The 10 best vehicles Ars Technica drove in 2025
2025 has been a tumultuous year for the car world. After years of EV optimism, revanchists are pushing back against things like clean energy and fuel economy. Automakers have responded, postponing or canceling new electric vehicles in favor of gasoline-burning ones. It hasn’t been all bad, though. Despite the changing winds, EV infrastructure continues to be built out and, anecdotally at least, feels far more reliable. We got to witness a pretty epic Formula 1 season right to the wire, in addition to some great sports car and Formula E racing. And we drove a whole bunch of cars, some of which stood out from the pack.
Here are the 10 best things we sat behind the wheel of in 2025.
10th: Lotus Emira V6
A Lotus Emira doesn’t need to be painted this bright color to remind you that driving can be a pleasure.
Credit:
Peter Nelson
Let’s be frank: The supposed resurgence of Lotus hasn’t exactly gone to plan. When Geely bought the British Automaker in 2017, many of us hoped that the Chinese company would do for Lotus what it did for Volvo, only in Hethel instead of Gothenburg. Even before tariffs and other protectionist measures undermined the wisdom of building new Lotuses in China, the fact that most of these new cars were big, heavy EVs had already made them a hard sell. But a more traditional Lotus exists and is still built in Norfolk, England: the Lotus Emira.
Its V6 engine is from Toyota, so it should be pretty bulletproof, and there are three pedals and a proper gearstick to change your own gears. Geely’s parts bin means modern infotainment and switchgear—always troublesome for low-volume, resource-challenged car companies—and the electrohydraulic steering bristles with feel. Sure, most people will play it safe and instead go for the Porsche 718 Cayman, but we’re glad the Emira exists.
9th: Volvo V60 Cross Country
The last time I drove a V60 Cross Country, I was wrong about it. Very, very wrong.
Credit:
Jonathan Gitlin
I got to spend more time than usual with this Volvo station wagon, and the experience made me completely reevaluate my original thoughts on what I now know is a charming and laid-back car. It doesn’t have a huge top speed. It isn’t that fast to 60 mph. It doesn’t make a particularly exciting noise. But a ride designed to cope with unpaved Swedish forest roads pays dividends on poorly maintained American tarmac, and it’s surprisingly agile when it comes to changing direction.
Station wagons are a nearly extinct breed in North America now, particularly if you’re looking for something more normal than hugely powerful, very expensive wagons like the BMW M5 and Audi RS6. That this one is normal and pleasant to live with secures it a place in the top 10.
8th: Volkswagen Golf GTI
The three-door GTI went the way of the three-pedal GTI, unfortunately.
Credit:
Jonathan Gitlin
Take an everyday small hatchback, then add better suspension, a more powerful engine, some sticky tires, and a few styling tweaks. The recipe isn’t quite as old as time, but it is almost as old as I am; the first Volkswagen Golf GTI hit the street in 1976. Since then, it’s supplanted the Beetle as the iconic VW, as well as proving that a car can be sporty and have plenty of utility without jacking up the ride height. Now it’s midway through its eighth iteration—and freshly refreshed.
You can’t get a manual Golf GTI anymore; it turns out that only the US wanted one at this point in the 21st century, with take rates dropping to single figures in Europe. But you can get one without VW’s annoying capacitive multifunction steering wheel—the big improvement for this model year was a return to the old button-festooned tiller. It remains a hoot to drive, and you’re less likely to get pulled over in it than in the Golf R.
7th: BMW i4 xDrive40
BMW EVs always look good in stormtrooper white, helped here by the black M Sport accents.
Credit:
Jonathan Gitlin
BMW’s styling department may have played things much safer with the i4 than the i3, but the engineers didn’t. To the uninitiated, it looks like any other 4 Series Gran Coupe—BMW-speak for a five-door fastback—but the filled-in kidney grilles give it away: This one is electric.
The xDrive40 is the regular all-wheel drive version, more efficient and less powerful than the M50. It’s not quite as efficient with its electrons as the rear-wheel drive i4, but you’re probably more likely to encounter one, given US predilections for all-wheel drive. The infotainment is one of the better systems on the market, the interior is a pleasant place to spend time, and the rear hatch makes it almost as practical as an SUV without any of the extra inches in height.
6th: Hyundai Ioniq 5
You’ll need a very keen eye to spot the design changes for model year 2025. But the other tweaks improve an already great car.
Credit:
Jonathan Gitlin
This car probably makes the top 10 list every year we drive one. Like the Golf GTI, 2025 saw the Ioniq 5 get its refresh. This included a different charge port—US-made Ioniq 5s now ship with a Tesla-style NACS plug, plus some adapters for using CCS and J1772 chargers. That means many of Tesla’s superchargers are fair game for recharging this Hyundai on the go, though if you stick with the adapter and seek out a 350 kW CCS1 machine, you’ll experience much faster charging. (For context, 35–80 percent in 15 minutes, last time I charged one.)
There’s now an off-roady version called the XRT—similar to the Cross Country treatment given to the Volvo V60 above—which has a certain charm. But its rugged looks—and especially tires—eat away at the range. The standard car remains one of the more efficient EVs you can buy, and one of the best EVs in general, too. And now it has USB-C ports—and, finally, a rear windshield wiper.
5th: Mercedes-Benz CLA
The new entry-level Mercedes EV is a very competent effort.
Credit:
Jonathan Gitlin
Mercedes has an all-new EV, and rather than a really expensive car for plutocrats, this one comes in at the entry level. It’s a compact four-door sedan—there’s a trunk at the rear, not a hatch—with a remarkably low drag coefficient, but most of the clever stuff is under the skin. The CLA is the first true software-defined vehicle from Mercedes, meaning its electronics are a clean-sheet design, controlled by four powerful computers rather than more than a hundred discrete black boxes.
There’s Mercedes’ latest OS running everything and a very modern electric powertrain based on the one in the EQXX concept car that gives the CLA 374 miles (602 km) of range from an 85 kWh battery pack. There’s also some new driver-assist stuff that you’ll have to wait until January to learn about. Best of all, both rear-drive and twin-motor CLAs are less than $50,000.
4th: BMW iX3
Based on our first drive, the iX3 should have what it takes to be a contender in the luxury electric crossover segment.
Credit:
BMW
BMW also has an all-new EV with its latest and greatest powertrain technology, and it chose the best-selling compact crossover class to introduce it. Unlike Mercedes, which will make a hybrid version of the CLA, BMW’s Neue Klasse platform is purely electric, and the first vehicle is the iX3.
Instead of chrome, BMW’s traditional face is picked out with light. Rather than an instrument binnacle, there’s a very effective display that appears built into the base of the windshield. It can charge at up to 400 kW and should go at least 400 miles (643 km) on a full battery. Better yet, it’s engaging to drive, the way a BMW should be—even the SUVs. But fans of sedans, take note: The Neue Klasse i3, a true electric 3 Series, will be next. We can’t wait.
3rd: Honda Civic Hybrid
Very efficient and fun to drive? Yay!
Credit:
Jonathan Gitlin
I had to go back to January 2025 for the first of the podium finishers, with the new Honda Civic Hybrid. The Civic is a good example of the way cars of the same name have gotten larger over the years: the 11th generation is three feet (920 mm) longer than the version sold in the early 1970s, and that’s counting the 1974 car’s huge low-speed impact bumpers.
I wouldn’t want to get in a crash in a 1974 Honda Civic, though. And somehow I doubt it would generate 200 hp (150 kW) while getting 50 mpg (4.7 L/100 km) while meeting modern emission standards. The interior still features plenty of physical controls, and like the Golf, it’s refreshing to drive something low to the ground and relatively lightweight.
2nd: Porsche 911 GTS T-Hybrid
Porsche developed a new T-Hybrid system for the 911, and it did a heck of a job.
Credit:
Jonathan Gitlin
I’ve been lucky enough to drive some rather good 911s this year. In January, I got behind the wheel of the new 992.2 GT3 on the road and on track. This fall, I tested a convertible 911 T. Both are excellent 911s, but my pick has to be the 911 GTS T-Hybrid.
Porsche built an all-new flat-six engine for the T-Hybrid, then applied the same turbocharger hybrid technology we’ve seen in F1 and Porsche’s own Le Mans winner to give this engine a sharper, more immediate throttle response than even the naturally aspirated GT3’s. It responds to throttle pedal inputs as quickly as an EV, but you still get all the things people want from a Porsche 911 with a flat six. There are gears (paddle-shift) to use, and the engine revs freely and sounds good doing so.
While it’s cheaper than the GT3, it’s darned expensive. That’s why it placed the runner-up.
1st: Nissan Leaf
Turning over a new leaf.
Credit:
Nissan
Nissan might not be having Lotus-level bad times right now, but the Japanese OEM probably wishes life was smoother. A mooted merger with Honda was called off in February, and the company’s competent electric SUV, the Ariya, isn’t available for import anymore due to tariffs. However, it also brought out the third-generation Leaf this year, and we like what we found.
Smaller on the outside than the old car, it has more room inside thanks to a much more modern design approach. That old Leaf bugbear, the air-cooled battery, is a thing of the past. It looks good, and there’s even a version with steel wheels that gets more than 300 miles (487 km) on a single charge, although we reckon the SV+, a little higher up the trim tree, is the one to go for. At less than $35,000, it’s also one of the cheapest new EVs on sale.
Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica’s automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC.
