TopGear.com Electric Awards 2024: the best EVs in the world right now

“The big news is that the Cyberster is a hoot to drive. Not stupid fast in this lower powered guise, but absolutely enough for a twisty loop of road. Some cars are grim, brutal work when you go fast. This is not that.”

Photography: Jonny Fleetwood

For the full feature, pick up a copy of the EV Awards issue of Top Gear magazine, out now

“Porsche is usually modest but says Attack mode and launch control together will take you from 0–62mph in 2.2 seconds. Easy for you to read; hard for me to do. It genuinely is uncomfortable, a fairground kick-weeeeee. Tense your muscles and nerves, hold the pedal and it just keeps gobbling velocity to 120mph and beyond.”

Photography: Porsche

For the full feature, pick up a copy of the EV Awards issue of Top Gear magazine, out now

“The Scenic is terrific to drive: agile and perky, not flimsy despite the fact it’s light for a long-range EV – 1,850kg.”

Photography: Renault

“We all thought it was going to be the Chinese carmakers, didn’t we? That they’d be the ones flooding the market with cheap EVs, when in fact they seem to want to build £35k crossovers, just like everyone else. So the opening salvo in the affordable EV sector comes from a familiar name: Dacia.”

Photography: Dacia

“Concept cars are supposed to push boundaries, give form to thoughts and ideas, remain unbound by production reality. But they have to look good. And the Mazda Iconic SP does the business, mainly because this isn’t some pretentious designer onanism that requires a 10-page backstory and audiobook explanation. This is just a pretty, evolutionary take on Mazda’s future, with a nod to its past.”

Photography: John Wycherley

“The world does not need any (more) EVs this fast. So it’s a measure of just how jaw looseningly impressive the Lucid Air is that this 4dr saloon is the most roundly impressive EV we’ve driven in years.”

Photography: Lucid

“And then the big one: noise. The eN1’s speaker isn’t just louder than a 5 N’s – the soundtrack it’ll emit will be bespoke. One of the great joys of a multi-class endurance race like Le Mans is hearing the different engines compete for ear time: rumbling Astons or Corvettes, shrieking Ferraris and exotic prototypes. A gridful of eN1s should sound like a Star Wars dogfight.”

Photography: Olgun Kordal

For the full feature, pick up a copy of the EV Awards issue of Top Gear magazine, out now

“Fresh. Upbeat. Perky. These are not words we tend to use around very many electric cars. They tend to be heavy, distant and solid. Which, ironically, are also words that historically could have been used to describe most Volvos. The EX30 manages to play to Volvo’s traditional strengths, yet also pushes into new areas.”

Photography: Volvo

“We’re pushing the go-kart thing a bit by taking the Mini to TeamSport’s excellent indoor facility in Manchester’s Trafford Park, but with zero emissions we can at least move it around indoors without worrying about weather. Rain? In Manchester?”

Photography: Jonny Fleetwood

For the full feature, pick up a copy of the EV Awards issue of Top Gear magazine, out now

“We’ve also brought along a little competition. You don’t need us to tell you the Cybertruck is a lifestyle adventure pickup rather than a workhorse, so rather than Ford’s F-150 Lightning or the GMC Hummer EV, here we have the R1T, a pickup from another west coast startup, Rivian.

“Complete with Yakima roof tent and front end styling closer to Baymax than the Terminator. It’s an 835bhp quad motor and costs $87,000 before options. The dual motor Tesla costs from $79,990, while the tri-motor Cyberbeast is $20k more. We’re in Johnson Valley OHV (Off-Highway Vehicle) area. A 96,000 acre off-road paradise that Brits can barely comprehend. Let’s get stuck in.”

Photography: Greg Pajo

For the full feature, pick up a copy of the EV Awards issue of Top Gear magazine, out now

“It’s a bit like bolting a hydrogen fuel cell to the Mary Rose, or sending one of those terrifying Boston Dynamics robodogs to Crufts. It’s going to wind up both sides of the argument.”

Photography: Mercedes

“In a world where everything seems in a doomed bloat spiral, the Prius has gone the other way. Brave. Interesting. Dare we say, exciting.”

Photography: Jonny Fleetwood

“When other cars in this class are running out of ideas and starting to wilt in the face of the physics, the Macan – and especially the Turbo – gets better, ups its game.”

Photography: Alex Tapley

For the full feature, pick up a copy of the EV Awards issue of Top Gear magazine, out now

“It’s official – the UK has a new cheapest car, and it’s an imported Chinese quadricycle with a ridiculous smiley face. Meet the Dogood Zero, yours for £5,995. Just remember that price while you’re in it.”

Photography: Jonny Fleetwood

“There are Teslas, Cupras, BMWs and VWs involved, and if there’s even 10 per cent of the wing mirror bashing on offer in the BTCC then we’ll be hooked.”

“Excitement in Balocco on 10 April as Alfa Romeo unveiled its new Milano electric SUV – only the Italian government disagreed. If it has a place name in, it has to be made there, it said. The company might’ve been founded in Milan in 1910, but the car is being built in Poland. Erp. So the new Alfa Romeo Junior, renamed on 15 April, pays tribute to a coupe model from the Sixties.”

Photography: Alfa Romeo

“The Chinese car market is quietly revolutionising the EV world with its innovations and we’re barely aware it’s happening. In fact, Nio CEO William Li has been signing deals all over China (including with Geely) to use its battery swap tech as a standard on future cars, stamping his mark on EVs.”

“It’s a great first EV, one that doesn’t rely on nostalgia, and the subtle mid-life facelift has made it look more assertive too. Bien joué, Peugeot.”

Photography: Peugeot

"The pressure was on for the launch of Honda’s e:NY1 mid-sized electric SUV, which arrived at the end of 2023. This should have been the company’s bread and butter, but it turned out a bit dull among worthy competitors. The mighty tech giant has fallen behind on EVs – will it be able to catch up?”

“BYD will no doubt be a big global player as it spreads its fancy battery tech and sleek cars. While it gets there we have treats like the banjo strings in the Atto 3. Can they play tunes for roadtrip singalongs?”

“The government spectacularly failed its goal of six rapid chargers at every motorway service station by the end of 2023, according to research by the RAC. In fact, only 39 per cent of services met the target, and four of them don’t have any charging facilities.”

Photography: Volkswagen

"The electric hot hatch we’ve been raving about has a fake box full of fake cogs. ‘N e-shift’ is a simulated paddleshift with rev-counter and 8,000rpm red line."

"There are few electric seven-seaters out there, so you’d think that Kia could just cruise in and clean up, but the EV9 is a polished effort. Huge, but superb. And actually not at all dull."

“This is the latest work of Oxfordshire’s The Little Car Company, who I’ll be reporting to the Trading Standards office because its new Bentley Blower Jnr isn’t little at all. It’s enormous. A half-tonne toy for 21st century Bentley Boys.”

Photography: Dean Smith

For the full feature, pick up a copy of the EV Awards issue of Top Gear magazine, out now

“You’re getting a real Porsche, a car that neatly encompasses what a daily driven Porsche should be in terms of practicality, size and driver enjoyment. It’s an electric car that doesn’t require caveats or justification.”

Photography: Alex Tapley

For the full feature, pick up a copy of the EV Awards issue of Top Gear magazine, out now