist when we’re talking about the guy up top and like yeah, >> everything he did this year, Elon Musk did on every level is, you know, that people have mixed feelings about that or it’s an incredible turnoff or just like I kind of wondered if I’m am I voting for this car, would I be like a magazine a motoring writer uh you know in who votes for the 1937 Mercedes-Benz lineup or something. You know what I mean? Like it’s good, but like you know >> like that just it’s a turnoff. It is. And it was like if I recommend this to people, I got to ask now like how do you feel about Tesla? How do you feel about Elon? Do you care? All right. You might not care. You might just want a good car. Do you know go with God, right? But like >> I don’t have to do that for General Motors or or Hyundai or whatever. Like you know that’s that is a factor here. The political baggage for this thing for better or worse unfortunately you know. >> Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, even outside of that, I think there’s just at this point, >> some people love their like the Tesla owners I meet in the wild are some of the most satisfied and happy buyers I’ve ever met. And I think they make amazing products. But I think at this point, we know what a Tesla is because the current Model Y feels like the 2017 Model 3. It does similar things. It’s making similar promises. It’s similar among its competitive pet in that it offers a better value and, you know, than mo many. Um, and Tesla has their specific compromises with that that you have to accept. And if you accept that, great. Um, but that deal is not new. That deal has been on the table for a long time. And this this made the car better. Um, but I don’t know that that enough was enough for a breakthrough. And I think that’s where our judges ended up. >> All right. I think I think I’m going to move us along to the Ionic 5, Hyundai Ionic 5, which is good segue because it’s kind of one of the best. It’s probably the best Tesla Model Y alternative. um that that we test and that we recommend to people. So, let’s let’s go with Patrick. You wrote about this. You also own an EV6, so you kind of have good perspective on these cars. Um talk to us about what do you like about the new Ionic 5 and why use it. >> So, full disclosure, uh our our winner we’re going to discuss came down to a 4 to one uh one person dissenting vote. I was the one I was the lone denter and I voted for the Ionic 5. And I I I came into this like ready to like 12 angry men this and whip this jury in in its favor. Um I thought about this a lot over months. Um and I I think it it was the idea of just like really highlevel improvement like this like the Ionic 5 when it came out you know four years ago now like was one of the first uh really viable Model Y competitors. Like if that’s where the benchmark is this is the one that’s always come closest or beat it in some way. range charging design. Certainly, it still looks great after all these years. Um, and they just took everything and made it better. Like the battery is bigger, the range is better, the software is a little better. Uh, we’ll talk about that. Um, it’s got a Knax plug now. It outperforms a Tesla when it’s on a Knax plug. It was the first to market, you know, with that. And now a a bunch of people are jumping on that bandwagon, you know. It it it just is so it it’s like it’s such a great everyday car for anybody. And in the same way like a Model Y works for anyone, but I could recommend the the Ionic 5 to anyone. And it’s pretty userfriendly too with its controls. Like it it’s kind of gas carish inside. Like anybody I could put my my parents I could put your grandparents in this thing and they can figure out how Ionic 5 runs and drives. Um, it’s got, you know, a great lineup now of, you know, just rear wheel drive, all-wheel drive, like the the off-road XRT or the Ionic 5N if you’re the kind of person that wants to be on a firstname basis with your traffic court judge. Um, it just it just kind of does everything really really well. And um, it’s also made in America, you know, like this company kind of did everything right. They did everything they were supposed to under the old rules. Like they build them in Georgia now. it, you know, I just this is still the it’s still the one that I just recommend to people the most. And I was that’s kind of where I went back to you like unqualified. That’s what you’re gonna recommend to folks. >> I don’t know if I misheard, but I don’t think you mentioned too. I would say the biggest improvement is a $10,000 price cut. I mean, >> yeah, they they threw us kind of a wrench in this whole thing cuz like now you could get like base model rear wheel drive Ionic 5 for like 35 grand or you could get like a really nice high range all-wheel drive one for like 43 and I can’t really think of an EV deal that’s better than that in this country right now. Like that kind of put it over the top for me a little bit, but there’s plenty of room to criticize that car too. Yeah, I think I mean me and Tim both directly I think con almost wavered from our votes after our first conversation uh because that there I was on you know a razor’s edge I could have gone towards the Hyundai you almost convinced me um obviously you know they’re improving on an already great car. I will say for how much it’s been on sale, I one thing that Tesla does really well is the iterative year after year improvements and I think Ford actually has done a great job of that with the Mache and you know adding heat pump later on things like that >> and for Hyundai not doing that right software updates. Hyundai does not do that strategy. There’s no real overtheair updates, anything like that. So to me, for its first major midcycle, especially after how much momentum they had, I I expected maybe a little bit bigger of like a software upgrade or something like that cuz I I still think, you know, one of my defining moments in this car was just I had the XRT model, which I thought would be perfect for me. I don’t love the XRT. The compromise on range, I think, isn’t super worth it considering the car still has very little off-road capability. Um, and so when I was driving home from Vegas, I tried to use the car’s built-in route planner, and it just still doesn’t really meaningfully work. I mean, it’s just it it routed me to to a situation where I totally would have been stranded. Um, yeah. And things like that where I just there’s a little I think the Ionic 5’s best argument is that is the best alternative to the Tesla Model Y. But things like that of make it feel more like Hyundai is a gas car company making EVs and learning to make EVs. Uh, but I’m still waiting on them to nail all of the software features and all of the ownership aspects of all of the the whole package, not just the car itself. But the car itself is fantastic and I love >> Definitely software. Yeah. Tim, what did you think of that one? >> Um, I liked it a lot. I’ve always liked the Ionic 5 a lot. Um, for me it came down to like are the improvements big enough to constitute a breakthrough for us? Um, and to me it was kind of a no. Like I think mostly it feels like the same car. It has a slightly bigger battery which is great. >> I don’t remember the exact number right now, but it’s like 10 15 more miles of range. It’s not like a it’s not like a gigantic uh Gulf now. >> Not a gigantic difference. Um >> the software like didn’t didn’t wow me, especially compared to something like the Tesla. Like I was just asked to do kind of basic basic stuff with like the voice assistant >> and it like doesn’t really do it that well. The the the navigation is kind of a mess. >> Um >> and I would have liked to have seen that improved. Um >> the other thing was like the knack like this is one of the things that I been thinking about is like it gets a knack port which is great and it’s the first one Lucid also claims the Gravity was the first one to have the Knack port. So tied maybe between them. Yeah, >> I don’t know which one technically went on sale first, but like to me I’m like is that even a big deal honestly because you give that to somebody and I went to I went to a supercharger and like you don’t get the fastest charge with the Nack Sport on a supercharger as you would at an Electrify America station for example on these on these 800 volt cars and like without getting too much into the weeds like I don’t know necessarily that right now it’s the differentiator that like makes it a breakthrough to be like the fir one of the first ones with that because you might even be better off having the CCS port. >> Yeah. You can still do that with you just you just use an adapter and you’d have to do the same on the CCS Ionic 5. >> Totally. Totally. >> Yeah. I I kind of agree with you, Tim. I I have the Knack car and it it wouldn’t authorize a Tesla. And part of the problem with the Tesla chargers is there’s no >> many of them there’s no screen. There’s really nothing if the car doesn’t just work. >> There’s not really a next step. Yeah, that’s wild. I’ve I’ve never had this problem with any of these. I And I just when the stations are open, I just plug in the knack port. I I like it. I like it better, honestly. So, because it works more than EA station or whatever does in my at least for me. >> I was I was just going to say the most important thing is that the car is going to direct your experience. And I think that when especially at this moment where you’re transitioning between softwares, the ability to route plan in a way that’s going to recognize that you can use superchargers while notably not use the superchargers that don’t work because if you just look on Google maps for Tesla supercharger, you might pull up the port matches. Hyundai says your car can use supercharger. All of the problems that exist of a car that’s using a supercharger exa adapter still exist. So to me, I agree with I don’t think Knax is a bad thing. I just think in in the future owning a car with Knack will be better. For now, to me, it’s either way, it’s a bit of a mess. And the most important thing is actually how good is your software at knowing where your car can reliably charge. And on that, I think the Hyundai gets a D minus. So, >> it’s a that’s why I lost for me. >> Let’s talk about the Lucid Gravity. There’s an interesting car and and was was both impressive and polarizing in our tests. Who wants to who wants to weigh in uh on on the Gravity first, guys? >> I’m happy to start because I think this was a weird situation. As usually in this industry, cars either surprise and delight me or they disappoint me. And I think the Gravity was the only car here that did both. It was >> you were neither overwhelmed nor underwhelmed. You were merely weldmed, you’d say. >> No, no, I was both overwhelmed and underwhelmed. I’m saying it was both better than I thought and worse than I thought. Yeah. I guess I average out the >> It cancels out. Yeah. um where it’s even better to drive than I thought. The packaging is great. I think um just in general the whole it feels designed as one unified experience, which I think so many EVs feel like they’re cobbled together from different bits. And I think the Lucid’s amazing and how cohesive it feels, how it’s amazing around town, and then it drives really well on a canyon road. And then it has enough air suspension clearance that you can take it down a dirt road and you can, you know, pack it full of seven people. It’s fantastic. It’s also kind of unfinished. My my car just had way too many issues for me to vote it through. Um I had my screen glitched out at one point. I couldn’t even the display that said like what gear I was in and what, you know, speed I was going froze and wouldn’t move, which is never great. I had to pull over on the side of the highway to reset something because I would lose GPS and there’s no way to reset the infotainment system without being in park. Uh you know, I buttons were not responding. Kevin Williams, you know, got basically locked out of the car or couldn’t start it because the key wouldn’t get detected. There’s just a lot of little things uh here and there. >> I think all of us had key issues, right, Tim? Did you >> I didn’t have any key issues. I did. Me and Kevin Tim and I both had tourings which were later production and also the last two loans on the list. So, it’s possible that Lucid just fixed this. But this is also I would say just I wanted to be the one to talk about it because it’s it represents one of the challenges of where we are in the auto world right now where we have to review the product in front of us like it’s the car that’s here today not the promise of what the car can be and maybe a June 2026 build date Lucid Gravity should be our EV of the year this year but I don’t know that the one that we were actually given a sample that >> I took a bit of a different perspective and this is why I this is how I want to run inside EVs right it’s not like one monolithic voice since a lot of people’s different, you know, experiences and beliefs and whatnot. What I thought was that um these software issues with this thing are surmountable. Like they it was annoying. Like I I had key issues too. I was like this is like one or two software fixes away from never happening again. It did not feel like catastrophic like blinking red danger to manifold, you know, system failure like a Volvo EX90 did like >> not not Fisker type stuff, >> right? It wouldn’t have been in the test if we if it had been that bad in my mind. >> But you said it’s not like Volvo EX90 bad. I mean, to me, the my the only problem the Volvo EX90 really gave me was that the key wouldn’t recognize and that there was display glitches. I think this was just as bad as that in some of our usage. And I would also add that while this is surmountable, I would say Lucid so far has not surmounted it in that there was just a video uh last week of Jason Fensky from Engineering Explained, great guy, friend of the friend of the website, has a Lucid Air 2025 model, just bought it and he has all kinds of software issues and that’s a car that’s been on sale for four years. So like it I think we often put Lucid, Rivian, and Tesla sort of in the same group of like new companies that have proven they can succeed at software. Um but I just I never loved the the software in the air. I think the gravity is a big step forward, but they haven’t finished it. And like not only have they not finished it, they have not proven that they can build a long-term stable product yet. Um and I I want to see that from them before I give it them a flagship. I think just to um yeah, my my two cents. I I agree with everything. I think I think I mean you said it yourself, one of the best driving SUVs probably ever made. Like I think it drives better >> than the R1S. Like it it’s kind of amazing what they >> what they’ve done with that thing. Like it feels >> lighter than it should. It the air suspension means that it corners really well. It’s just a great driving car for how big it is. like you could you fold down all those seats >> and it’s packaged so well. It looks like you could put like an entire like apartment refrigerator back there. It is just like such a >> It’s cuz it’s a minivan. They just won’t admit it. >> It’s a minivan. >> Also, Tim, notably, our version did not have the four-wheel steering system that’s available in the Grand Touring, the dynamic handling package or whatever, which makes the car even more maneuverable. So, we drove >> Oh, interesting. >> The simpler version of it. Yeah, >> I’d say. >> Yeah, but I was just going to say that I think the in in terms of the software stuff, um I did have some of those issues. I think it did it did genuinely seem like it got better. The next person that had it, every time it got a little bit better over the last few months. Like Kevin had it I think pretty early and his was kind of kind of full of bugs. Um by the time I had it, >> pretty early was nine months into the car being on sale. >> Totally fair. I’m just saying that in our experience it did it wasn’t the same every time or getting worse. >> Yeah. >> Like I had to the the weirdest most annoying part for me was trying to adjust the cruise control or cancel the cruise control and the steering wheel mount buttons just like I would just click it like 10 times and it just like wouldn’t go. You’d have to hold it or eventually it would go. But anyway, just the last thing I wanted to say is that they do claim just for Lucid’s two cents here because we asked them about all this stuff. They said that the things that we’ve experienced have been resolved. Obviously, we can’t uh confirm that because this is this is how we tested the cars. This is these are all the things that we experienced. We’d be happy to test it again soon and see if everything’s been resolved. But as it stands right now, I think it was hard to recommend it as our top award despite, you know, how impressive it was. We couldn’t go out and say, “Hey, this is the best breakthrough EV when you might encounter some kind of annoying stuff when you’re driving it.” >> It would have taken a lot for me, too, to vote for another $130,000 spaceship because I don’t think that this market needs another $130,000 spaceship. However, ne we’re talking about cars we’re excited about next year. if they if they’re serious about Lucid Midsize, whatever they’re going to call it, and that’s really 50 grand that has this kind of tech and hopefully they’ve ironed out the bugs, like man, that thing will will kick some ass. I I really hope they pull that off. Um, and I I the Gravity didn’t quite do it for me, but like it is massively impressive as a machine and I think anybody that like that gets it, as long as they get some software bug fixes, they’re going to like a lot. We use our winner and that would be give us give us a drum roll please or something. >> I was gonna say should we say should we all say it at once? >> I don’t think we need to one >> is the Nissan leave. >> Leave. Woo. >> Yeah. >> Speaking of not wanting to award it to another expensive spaceship. Uh the cheapest car in our test won again which is not it’s not that’s not how this works. It’s not just automatically cheapest wins. The as you >> last year it was the Chevy Equinox EV. the cheapest one one and and the a cheaper one one this year. So yeah, it’s not just our >> cheapest bias, but that that kind of helps. And that that kind of is a big part of why this thing rules so much. Like >> yeah, >> you guys I I’ll weigh in a second what you guys think of the Leaf. >> Well, let me just start off by giving the you know the the general case I would say among our judges of why we ended up picking it because I think it’s important to just establish. You know, this car, number one, it takes the fact that the $35,000 Equinox EV offered 319 miles of range and knocks it down to $30,000 for 303 miles of range for the S+. So already it’s the best EV value at the low end of the market in terms of, you know, miles per dollar, >> period of all of them right now. Yeah, that is the best deal on the market, >> right? And you know, but to me most notably, you know, Nissan said this thing at the launch of the Leaf that at the time I thought was weird. And as it’s marinated, like I don’t know, it hit me, which I said this is the first Western third generation EV. The first time a Western company has made a EV for long enough that it’s gotten to a third generation. And I mean, I think that shows that Nissan was so early here. Um, and you know, they they were early with the Leaf. It was the original, you know, uh, affordable EV. And then they took a solid 14-ish years off of doing meaningful development on it and it was still using an air cooled battery and basically a, you know, penalty box until two last year. And then this year all of a sudden it’s a, you know, crossover cool design, charming, refined 150 kW fast charging, knack port, Google builtin route planning. It comes in teal. It comes in teal. Teal >> comes in teal. You bastards. What more do you want? >> Come on. Um, no. >> It’s wild. I had not thought of it. That is That is the only Unless I’m missing something. Third generation. >> Just because you realize I don’t know if that I don’t know what that says. I think it mostly says that it’s insane that Tesla hasn’t made a third generation Model S. Model Sod has not made a second generation of the Model S. Oh. >> I was like I was like going through this mental list. I was like, “Oh man, this is Yeah. Wow. This makes Tesla look kind of bad. Um, darn. Yeah. Yeah. >> That’s crazy. But I like that I when I was in this thing, >> one of the one of my the notes I put in the store was it it drives like an EV that’s made by people who have done this before because they have and like Nissan had this early lead in EVs like as much as Tesla and they totally dropped the ball. Like a lot of us been waiting for them to like >> step in and show people how it’s done cuz like the Arian to me never really felt like that. And now it’s like they’ve been it’s like yeah we’re back like everybody everybody like hold our beer like we we we got this and like that’s how that car drives you know. >> Yeah. Well and that’s part of while the Arya was not impressive for its class. I mean what the Leaf is is basically an Arya in a class down. I mean it’s built the same factory using >> better software too. It’s got Google a big plus for me for this. >> But there you can get Google built in on or could get Google built in on the Arya I think on the top trim. Maybe >> if I’m if I’m mistaken I apologize. It doesn’t matter because the Arya is dead. It’s been sent to live with um EV Jesus in the in the sky because of tariffs. So, it doesn’t matter anymore anyway. Yes. >> And what what the Nissan’s head of product planning for the Americas told me about the AR is basically we misread that Tesla was going to be so aggressive on the Model Y price and our car is more expensive than the Model Y. So, of course, it’s not working. It was a failure because it was too expensive and they tried to price cut it but they couldn’t. And what they did is they basically take all of the best things about the Arya and are putting it in a segment where other people have pretty much always forced you to make big compromises. All of the $30,000 EVs up until now are like, you know, either not enough range for the highway, not enough fast charging for road trips, a bad interior, like none of these cars, as much as I think the Chevy Bolt is a great car for most people and owners love it, that was never really positioned as an aspirational product. It was very much like this is a car that you can afford. >> Whereas the >> city car, second or third car for families. >> Yeah. Whereas the Leaf in like you know in teal or that maroon two-tone with like the you know light in colored synthetic leather big comfy seats with like a nice interior that’s two-tone and stuff. It feels to me like something that you would get in a car and go, “Oh my god, I I hope I can afford this.” And then you look at it and you can. And that’s that’s kind of nice these days. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Tim, what did you think? Um, I I also liked it a lot. I think it uh it was surprisingly like playful to drive. Like it feels feels nice and light on the road. Um, >> it’s real fun to drive surprisingly. >> It feels like an old Nissan frontwheel drive hothatch. Like it’s just like an old Sentra STR or something. Just like it wants to dive into the corner, >> whip around. Um, I got more looks I think in that than I did in something like the Gravity because literally just because I think I was driving the teal one. Yeah. >> And I also think people see it and they think they can picture themselves in something like that. They’re like, “Oh, that looks like something I might be able to like to afford.” So, >> yeah. >> Um, yeah, I liked it. I mean, it’s very basic. I I I went from the Gravity to the Leaf. And >> yeah, >> so obviously we’re talking about a car that was three time three four times the price. Um, but I thought that the dash mounted um, gear selector buttons, >> the buttons, these big these big PRNDL plastic >> kind of hilarious. Come on. We got >> took them from the parts bin. >> Let’s fix that for 27 guys. Come on. It can’t be that expensive. >> Just do a column shifter, right column for the shifter, left column for the windshield wipers, and then put your light control somewhere. It’s not that hard. And I don’t the whole the lay of buttons uh twist knob any of this stuff like that takes up valuable space. I don’t get it. Especially when those hard buttons could have been the hard buttons for the climate control that are capacitive and >> um >> and the software I think was pretty I mean it’s it’s really hard to judge this the same way that we judge the 5060 $70,000 EVs that we’re driving all the time. So we cut it a lot of slack. think for being affordable or access more accessible which I think is fair >> but I didn’t like the software. I thought it was I thought it was messy and almost everything you had to do the settings were in the cluster the gauge cluster. >> Yeah. Yeah, that is true. You had to do that too. I learned that like a couple days into it the test. Yeah, >> there were a ton of settings. Why not just put it in the touchcreen? They had this big touchcreen that you could do almost nothing with. Um, so my my two cents, my >> native Google maps goes a long way for me cuz like like like we’re talking about the 5 and like the like I have an EV6, right? And like the the nav makes insane like unhinged decisions and it’s like this is Google Maps. It’s the best there is. Like it’ll it knows where all the traffic like before you you do. That went a long way. Google Assist great great voice recognition. >> I would like part of it too is I have less experience with Nissan software than uh Hyundai’s or whatever. I would say what I was impressed by was that there was actually thoughtful touches of things like the ability to, you know, use have a camp mode and set reserve levels for your battery and export power. We talked about how >> Yeah. Yeah. Um but the you know vehicle to uh you know V2X stuff where you can export power from the vehicle that you get on the mid-grade terms of the Leaf which is great. um you get a lot of those features and yeah like it’s definitely it is not as loaded up as like the you know loaded version of an Ionic 5. Um, but it’s so much more polished and it all of the other cars in this segment to me like the Kona EV, the Kona EV feels to me, >> yeah, it feels like a Ford Ranger in that it’s a company that clearly would rather sell you something else, which is Ford wants to sell you an F-150 and Hyundai wants to sell you an Ionic 5, which is why the Kona is basically it’s down to one trim now and it’s a 200 mile car cuz that’s >> what it’s meant to be. And the Leaf, I mean, in part because Nissan doesn’t have other EVs anymore, but in part because this is just where they have always been able to win. I think brings a lot of features from the higher up classes down to this one. Um, but yeah, it’s definitely, you know, it’s not pushing new ground on the technology front. That’s that’s for sure. >> I thought that that roof though, that that electrochromatic roof, that was so cool. >> And the way if you leave it partially opened, it says leaf and the glass. >> Yeah, it shades. I mean, just to to give people So, it’s maybe somebody else will explain it better than me, but basically, like in some other cars, you can hit a button and you can shade the glass roof. Um, >> shade the glass roof. And this one also has lots of little sections. So, essentially, you can like pull the pull this lever and sections of it will shade or unshade the same way that you’d have a physical shade going. It’s just the glass itself tinting, >> but you can do it in either touch. So, you can have only the front have light or only the back have light, which is kind of neat. I’ve driven this a bunch before. It’s usually on $120,000 Porsches and here it is on like the, you know, the Leaf that’s pretty accessible to anybody. Like that’s why it won. That’s why I was appraised. It takes so many great EV features and democratizes them >> at a level like we couldn’t have even imagined last year. And I think that is why it deserved to win. Like I said, I was the dissenting vote, but but I also said if if the Leaf is our winner, I will be very happy with that because I liked it a lot. The only caveat that I really have is that when the Leaf launch, they might have told you this, Mac, they’re saying that the launch is going to be pretty tepid. >> It’s like they’re mostly going to focus on, you know, EV friendly areas like California and Colorado. Um, >> and I have seen exactly none of them where I live in New York and and going through New Jersey. I see I see electric Cadillacs all the damn time. I see Ionic Fives everywhere uh in in the tri-state area. I’ve seen the only Leaf I’ve ever seen is like the press car I had. So, I really hope this is like a real car that is gonna be sold to people and not like some PR exercise or like like the Jag XF Sport Break wagon, you know? It’s it’s like a conceptual thing that’s in press fleets for reviews and it exists nowhere in the universe. You know, >> I will say Nissan specifically, the last the current generation Nissan Z is maybe one of the worst offenders of this. I mean, you never see those on customer. I will say two of those. You say you see a lot of ionic >> 5. One of them was in Japan. That was It’s like that thing doesn’t exist. >> Yeah. >> I will say you see lots of ionic fives and Teslas and stuff. I mean, the Leaf’s only been on sale for two and a half months and deliveries have only really started picking up now. So, we’ll see. But I would agree. I don’t think this is going to sell in crazy numbers in part because honestly Hyundai has the pocketbook to write a lot of can GM or Hyundai can absorb a lot of uh transactions where they’re not making a ton of money or losing money because they have their whole empire going above. Nissan does not have that luxury unfortunately. >> Yeah. This this car is made in Japan. It’s getting hit with tariffs now and like Nissan’s like we really we really didn’t need tariffs on top of everything else this year fam. Like you know it was just uh >> Yeah. >> Yeah. So that’s part of why I didn’t want this to win on a pure money basis alone because we don’t want it to just be cheapest car wins. But I think at the end of the day, any of us would be happy walking outside and seeing just a a teal Nissan Leaf in our driveway. They’re they have they have a certain degree of friendly charm. Like I think what Tim was talking about is to me the the logic was the way I explained the vote, but part of it for me was just that so few EVs to me come off as friendly, as exciting, as making you want to ask questions, these kind of things. And this car is just something that is just such a joy to look at and drive. And every part of it to me, I think it’s right where a car at this price point should be. >> Yeah, good stuff. Go read all the stories about these cars on inside.com. Uh we have a bunch of great writeups about the award themselves, the the whole award program, and then each of the cars, diving into what we liked, what we didn’t like about them. So, be sure to check all that out if you want more info on on our takes on these cars. >> Now, it’s time for Plus Minus, our segment where we talk about who’s up and who’s down in the EV world. And Mac, you’re here. So, uh get a bonus round from you. Uh what do you what do you guys got for me this week? Mac, we’ll start with you. Who’s up? Who’s down? >> The people who are up is for me, anyone who owns an EV right now. I’ve just been so head down in this breakthrough stuff uh where we focus on the specifics of which EV is better, but then I’m running my Christmas errands and stuff and I just I have to get in and out of the car a bunch of times. I love not having to press my power button. I love gliding around town in silence, not polluting. All of these just I did a 250 mi trip to the desert, down dirt roads recently. Just my car makes my life easier because it is electric. And while we spend so much time talking about which specific electric cars are good and bad, uh my plus is just anyone who’s got an electric car right now because it’s a great time. The cars are great and they’re only getting better. >> Vibes are good, baby. Uh mine’s I have a plus also this week. I’m just going to give it to Mercedes, not just for CLA, but just the whole uh experience and like they have GLC coming out that’s also like 60 grand for insane range and charging. Like I was like, it’s nice to see this company that’s like been like the technology leader like since you know Bertha Benz was cruising around like it seems like they got some cool stuff coming. Like I said there’s more we’re going to talk about in January with autonomy from them. So like >> yeah nice nice to it was nice to see like like Nissan, right? It was nice to see some of these players like get back in the game for real and I hope they can stay there. Tim, what do you think? >> Um I have a minus this week and it’s Tesla. Um, bad news for Tesla this week. California, this this is kind of something that has been in the works, you know, going through the courts, I guess. Um, this this is something that we’ve been expecting for a while. Uh, California has given Tesla 60 days to change its marketing around autopilot or face a 30-day sales suspension in the state. Um the the gist of this is that California accused Tesla of misrepresenting autopilot’s capabilities by naming it that by you know implying that it can do more than it can. That led people to be overconfident in it. Um we’ve all seen the videos which you see less of nowadays but for a while there were a lot of videos of people like taking a nap in their Tesla. >> Oh yeah. >> Eating a cheeseburger in their Tesla. Um and on a serious note there have been definitely crashes that have been attributed to this. Um, so yeah, big decision from Tesla. It doesn’t seem like they’re going to comply with it or at least it wasn’t totally clear on X. Tesla said sales in California will continue uninterrupted while kind of criticizing this decision. So, I don’t know if that means they’re going to comply and that’s why they’re the why they’ll be uninterrupted or it means they’re just going to keep selling cars. Um, >> amazing. >> I don’t really know. But, uh, it’s it’s an interesting one cuz it seems like now I mean I was thinking about this when Rivian last week announced all their big AI and autonomy stuff. Their new feature that’s $49 a month is called autonomy plus. And I’m thinking that’s not autonomous. >> Is that any less than a less? >> What’ you say, Matt? >> That sounds like more than autonomous. It’s like you get autonomy and then you also get access to all the friends bonus features. >> It’s it’s autonomous and it and it does your taxes and fixes all your life problems >> and you get access to the the bloopers from the office or whatever else that you need streaming service these days. >> Yeah. I don’t think they’re going to care like like like girl get you a man who loves you as much as Elon Musk loves like not caring about following the law ever. like if they don’t if they don’t care about like environmental regulations, their plans like they’re they’re just like we’re just gonna keep selling cars in California. What are you gonna do? >> What are you gonna do? >> Mac, thanks for joining us. This was super fun. >> Been a pleasure. >> We’ll have you on again soon. >> Yes, for your hard work on this project, man. I could not have done this without our hardworking deputy editor who >> is going to go to Fiji and and chill out probably when he’s done. Please come back. >> Yeah, the company pays for that or >> I don’t think they I would I would tell them to, but they won’t listen to me. We know that. Real quick before we wrap up, I just also want to thank you guys uh and Suat and Kevin for being awesome judges. Uh Patrick and Kevin for taking awesome photos for this. Uh Ralph for putting in all the work on the uh on the artwork side. We have some awesome awesome custom art. You should go check that out. I love the art. I love our art team. Um and then Maddox for handling all the socials and all the car companies for, you know, coordinating five loans in five different places. Uh >> except for Tesla who didn’t answer our email. Except for Tesla who never used that to the the free market. >> Um Yeah. >> Yeah. Thanks to Turo for existing so that we can like pay someone to drive the damn things. >> Yeah. >> All right. Well, thanks for listening to the Pluggedin podcast from Inside EVs. Today’s show is produced by Michael Perkins and brought to you by the Motorsport Network. Make sure to follow us wherever Gigger Podcast. Subscribe to the Inside EVs YouTube channel and check out all our latest coverage including our Breakthrough Award reviews on inside.com. See you next time.
This week, we recognize the very best EVs of 2025. The InsideEVs Breakthrough Awards just dropped, and we discuss the pros and cons of each Editors’ Choice pick: the Cadillac Optiq, Tesla Model Y, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Lucid Gravity and Nissan Leaf.
Plus we debate Ford’s epic EV strategy shift. Was cancelling the F-150 Lightning a good idea? And Patrick recaps his drive in the Mercedes-Benz CLA, one of the hottest EVs launching soon.
Read all out Breakthrough Awards stories here:
Cadillac Optiq: https://insideevs.com/features/781838/cadillac-optiq-luxury-value-breakthrough-finalist/
Tesla Model Y: https://insideevs.com/features/782023/tesla-model-y-2025-breaktrhough/
Lucid Gravity: https://insideevs.com/features/782036/lucid-gravity-breakthrough-awards-2026/
Hyundai Ioniq 5: https://insideevs.com/features/781195/hyundai-ioniq-5-breakthrough-awards/
Nissan Leaf: https://insideevs.com/features/781873/nissan-leaf-breakthrough-ev-of-the-year/
Sign up for InsideEV’s Newsletter to get our content sent straight to your inbox:
https://www.insideEVs.com/newsletter/
00:00 Introduction and Personal Anecdotes
05:40 Ford’s Major Shift in EV Strategy
18:19 Mercedes-Benz CLA: A New Contender
22:05 Breakthrough Awards Overview
27:34 The Allure of Atmos Sound in Cars
29:31 Cadillac’s Electric Evolution: The Optic Experience
32:11 Tesla Model Y: The Benchmark of Electric Vehicles
41:28 Hyundai IONIQ 5: A Strong Contender
49:14 Lucid Gravity: A Mixed Bag of Impressions
53:12 The Minivan Debate: Embracing Practicality
54:49 Software Issues and Driving Experience
56:09 The Winner Announcement: Nissan Leaf Triumphs
57:44 Nissan Leaf: A Third Generation EV Success
01:01:03 Driving Impressions: Fun and Affordability
01:03:30 Technology and Features: A Mixed Bag
01:06:29 Market Presence and Future Prospects
01:09:34 Plus/Minus
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