First drive

Chevrolet killed it then brought it back, now we drive it: The 2027 Bolt

Cars, Chevy Bolt, First drive / Tim Belzer / March 9, 2026

Faster charging, more modern infotainment, and a new LFP battery are highlights.

It’s back! Credit: Jonathan Gitlin

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.—When the Chevrolet Bolt debuted in 2017, the electric hatchback stood out: Here was an electric vehicle with more than 200 miles of range for less than half the price of a Tesla Model S. The Bolt had its ups and downs, though. A $1.8 billion recall saw the automaker replace the battery packs in more than 142,000 cars, which wasn’t great. COVID delayed the Bolt’s midlife refresh a little. It got a price cut—the first of several—plus new seats, infotainment, and even the Super Cruise driver assist, plus a slightly more capacious version called the Bolt EUV.

Along the way, the Bolt became GM’s bestselling EV by quite some margin, even as the OEM introduced its new range of more advanced EVs using the platform formerly known as Ultium. But as is often the way with General Motors, a desire to do something else with the Bolt’s assembly plant saw the car’s cancellation, as GM wanted to retool the Orion Township factory as part of its ill-judged bet that American consumers would embrace full-size electric pickups like the Silverado EV. And thus, in 2022, GM CEO Mary Barra announced the Bolt’s impending demise.

This was not well-received. Even though Chevy promised an almost-as-cheap Equinox EV, Bolt fans besieged the company and engineered a volte face. At CES in 2023, Barra revealed the Bolt would be brought back, with an all-new lithium iron phosphate battery in place of the previous lithium-ion pack. When GM originally designed the Bolt, it was the company’s sole EV, but now there’s an entire (not-) Ultium model range. The automaker also has a giant parts bin to pick from, so the Equinox EV donates its drive motor, plus there’s a new Android Automotive OS infotainment system.

But you could have read all that ages ago. Chevy announced some specs and pricing last October, including the news that there would be a sportier RS trim in addition to the LT version. Then, in January, we learned its 262-mile (422 km) range and the fact that it can DC fast-charge at up to 150 kW, using a NACS socket instead of CCS1. Now, we’ve had a chance to spend some time behind the wheel of the 2027 Bolt, and here’s what we found.

Spec sheets can be misleading

As before, the Bolt’s electric motor drives its front wheels. The drive unit generates 210 hp (157 kW), a 4 percent bump on the old car. But its torque output is just 169 lb-ft (230 Nm), well down on the 266 lb-ft (360 Nm) of the earlier Bolts. This had me worried: near-instant and effortless torque practically defines the EV driving experience, and the thought of missing nearly 40 percent of that thrust sounded like it would make for a radically different driving experience.

In fact, the 2027 Bolt is actually slightly zippier than the old car. The motor’s torque output might be less, but with an 11: 59:1 final drive ratio, you would never, ever guess. Zero to 60 mph (97 km/h) takes 6.8 seconds, 0.2 faster than before. The new motor can spin faster than the old one, and so even at highway speed there’s sufficient acceleration when you need it.

If you’re looking for a new EV for between $30,000–$40,000 there’s an awful lot of choice now. Jonathan Gitlin

The new powertrain is also more efficient. Even though much of our drive route was on challenging—and hilly—roads like Mulholland Drive down to Malibu, and mostly in Sport mode, I still saw around 4 miles/kWh (15.5 kWh/100 km). So that 262 mile range estimate from the 65 kWh battery pack sounds spot-on.

Perhaps the old Bolt’s biggest weakness was how slow its DC charging was—almost an hour to 80 percent at a maximum of just 55 kW. Now with NACS, things are a lot better. I tested recharging a Bolt LT from 19–80 percent using a Tesla V4 Supercharger, which took 25 minutes and added an indicated 211 miles of range. The charge curve is much flatter than before, starting at ~110 kW before gradually beginning to ramp down once the state of charge passed 65 percent. Like other batteries, the LFP pack will charge much more slowly once it reaches 80 percent, but unlike lithium-ion, you’re encouraged to charge the car to 100 percent as often as possible.

For most charging networks, recharging is as simple as plugging in and letting the car and charger talk to each other using plug and charge (ISO 15118); this is still being implemented for Tesla Superchargers, but you can initiate a charge from the Bolt’s charging app. A word of caution though: The charge socket is on the driver’s side of the car, which means you’ll have difficulty using a V3 Supercharger—which only features a short cable—without blocking more than one stall, something that may enrage any Tesla owners hoping to charge simultaneously.

A blue Chevy Bolt charges — Fast-charging is actually fast now. Credit: Jonathan Gitlin

And before you ask, no, it wasn’t possible to relocate the charge port; this would require a significant redesign to the car’s unibody as well as its powertrain layout, at vast expense.

Drives like a Bolt should

Although the new $32,995 RS trim has a sportier appearance inside and out than the $28,995 LT, both trims use identical suspension tuning. The ride is more than a little bouncy over the expansion gaps of LA’s highways, but a look at previous reviews reminds me that old Bolts also did this. The effect was much less noticeable on the back roads, where the car proved nimble if not exactly captivating to drive: I would very much like to try one on performance tires. The range would suffer a little, but cornering grip would be much improved. That said, the low-rolling resistance tires have more grip and are less likely to break traction than, say, the Toyota bZ we just reviewed.

There’s a new power-steering actuator, and a new rear-twist axle, but the suspension and steering geometry should be the same as older Bolts.

However, if you’re familiar with the old Bolt, you’ll notice a few changes. The cabin has a lot more storage nooks and cubbies than before, and both the main instrument panel and the infotainment screen are larger than in a 2023 Bolt. You use a stalk mounted on the steering column to select D/R/N/P, and must now use a persistent icon on the touchscreen to toggle one-pedal driving on or off. This is less convenient than the old car and its physical controls. The regenerative braking paddle is gone from behind the steering wheel, too.

The new cabin. The seats are better but lack lateral support. If you want wireless phone charging, you’ll have to spend $1,195 on the tech package. Jonathan Gitlin

But there are two settings for one-pedal driving, one gentler than the other, and you’ll also regenerate energy using the brake pedal. Exactly how much regen occurs before the friction brakes take over depends on things like the battery’s state of charge; in high regen, I saw as much as 85 kW by lifting the throttle, and the same with one-pedal driving turned off but using the brake pedal to slow. With one-pedal turned off, the car will still regenerate a few kW when you lift the accelerator pedal, so, unlike a German EV, this car won’t coast freely.

Is this the McRib of EVs?

Any worries that the rebatteried Bolt would be missing the car’s essential character were misplaced. Although some of the numbers on paper look lower, the driving experience is no worse than the old car in most ways, and improved in terms of onboard safety systems, powertrain efficiency, and so on. The comments will no doubt reflect antipathy that GM dropped Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to cast one’s phone, but the inclusion of apps like Apple Music might go some way toward alleviating this angst. In all, the 2027 Bolt represents a solid upgrade.

But there’s a catch. Just like last time, GM has other designs on the Bolt’s assembly plant—now in Fairfax, Kansas. That factory will churn out Bolts for just 18 months; next year production ends and the automaker repurposes the site to build gasoline-powered Buick Envisions and Chevy Equinoxes. Chevy told us that it expects there will be sufficient Bolts to stock dealerships for the next two years, but after that, it’s done.

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.

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50 mpg in a Nissan crossover? Testing the new E-Power hybrid system.

Cars, First drive, Nissan / Paul Patrick / February 24, 2026

I noticed the engine running just twice. One was at wide-open throttle, and the other was when the engine was likely operating at higher rpms to help charge the battery. That latter instance was also when I noticed the most harshness from the engine, although it’s one of the smoothest gasoline-supported powertrains I’ve driven.

A look under the Qashqai’s hood. Credit: Chad Kirchner

The E-Power system will operate in full-EV mode at the press of a button, but at full throttle, the engine will still kick in.

What needs work?

Since an electric motor powers the wheels, I would prefer the system to be more responsive when you put your foot down. Electric motors respond nearly instantly. In a gas car, there’s usually a delay with a downshift and engine spin-up. This E-Power Qashqai behaves more like a gas car than an EV, even in the sport setting. I think this powertrain is a great opportunity to show new customers what electrification can do, and a little bit more snappiness would go a long way into articulating that E-Power can be sporty if the driver wants it to be.

The Qashqai had no problems getting up to highway speeds, and acceleration at higher speeds—in an overtake situation, for example—remained consistent. Again, it’s not a sports car or rocket ship, but it can get out of its own way easily enough.

During my loop, the computer indicated 47.7 mpg (4.93 L/100km) in mixed driving. Being left-hand-drive cars, that means they weren’t British imperial gallons. That’s a pretty great fuel efficiency number. In warmer conditions, it should easily exceed 50 mpg (4.7 L/100 km) in many driving scenarios.

Is that directly translatable to the upcoming Rogue E-Power? Somewhat. While the powertrain will be the same, the Rogue will be a little larger and heavier. Speccing all-wheel drive will further increase weight and add losses to the drivetrain. So a 50 mpg Rogue might be a stretch.

If Nissan prices the Rogue E-Power well, and the car delivers on the increase in economy that I’ve seen here, it could be a very compelling product in Nissan’s showrooms for buyers who haven’t had a great hybrid offering from the company before.

As long as Nissan sorts out the brake calibration.

50 mpg in a Nissan crossover? Testing the new E-Power hybrid system. Read More »

The 2026 Mazda CX-5, driven: It got bigger; plus, radical tech upgrade

car review, Cars, First drive, Mazda CX-5 / Tim Belzer / February 23, 2026

ENCINITAS, Calif.—Its sales may have been buoyed of late by the big CX-90 and CX-70 SUVs, but for Mazda, the CX-5 is still where most of the action is. Unlike the similar-sized, similar-priced CX-50, which was designed just for North America, the all-new CX-5 is a global car, and it’s also Mazda’s standard-bearer for a range of new technologies. Gone is the basic but effective infotainment system, replaced by an all-new Google-based experience as Mazda starts its journey toward software-defined vehicles. There’s even an in-house hybrid on the way, albeit not until next year. And it starts at a competitive $29,990.

The new CX-5 is bigger than the car it replaces, 4.5 inches (114.5 mm) longer and half an inch (13 mm) wider than before, at 184.6 inches (4,689 mm) long, 73.2 inches (1,859 mm) wide, and 66.7 inches (1,694 mm) tall. Much of that extra space is between the axles—the wheelbase is now 110 inches (2,794 mm) long, which translates to more interior space. From the outside, there’s a new light signature, and the way the bodywork curves around the front and wraps down the fenders gives me strong Range Rover vibes, even if I could never adequately capture what I’m talking about with a camera. As ever, Mazda’s arresting Soul Red Crystal metallic paint (a $595 option) sparkles, even on a day when the sun remained hidden from view.

The last time that Mazda evolved this compact crossover, it did so with a new upmarket interior. Since then, the brand has staked out that space across its model lineup, with cabins that punch well above their price tags. Happily, the company’s designers haven’t lost much mojo since then, with a restrained approach that looks good across the five different trim levels, each of which is a $2,000 step up from the one that precedes it. But if you’re a current CX-5 driver, you’ll find much has changed, perhaps not entirely for the better.

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The Kia PV5 electric van combines futuristic looks and thoughtful design

car review, Cars, First drive, Kia PV5, vanlife / Tim Belzer / February 10, 2026

The driver gets a hefty 7.5-inch digital instrument binnacle alongside a 12.9-inch infotainment display. Nearly everything is run through that screen, which is sad for those of us who want a return to physical buttons. It’s quick and responsive, but it lacks the haptic feedback that confirms a tap. The infotainment system supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, so you don’t have to use it too much if you don’t like it.

On the road, delivering a load

Even with 600 lbs (272 kg) loaded in the back—Kia wanted us to have a proper experience—the van felt remarkably car-like. The steering is smooth, and it has a delightfully tight turning circle to help navigate small towns and sharp city bends. It felt sure-footed and stable, though the ride was a touch on the jiggly side on all but the smoothest roads.

Yes, it’s a van, so don’t expect a buttery-smooth ride, but because everything else is so car-like, you don’t expect quite so agricultural a ride. Nor do you expect the cabin to sound so echo-y. That contrast strikes you from time to time: it’s clearly built to do a job, but it’s also thoughtfully designed. Its touchpoints are designed to withstand heavy use, so while they’re not especially luxurious, they should hold up to the many painty/muddy/gunky hands that will use them.

The powertrain is smooth, the ride a bit less so. Credit: Kia

Its powertrain feels exactly as you’d expect from Kia: silky smooth. It’s not the quickest vehicle in the world, but its torque gets you up to speed briskly enough. Kia’s claimed WLTP figure of 3.8 miles/kWh (16.4 kWh/100 km) wasn’t quite achievable on a chilly day, but winter weather will inevitably knock those numbers down a bit.

You can tell the PV5 isn’t the result of a simple “we have a powertrain, so let’s make a van” situation. Real thought has gone into how it will be used, how operators will interact with it, and how to make their lives easier. Ford, VW, Stellantis, and other van makers in Europe should take note.

As for America, never say never. In the UK and Europe, the PV5 costs tens of thousands less than VW’s retro microbus, suggesting that a North American PV5 could avoid the sticker shock that slowed VW’s sales, leading VW of America to delay imports for a model year. Kia America hasn’t announced plans to import the PV5 yet, but Car and Driver recently spotted one testing US-specific modifications on roads near its office.

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Driven: The 2026 Lamborghini Temerario raises the bar for supercars

car review, Cars, First drive, Lamborghini Temerario / Paul Patrick / February 6, 2026

This V8 hybrid with more than 900 hp replaces the V10 Huracán.

Does this feel like an unusually restrained color for a Lamborghini? The car is the new Temerario. Credit: Bradley Iger

While mainstream vehicles usually get comprehensive updates every few years, low-volume exotics tend evolve more gradually. Supercar platforms often remain unchanged for a decade or more, with manufacturers instead focusing on what can be tuned, massaged, added, or subtracted to keep their lineups fresh. Every once in a while, though, a performance car debuts that truly earns the label “all-new,” and the Lamborghini Temerario is one of them.

As the replacement for the Huracán, Lamborghini’s bestselling sports car to date, the Temerario has big shoes to fill. At first glance, it might seem like a more subdued affair than its predecessor, but the Huracán debuted in a similar fashion before wilder iterations like the STO and Sterrato were introduced to the lineup.

During a technical briefing late last year, Lamborghini sales chief Frederick Foschini noted that the Temerario’s streamlined look is intentional. The team sought to increase downforce by more than 100 percent compared with the Huracán Evo through the car’s core design, rather than relying on big wings, splitters, and other racy aerodynamic bits. Designers were also tasked with creating an all-new car that was distinctive yet instantly recognizable as a Lamborghini. Judging by the number of heads this car turned during my time with it, I’d say the company was successful.

The venerable Huracán served Lamborghini well for a decade, but its replacement is a bit of a step up in terms of price and performance. Bradley Iger

It’s not obvious from a cursory look at the exterior, but the Temerario is longer, wider, and taller than the car it replaces. Underpinned by a new all-aluminum spaceframe that’s more than 20 percent stiffer than the Huracán’s, the Temerari’s dimensional changes become immediately evident when you settle in behind the wheel, as head and legroom are noticeably improved over the outgoing car. I’m 6 feet, 3 inches (1.9 m), and at a rained-out track session at Sonoma Raceway back in November, I was able to position my seat however I wanted with headroom to spare, even with a helmet on.

The Temerario is also a big step forward ergonomically, as Lamborghini seems to be taking a more pragmatic approach to the control layout, which, like the Revuelto, sees the majority of often-used features accessed on the steering wheel. The tightly packed array of buttons and knobs looks overwhelming at first, but once you’re used to it, having everything directly in front of you—and controlled by physical buttons rather than capacitive surfaces—means your attention can stay on the road.

They hybridized this bull

These are definitely welcome improvements, but the star of the show, and arguably the most controversial element of the Temerario, is its all-new powertrain. While the Huracán was motivated by a lovely naturally aspirated V10, the Temerario gets its propulsion from a 4.0 L twin-turbocharged DOHC dry-sump V8 that revs to a searing 10,000 rpm. An axial-flux electric motor is sandwiched between the flywheel and the eight-speed dual clutch gearbox. Combined with two additional electric motors that power the front wheels, the total system output is a healthy 907 hp (676 kW) and 538 lb-ft (730 Nm) of torque.

A Lamborghini Temerario engine as seen through the rear deck. — I’m not sure many owners will do anything with the knowledge of their engine’s firing order. Credit: Bradley Iger

A 3.8 kWh lithium-ion battery mounted in the central tunnel of the spaceframe powers the electric motors and provides about six miles (10 km) of all-electric range. Though it can be recharged in about 30 minutes on a Level 2 charger, the hybrid system is designed to capture energy from the internal combustion engine and regenerative braking, so owners won’t need to plug in very often, if ever.

The sophisticated setup adds some heft: Lamborghini cites a dry weight of 3,726 lbs (1,690 kg), which means the Temerario weighs about 600 lbs (272 kg) more than the Huracán Evo. Additional mass is never a welcome development for a sports car, but to the automaker’s credit, Lamborghini has done a truly commendable job of hiding it.

Although I had originally planned to drive the Temerario exclusively on track at Sonoma, heavy rain forced us to scrap that idea after a slippery autocross session and a few harrowing laps around the course. To make up for the false start, Lamborghini graciously provided me with a Blu Marinus example for a few days at my home in Los Angeles. While the dry weather seat time reinforced the notion that you really do need to get this thing on a racetrack to see what it’s capable of, I was pleased to find it’s not a one-trick pony.

It’s not a dumb beast

As with the Revuelto, the Temerario defaults to Citta (Italian for “city”), its all-electric drive mode, each time it’s started. This makes pressing the jet-fighter-style start/stop button less exciting than it was in the Huracán, but it gives the Temerario an element of stealth that its predecessor never had.

There are 13 drive modes, but only four main ones (Citta, Strada, Sport, and Corsa), which can be augmented with additional settings selected via the EV knob on the upper right-hand side of the steering wheel. The latter offers Recharge and Hybrid settings in all four main modes, while a third Performance setting is available only in Sport and Corsa. Each of these EV-related settings alters how the hybrid system behaves and how the battery’s state of charge is managed. The Performance setting is the only way to get the full 907 hp out of the powertrain.

A Lamborghini’s cockpit should always look dramatic, and the Temerario does not disappoint. Bradley Iger

The Temerario can reach highway speeds solely with electricity, but it’s not a particularly exciting way to get around. Acceleration is best described as leisurely, and the front motors’ torque output can struggle to contend with even a moderately steep hill, which often triggers the internal combustion engine to spring to life. But the engine has its own required warm-up process, so situations like this sometimes result in less-than-graceful powertrain handoffs.

How is it on the road?

Once all the systems are working together, though, the Temerario proves to be a surprisingly competent tourer, thanks to improved ergonomics and a firm but forgiving adaptive suspension that, in its softer setting, absorbs bumps on the highway instead of bouncing over them. But as impressive as the Temerario is at handling everyday driving tasks, everything starts to feel like a mere lead-up to the main event once you’ve unleashed it on a fast stretch of canyon road. Given room to stretch its legs, the V8 emits a superbike-like snarl as the revs climb, and the sheer thrust of the powertrain makes chasing its 10,000 rpm redline feel like a test of bravery, even in lower gears.

Lamborghini Temerario passenger seat — It’s a better road car than its predecessor. Credit: Bradley Iger

The way this car piles on speed is stunning on its own, but it’s the accessibility—and how confidently it can maintain a pace—that truly sets it apart from the Huracán. It feels every bit as nimble as the Huracan, delivering relentless grip even on standard Bridgestone Potenza Sport summer tires, while the brakes—which now use ten-piston calipers instead of the Huracán’s eight-piston setup—offer strong, repeatable stopping power at top speeds.

I did find myself occasionally wishing for more aero stability during these moments, though. Fortunately, for any would-be Temerario owners who plan to track their cars regularly, Lamborghini also offers the Alleggerita package. This add-on increases downforce by 67 percent versus the standard Temerario while swapping the Bridgestone Potenza Sport tires out for track-ready Bridgestone Potenza Race rubber. The package also includes a raft of carbon fiber components for modest weight savings over the standard car.

All this doesn’t come cheap, though. Temerario’s base price of $389,554 ($486,721 as-tested) represents a six-figure jump over the last Huracán, and you can tack on another 45 grand if you opt for the Alleggerita package in its most basic form.

That’s a tall ask, especially when cars like the Corvette ZR1 offer similarly incredible performance for substantially less coin. But something tells me that Lamborghini won’t have any problems moving its latest “entry level” model. Then again, have you seen the price of bitcoin lately?

Driven: The 2026 Lamborghini Temerario raises the bar for supercars Read More »

Not too big, not too expensive: The Chevrolet Equinox EV

car review, Cars, Chevrolet Equinox EV, First drive / Mike M. / December 19, 2025

There’s a lot of goodwill out there for the Chevrolet Bolt. As maybe the first properly affordable longer-range electric car on the market, the Bolt wasn’t perfect. It didn’t charge very fast, and people found the seats quite uncomfortable. But it could get more than 230 miles on a single charge—a lot in 2017—and you didn’t have to be flush to afford one. Oh, and it was also pretty good to drive. I know I was a fan from the first time I tried a prototype at CES in 2016.

Understandably, Bolt fans were upset when Chevy decided to kill off the car. Yes, it lacked features compared to more modern EVs, but it is also the brand‘s bestselling EV by quite a country mile. “Not to worry,” said the executives, who told us they had something better coming built on the platform they used to call Ultium but don’t anymore. Starting at around the same $35,000 price tag the Bolt launched with, this would be the new Equinox EV.

That $34,995 price tag was perhaps a bit more appealing when the car was eligible for the now-dead $7,500 IRS clean vehicle tax credit. Truth be told, the LT1 spec is a little bare-boned, and you’ll need to step up to the LT2 we tested—which starts at $40,295—if you want things like heated seats or wireless charging for your devices. (The good news here is that people looking for a bargain should know that used Equinox EVs with decent specs are already much cheaper, just a year after the car’s launch.) And let’s not forget, when the Bolt was young, the more expensive trim was almost $42,000.

Rear 3/4 view of 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV 1LT in Galaxy Gray Metallic parked on a street in front of a shop. Preproduction model shown. Actual production model may vary. Visit chevy.com/EquinoxEV for availability. — The Equinox EV shares nothing but a name with the gas-powered Equinox crossover. I think the EV version is much nicer to look at. Credit: Chevrolet

Not too big, but not too small

You get quite a lot more EV for the money in 2025 than you did in 2017. The Equinox EV is a whole vehicle class bigger, at 190.6 inches (4,840 mm) long, 77 inches (1,954 mm) wide, and 64.8 inches (1,646 mm) tall. It’s also a lot more comfortable than the subcompact was. The seats haven’t been pared down to save space and weight, and the suspension does a decent job of insulating you from the potholes that always grow around this time of year. And there’s a useful amount of storage space, with 26.4 cubic feet (748 L) of cargo volume with the rear seats in use or 57.2 cubic feet (1,620 L) with the rear seats down.

Not too big, not too expensive: The Chevrolet Equinox EV Read More »

2026 Mercedes CLA first drive: Entry level doesn’t mean basic

car review, Cars, First drive, Mercedes-Benz CLA / Tim Belzer / December 16, 2025

SAN FRANCISCO—Automakers are starting to follow somewhat familiar paths as they continue their journeys to electrification. Electric vehicles are, at first, strange new tech, and usually look like it. Mercedes-Benz’s EQS and EQE are good examples—with bodies that look like bars of soap worn down in the shower, they stood out. For early adopters and trailblazers that might be fine, but you need to sell cars to normal people if you want to survive, and that means making EVs more normal. Which is what Mercedes did with its newest one, the all-electric CLA.

The normal looks belie the amount of new technology that Mercedes has packed into the CLA, though. The car sticks to the four-door coupe look that the company pioneered a couple of decades ago, but there’s a thoroughly modern electric powertrain connected to the wheels, run by four powerful networked computers. And yes, there’s AI. (For the pedants, “coupe” means cut down, not two-door, so the name is accurate.)

The CLA is the first of a new series of Mercedes that will use the same modular architecture, and interestingly, it’s powertrain agnostic—a hybrid CLA is coming in time, too. But first the battery EV, which makes good use of some technology Mercedes developed for the EQXX concept car.

A blue Mercedes-Benz CLA parked in profile

At 185.9 inches (4,722 mm) long, 73 inches (1,854 mm) wide, and 57.8 inches (1,468 mm) tall, it’s not a particularly big car. In addition to the trunk, there’s a small frunk up front. Credit: Jonathan Gitlin

That creation was capable of about 750 miles (1,207 km) on a single charge, but it was handbuilt and lacked working rear doors or an actual back seat. The CLA manages as much as 374 miles on a full charge of its 85 kWh (useable) battery pack, although as ever this decreases a little as you fit larger wheels.

But Mercedes has been restrained in this regard, eschewing that terrible trend for larger and larger wheels. Designers use that trick to hide the size of their SUVs, but the relatively diminutive size of the CLA needs no such visual trickery, and the rims range from 17–19 inches and no larger. Smaller wheels make less drag, and even though the CLA doesn’t look like it has been rubbed smooth, its drag coefficient of 0.21 says otherwise.

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Great handling, advanced EV tech: We drive the 2027 BMW iX3

BMW iX3, car review, Cars, First drive / Rejus Almole / December 3, 2025

The first of BMW’s clean-sheet “Neue Klasse” EVs hits it out of the park.

BMW’s new iX3 is a clean-sheet design. It might be the most sustainable BMW ever, and remains decent to drive. Credit: BMW

The new BMW iX3 is an important car for the automaker. It’s the first of a new series of vehicles that BMW is calling the Neue Klasse, calling back to a range of cars that helped define the brand in the 1960s. Then, as now, propulsion is provided by the best powertrain BMW’s engineers could design and build, wrapped in styling that heralds the company’s new look. Except now, that powertrain is fully electric, and the cabin features technology that would have been scarcely believable to the driver of a new 1962 BMW 1500.

In fact, the iX3 is only half the story when it comes to BMW’s neue look for the Neue Klasse—there’s an all-electric 3 series sedan on the way, too. The sedan will surely appeal to enthusiasts, particularly the version that the M tuning arm has worked its magic upon, but you’ll have to wait until early 2026 to read about that stuff. Which makes sense: crossovers and SUVs—or “sports activity vehicles” in BMW-speak—are what the market wants these days, so that’s what comes first.

The technical stuff

As we learned earlier this summer, BMW leaned heavily into sustainability when it designed the iX3. There’s extensive use of recycled battery minerals, interior plastics, and aluminum, and the automaker has gone for a monomaterial approach where possible to make recycling the car a lot easier. There’s also an all-new EV powertrain, BMW’s sixth-generation. When it goes on sale here next summer, the launch model will be the iX3 50 xDrive, which pairs an asynchronous motor at the front axle and an electrically excited synchronous motor at the rear for a combined output of 463 hp (345 kW) and 475 lb-ft (645 Nm).

A BMW iX3 seen from the rear 3/4s, with Gibraltar in the distance — The lighter the paint shade, the better you can see the surface detailing, like the bulging wheel arches. Credit: BMW

Energy to the motors is supplied from a 108.7-kWh (net), 800 V lithium-ion battery pack. BMW abandoned the pouch cell/module approach used in its fifth-gen EV powertrains in favor of new cylindrical cells, which measure 46 mm by 95 mm. Instead of modules, the iX3 uses a cell-to-pack design that saves weight, as well as making the pack cheaper to assemble. And the top of the battery pack forms the floor of the car, with the seats bolting directly onto the pack—this saves yet more weight and space inside the vehicle.

Official EPA efficiency numbers, including the all-important range, will come closer to the iX3’s arrival in dealerships next year. You should expect at least 400 miles (643 km) of range, with 10–80 percent DC fast charges taking as little as 21 minutes on a sufficiently powerful charger. (Maximum DC fast charging is 400 kW.) For road trippers, there’s new route planning integrated into the BMW smartphone app as well as the car, which can project charging costs and even check reviews to tell you what the expected power level might be versus what the station claims.

All US market iX3s will be equipped with the “AC charging professional” option as standard, which allows for AC charging at up to 15.4 kW (which should take 7: 45 hours to fully charge from zero), as well as enabling bidirectional charging, whether that’s powering AC devices (V2L), or sending power to the home in an emergency (V2H), or to the grid on-demand (V2G).

Get in

BMW iX3 interior — There are two 45 W USB-C ports, as well as wireless charging pads, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are available wirelessly. Credit: BMW

From the driver’s seat, you can clearly see BMW’s new UI/UX paradigm. Forget the classic binnacle with its cluster of gauges. Now, there’s a strip of customizable display at the base of the windscreen that BMW calls “Panoramic Vision.” Lincoln has experimented with something similar, but the effect is far better resolved here as the display appears seamless with the frit of the windshield. I particularly liked the way the focal point for the display is several inches down the hood from the actual surface of the screen, which makes it easier to take in information at a glance and then return your eyes to the road quickly.

The optional full-color head-up display could use a little more brightness, however, and I’m going to call out the iX3’s steering wheel now because it’s the one thing that really lets the whole experience down. There are no horizontal spokes, just fresh air between the thumb grips and the multifunction panels on either side of the airbag, which seems an odd design choice, and it feels a little too fat to grip. The actual multifunction controls aren’t horrid to use, but “this car needed a better wheel” was heard more than once as journalists compared notes.

The rest of the cockpit ergonomics are fine. The materials feel pleasant to the touch, with an interesting contrast between the textured fabric on the dash and the padded plastics. There are plenty of physical buttons and a trapezoidal infotainment screen that keeps controls near the driver’s right hand.

However, there’s no more physical dial controller for the infotainment system, and Alexa has replaced Cerence in supplying the natural language processing and conversational AI. In practice, this feels like a bit of a downgrade, and not only did the AI assistant—that little Ninja-looking face in the middle of the Panoramic Vision display—repeatedly think someone used its trigger word when we hadn’t, but a lot of my requests were met with some variation of “I can’t help you with that.”

The drive impression

The calibration of the one-pedal driving mode—which you toggle on or off with the drive selector on the center console—is very well-judged, and the friction brakes shouldn’t take over unless you’re asking to slow by more than half a G, which means 98 percent of all deceleration events should return energy to the battery pack. It’s a quiet ride, too, as long as you keep it out of sport mode, although the suspension is relatively firm and you’ll feel some road imperfections.

On the road, I found the Efficiency mode plenty, despite this being the most throttled back. When not in one-pedal (D versus B on the drive selector), the iX3 coasts well, and one of the driver assists onboard will read speed limit signs and regeneratively brake you to meet them, if you’re coasting along and the limit decreases. (That’s among the assists you can disable, should you wish.)

It’s nimble enough at changing directions. BMW

The suite of advanced driver assistance systems now runs on its own domain controller, one of four powerful computers that replace the dozens and dozens of black box ECUs that each used to handle a single discrete function. Among the improvements are a new remote parking ability that uses the My BMW App on a smartphone to even better effect than James Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies, and an adaptive cruise control that can tell the difference between a heavy application of brakes—at which point it deactivates—or a light brush, returning to speed after slowing.

Because the necessary sensors are included in all iX3s, future owners will be able to enable the various driver assists even if the original owner chose not to pick those options. For a fee, of course, but it makes the resale proposition slightly better.

That BMW scheduled some of the day at the Ascari circuit was evidence of an automaker confident in its product. On track, we pushed things a little harder. At up to about seven-tenths, the iX3 coped with the undulating circuit with composure. Praise belongs to the brakes, which we got to test in several emergency stops from highway speeds, and I’m not sure I saw anyone knock down a cone through the medium-speed slalom. The steering is well-weighted and has what passes for feel in the 21st century, with the right amount of power assist to make this actually rather heavy vehicle feel more like a featherweight.

A silver BMW iX3 outside a building with a giant eye on its wall and a horn coming out the side. — Based on our first drive, the iX3 should have what it takes to be a contender in the luxury electric crossover segment. Credit: BMW

Go beyond that, and you really start to hustle the car; unsurprisingly, the result is understeer, accompanied by some screeching tires. That starts to occur at speeds where you’re also more and more aware of the iX3’s roughly two and a half ton curb weight, and so backing off—at which point the nose tightens again—just becomes the natural thing to do.

Like the EPA data, exact US pricing will have to wait until closer to the iX3’s arrival next summer, though we expect it to cost less than $60,000. It’s entering a busy segment of the market, with rivals like the Audi Q6 and Mercedes-Benz GLC with EQ technology, just to name its German competition. Dynamically, the BMW is the one to get. It might even win on price, too.

Great handling, advanced EV tech: We drive the 2027 BMW iX3 Read More »

Porsche’s 2026 911 Turbo S is a ballistic, twin-turbo, 701-horsepower monster

car review, Cars, First drive, Porsche 911 Turbo S / Kris Guyer / October 27, 2025

Other upgrades

To handle the 61 hp (45.5 kW) of additional power over the outgoing car, the new Turbo S features 10 mm wider tires at the rear—sticky Pirelli P Zero Rs to be exact. Porsche also outfitted a new form of active suspension to the Turbo S, which uses one of the pumps from the Panamera’s trick new Active Ride suspension to drive actuators at each of the car’s four corners.

By raising or lowering pressure, the 911 Turbo S effectively varies the stiffness of its anti-rollbars, resulting in a cushier ride for daily driving and a more aggressive one in Sport or Sport Plus. The feeling of the Turbo S is never exactly plush—those low-profile tires aren’t ideal for that—but neither is it harsh. I felt quite comfortable cruising over the broken Malagan asphalt, making this an ideal daily driver.

I didn’t even mind the soft-top convertible in the Cabriolet, which raises and lowers quickly and, even at highway speed, doesn’t add much road noise to the equation. Still, if I were buying, I’d go coupe instead of Cabriolet, if only for the extra headroom and cleaner styling.

I won’t be buying, though, because I can’t afford one. The 2026 Porsche 911 Turbo S starts at $270,300 for the coupe or $284,300 for the soft-top Cabriolet, plus a $2,350 destination fee. That’s for a reasonably well-equipped car, including the new active suspension and carbon-ceramic brakes, but start digging into the options catalogue or ponder the expanded palette in Porsche’s Paint to Sample lines, and you’ll quickly find yourself on the painful side of $300,000. That’s a mighty amount of money for a 911, a whopping $40,000 MSRP increase over last year’s model, but given the wild level of engineering required to deliver this much power and responsiveness, it doesn’t feel completely out of line.

Porsche’s 2026 911 Turbo S is a ballistic, twin-turbo, 701-horsepower monster Read More »

The most efficient Crosstrek ever? Subaru’s hybrid gets a bit rugged.

car review, Cars, First drive, Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid / Mike M. / September 30, 2025

MG2 then sits at the rear of the CVT, linked via a planetary gearset, and working in concert with the gasoline engine to power the wheels. Alone, MG2 can also manage a minimal mile or so of EV-only range at a max of 19 mph (30.5 km/h)—but more importantly, boosts total low-end torque and high-end horsepower, as well as handling regenerative braking. (We’re still waiting on the exact horsepower contribution and will update this when we hear back from Subaru.)

It might be a boxer, but it’s no heavyweight

The Atkinson 2.5 L puts out just 162 hp (119 kW) and 154 lb-ft (209 Nm) of torque on its own, but MG2 contributes enough juice for combined system rating peaks of 194 hp (143 kW). That’s an improvement of 14 hp versus the ICE-only (non-Atkinson) 2.5 L Boxer’s 180 hp (and 178 lb-ft). Those numbers might still seem paltry compared to so many other automakers in the modern era, which responded to governmental regulations by hybridizing ever bigger and heavier cars to make them more powerful rather than necessarily more efficient—BMW’s gargantuan M5 stands out as a recent offender. Not so for Crosstrek, which still tips the scales at a relatively svelte 3,662 pounds (1,661 kg), further contributing to efficiency while accelerating.

There’s a horizontally opposed boxer engine under there. And the orange HV cables are a clue there’s a hybrid system, too. Michael Teo Van Runkle

The new Crosstrek Hybrid only manages insignificant weight savings compared to 3,717 lbs (1,686 kg) for the previous plug-in, which boasted 17 miles (27 km) of all-electric range. But that generation therefore sacrificed trunk space to house a much larger 8.8-kWh lithium-ion battery. Dual motors and the smaller battery pack do contribute to a 400-pound (181-kg) gain versus the equivalent non-hybrid variant of the current generation, though. Yet in addition to the power improvements, fuel economy jumps up to EPA ratings of 36 mpg (6.5.L//100 km) city, 36 highway, and (therefore) 36 combined—38 percent better than the ICE Crosstrek, according to Subaru.

In back-to-back drives through the forested hills of northern Oregon and southern Washington, punching the go pedal in a Crosstrek Hybrid brings on a much more potent rush of throttle response and acceleration, far outpacing the naturally aspirated engine. The constant-velocity transmission simulates shifts despite effectively holding the hybrid system in its happy place, and the sound of MG2 working produces a fun little whine, almost like a turbocharger. All while the Symmetrical AWD system smoothly and predictably meters traction out to each wheel in quintessential Subaru fashion.

The most efficient Crosstrek ever? Subaru’s hybrid gets a bit rugged. Read More »

zr1,-gtd,-and-america’s-new-nurburgring-war

ZR1, GTD, and America’s new Nürburgring war

car review, Cars, Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, Corvette ZR1X, Features, First drive, Ford Mustang GTD, Nordschleife, Nurburgring / Tim Belzer / September 29, 2025

Drive quickly and make a lot of horsepower.

Ford and Chevy set near-identical lap times with very different cars; we drove both.

Credit: Tim Stevens | Aurich Lawson

There’s a racetrack with a funny name in Germany that, in the eyes of many international enthusiasts, is the de facto benchmark for automotive performance. But the Nürburgring, a 13-mile (20 km) track often called the Green Hell, rarely hits the radar of mainstream US performance aficionados. That’s because American car companies rarely take the time to run cars there, and if they do, it’s in secrecy, to test pre-production machines cloaked in camouflage without publishing official times.

The track’s domestic profile has lately been on the rise, though. Late last year, Ford became the first American manufacturer to run a sub-7-minute lap: 6: 57.685 from its ultra-high-performance Mustang GTD. It then did better, announcing a 6: 52.072 lap time in May. Two months later, Chevrolet set a 6: 49.275 lap time with the hybrid Corvette ZR1X, becoming the new fastest American car around that track.

It’s a vehicular war of escalation, but it’s about much more than bragging rights.

The Green Hell as a must-visit for manufacturers

The Nürburgring is a delightfully twisted stretch of purpose-built asphalt and concrete strewn across the hills of western Germany. It dates back to the 1920s and has hosted the German Grand Prix for a half-century before it was finally deemed too unsafe in the late 1970s.

It’s still a motorsports mecca, with sports car racing events like the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators, but today, it’s better known as the ultimate automotive performance proving ground.

It offers an unmatched variety of high-speed corners, elevation changes, and differing surfaces that challenge the best engineers in the world. “If you can develop a car that goes fast on the Nürburgring, it’s going to be fast everywhere in the whole world,” said Brian Wallace, the Corvette ZR1’s vehicle dynamics engineer and the driver who set that car’s fast lap of 6: 50.763.

“When you’re going after Nürburgring lap time, everything in the car has to be ten tenths,” said Greg Goodall, Ford’s chief program engineer for the Mustang GTD. “You can’t just use something that is OK or decent.”

Thankfully, neither of these cars is merely decent.

Mustang, deconstructed

You know the scene in Robocop where a schematic displays how little of Alex Murphy’s body remains inside that armor? Just enough of Peter Weller’s iconic jawline remains to identify the man, but the focus is clearly on the machine.

That’s a bit like how Multimatic creates the GTD, which retains just enough Mustang shape to look familiar, but little else.

Multimatic, which builds the wild Ford GT and also helms many of Ford’s motorsports efforts, starts with partially assembled Mustangs pulled from the assembly line, minus fenders, hood, and roof. Then the company guts what’s left in the middle.

Ford’s partner Multimatic cut as much of the existing road car chassis as it could for the GTD. Tim Stevens

“They cut out the second row seat area where our suspension is,” Ford’s Goodall said. “They cut out the rear floor in the trunk area because we put a flat plate on there to mount the transaxle to it. And then they cut the rear body side off and replace that with a wide-body carbon-fiber bit.”

A transaxle is simply a fun name for a rear-mounted transmission—in this case, an eight-speed dual-clutch unit mounted on the rear axle to help balance the car’s weight.

The GTD needs as much help as it can get to offset the heft of the 5.2-liter supercharged V8 up front. It gets a full set of carbon-fiber bodywork, too, but the resulting package still weighs over 4,300 lbs (1,950 kg).

With 815 hp (608 kW) and 664 lb-ft (900 Nm) of torque, it’s the most powerful road-going Mustang of all time, and it received other upgrades to match, including carbon-ceramic brake discs at the corners and the wing to end all wings slung off the back. It’s not only big; it’s smart, featuring a Formula One-style drag-reduction system.

At higher speeds, the wing’s element flips up, enabling a 202 mph (325 km/h) top speed. No surprise, that makes this the fastest factory Mustang ever. At a $325,000 starting price, it had better be, but when it comes to the maximum-velocity stakes, the Chevrolet is in another league.

More Corvette

You lose the frunk but gain cooling and downforce. Tim Stevens

On paper, when it comes to outright speed and value, the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 seems to offer far more bang for what is still a significant number of bucks. To be specific, the ZR1 starts at about $175,000, which gets you a 1,064 hp (793 kW) car that will do 233 mph (375 km/h) if you point it down a road long enough.

Where the GTD is a thorough reimagining of what a Mustang can be, the ZR1 sticks closer to the Corvette script, offering more power, more aerodynamics, and more braking without any dramatic internal reconfiguration. That’s because it was all part of the car’s original mission plan, GM’s Brian Wallace told me.

“We knew we were going to build this car,” he said, “knowing it had the backbone to double the horsepower, put 20 percent more grip in the car, and oodles of aero.”

At the center of it all is a 5.5-liter twin-turbocharged V8. You can get a big wing here, too, but it isn’t active like the GTD’s.

Chevrolet engineers bolstered the internal structure at the back of the car to handle the extra downforce at the rear. Up front, the frunk is replaced by a duct through the hood, providing yet more grip to balance things. Big wheels, sticky tires, and carbon-ceramic brakes round out a package that looks a little less radical on the outside than the Mustang and substantially less retooled on the inside, but clearly no less capable.

The engine bay of a yellow Corvette ZR1. — A pair of turbochargers lurk behind that rear window. Credit: Tim Stevens

And if that’s not enough, Chevrolet has the 1,250 hp (932 kW), $208,000 ZR1X on offer, which adds the Corvette E-Ray’s hybrid system into the mix. That package does add more weight, but the result is still a roughly 4,000-lb (1,814 kg) car, hundreds less than the Ford.

’Ring battles

Ford and Chevy’s battle at the ‘ring blew up this summer, but both brands have tested there for years. Chevrolet has even set official lap times in the past, including the previous-generation Corvette Z06’s 7: 22.68 in 2012. Despite that, a fast lap time was not in the initial plan for the new ZR1 and ZR1X. Drew Cattell, ZR1X vehicle dynamics engineer and the driver of that 6: 49.275 lap, told me it “wasn’t an overriding priority” for the new Corvette.

But after developing the cars there so extensively, they decided to give it a go. “Seeing what the cars could do, it felt like the right time. That we had something we were proud of and we could really deliver with,” he said.

Ford, meanwhile, had never set an official lap time at the ‘ring, but it was part of the GTD’s raison d’être: “That was always a goal: to go under seven minutes. And some of it was to be the first American car ever to do it,” Ford’s Goodall said.

That required extracting every bit of performance, necessitating a last-minute change during final testing. In May of 2024, after the car’s design had been finalized by everyone up the chain of command at Ford, the test team in Germany determined the GTD needed a little more front grip.

To fix it, Steve Thompson, a dynamic technical specialist at Ford, designed a prototype aerodynamic extension to the vents in the hood. “It was 3D-printed, duct taped,” Goodall said. That design was refined and wound up on the production car, boosting frontal downforce on the GTD without adding drag.

Chevrolet’s development process relied not only on engineers in Germany but also on work in the US. “The team back home will keep on poring over the data while we go to sleep, because of the time difference,” Cattell said, “and then they’ll have something in our inbox the next morning to try out.”

When it was time for the Corvette’s record-setting runs, there wasn’t much left to change, just a few minor setup tweaks. “Maybe a millimeter or two,” Wallace said, “all within factory alignment settings.”

A few months later, it was my turn.

Behind the wheel

No, I wasn’t able to run either of these cars at the Nürburgring, but I was lucky enough to spend one day with both the GTD and the ZR1. First was the Corvette at one of America’s greatest racing venues: the Circuit of the Americas, a 3.5-mile track and host of the Formula One United States Grand Prix since 2012.

A head-on shot of a yellow Corvette ZR1. — How does 180 mph on the back straight at the Circuit of the Americas sound? Credit: Tim Stevens

I’ve been lucky to spend a lot of time in various Corvettes over the years, but none with performance like this. I was expecting a borderline terrifying experience, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Despite its outrageous speed and acceleration, the ZR1 really is still a Corvette.

On just my second lap behind the wheel of the ZR1, I was doing 180 mph down the back straight and running a lap time close to the record set by a $1 million McLaren Senna a few years before. The Corvette is outrageously fast—and frankly exhausting to drive thanks to the monumental G forces—but it’s more encouraging than intimidating.

The GTD was more of a commitment. I sampled one at The Thermal Club near Palm Springs, California, a less auspicious but more technical track with tighter turns and closer walls separating them. That always amps up the pressure a bit, but the challenging layout of the track really forced me to focus on extracting the most out of the Mustang at low and high speeds.

The GTD has a few tricks up its sleeve to help with that, including an advanced multi-height suspension that drops it by about 1.5 inches (4 cm) at the touch of a button, optimizing the aerodynamic performance and lowering the roll height of the car.

A black Ford Mustang GTD in profile.

Heavier and less powerful than the Corvette, the Mustang GTD has astonishing levels of cornering grip. Credit: Tim Stevens

While road-going Mustangs typically focus on big power in a straight line, the GTD’s real skill is astonishing grip and handling. Remember, the GTD is only a few seconds slower on the ‘ring than the ZR1, despite weighing somewhere around 400 pounds (181 kg) more and having nearly 200 fewer hp (149 kw).

The biggest difference in feel between the two, though, is how they accelerate. The ZR1’s twin-turbocharged V8 delivers big power when you dip in the throttle and then just keeps piling on more and more as the revs increase. The supercharged V8 in the Mustang, on the other hand, is more like an instantaneous kick in the posterior. It’s ferocious.

Healthy competition

The ZR1 is brutally fast, yes, but it’s still remarkably composed, and it feels every bit as usable and refined as any of the other flavors of modern Corvette. The GTD, on the other hand, is a completely different breed than the base Mustang, every bit the purpose-built racer you’d expect from a race shop like Multimatic.

Chevrolet did the ZR1 and ZR1X development in-house. Cattell said that is a huge point of pride for the team. So, too, is setting those ZR1 and ZR1X lap times using General Motors’ development engineers. Ford turned to a pro race driver for its laps.

A racing driver stands in front his car as mechanics and engineers celebrate in the background. — Ford factory racing driver Dirk Muller was responsible for setting the GTD’s time at the ‘ring. Credit: Giles Jenkyn Photography LTD/Ford

An engineer in a fire suit stands next to a yellow Corvette, parked on the Nurburgring. — GM vehicle dynamics engineer Drew Cattell set the ZR1X’s Nordschleife time. Credit: Chevrolet

That, though, was as close to a barb as I could get out of any engineer on either side of this new Nürburgring. Both teams were extremely complimentary of each other.

“We’re pretty proud of that record. And I don’t say this in a snarky way, but we were first, and you can’t ever take away first,” Ford’s Goodall said. “Congratulations to them. We know better than anybody how hard of an accomplishment or how big of an accomplishment it is and how much effort goes into it.”

But he quickly added that Ford isn’t done. “You’re not a racer if you’re just going to take that lying down. So it took us approximately 30 seconds to align that we were ready to go back and do something about it,” he said.

In other words, this Nürburgring war is just beginning.

ZR1, GTD, and America’s new Nürburgring war Read More »

Small, affordable, efficient: A lot to like about the 2026 Nissan Leaf

car review, Cars, First drive, nissan leaf / Paul Patrick / September 12, 2025

Smaller on the outside, bigger on the inside, and it goes farther on a single charge.

The color is called Seabreeze Blue Pearl, and isn’t it great it’s not silver or grey? Credit: Nissan

SAN DIEGO—The original Nissan Leaf was a car with a mission. Long before Elon Musk set his sights on Tesla selling vast numbers of electric vehicles to the masses, then-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn wanted Nissan to shift half a million Leafs a year in the early 2010s. That didn’t quite come to pass, but by 2020, it had sold its 500,000th EV, which went from its factory in Sunderland, England, to a customer in Norway.

Pioneering though they were, both first- and second-generation Leafs were compromised. They were adapted from existing internal combustion engine platforms, with the electric powertrains shoehorned inside. The cars’ real handicaps were a lack of liquid cooling for the battery packs. Like an older Porsche 911, the Leaf was air-cooled, albeit with none of the collector value. That’s all changed for generation three.

The new Leaf is built on a dedicated EV platform shared with Nissan’s alliance partners Renault and Mitsubishi, and which we have previously seen used to good effect in the Nissan Ariya. The benefits of using a platform purpose-designed for electric propulsion are obvious from the space efficiency. The new car is 3 inches (75 mm) shorter from the outside, but offers nearly 9 inches (221 mm) more rear leg room (yes, really), making it a much more suitable place to put adults.

Is it a sedan? Is it a crossover? Nissan

Although the new Leaf is 0.8 inches (20 mm) wider, it’s a few mm shorter and has a lower drag coefficient (Cd 0.26), so the overall effect is a more efficient shape. The nose bears a family resemblance to the Ariya, and the body style is sort of a crossover, sort of a fastback sedan, depending on your frame of reference.

Here and there, you’ll notice iconography that calls out the automaker’s name: two vertical stripes (ni in Japanese), then three horizontal ones (san in Japanese). I’m told that if you look, there are some ginkgo leaves as Easter eggs hidden in the design, but I did not find them during our hours with the car.

For now, there’s one powertrain option: a 214 hp (160 kW), 262 lb-ft (355 Nm) motor (packaged together with its inventor and reducer), powered by a 75 kWh (net) lithium-ion battery pack. The battery pack is integrated into the car’s thermal management system, which also loops in the chiller, the motor, and the HVAC system. It can fast-charge at up to 150 kW via the NACS port built into its left side (or using a CCS1 adapter here) and should charge from 10–80 percent in 35 minutes. On the driver’s side is a J1772 port for AC charging that can also work bidirectionally to send up to 1.5 kW of AC power to an external device via an adapter.

Nissan said it kept the J1772 port because it expects to sell the new Leaf to a lot of legacy customers who already have their own home charger, and it wanted to minimize the number of adapters necessary.

Let’s talk trim levels

How far it goes on a single charge depends on which trim level you’re in. Nissan brought some preproduction Leaf Platinum+ models to the first drive. These are very highly equipped, with an electrochromic dimming roof, the LED head- and taillights you see in the images, a couple of AC outlets inside the car (with the ability to power up to 3.4 kW across two outlets), and a better sound system. But it also comes on 19-inch alloy wheels, and as we all know, bigger wheels mean smaller range. Indeed, the Leaf Platinum+ has a range of 259 miles (417 km) on a single charge.

The $34,230 SV+ loses the panoramic roof and the interior V2L outlets, and you’ll have to manually open and close the tailgate at the back. And the alloy wheels are an inch smaller, which increases the range to 288 miles (464 km).

But it keeps the heated front seats and the twin 14.3-inch displays (one for your instruments, one for infotainment) with Google built in. For the Platinum+ and SV+, that means onboard Google Maps with a route planner that will take into account your state of charge and which can precondition the battery if it knows your destination is a fast charger.

19-inch Nissan Leaf wheel — Big wheels have their drawbacks. Credit: Nissan

Nissan is only including the Google connected services for the first year, though—after that, owners will have to pay a monthly fee, although Nissan wasn’t able to tell us how much that is. Conveniently, both wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are included and will continue to work after the year’s trial. And you can manually precondition the battery for charging, but automatic preconditioning via the infotainment system will not work without an active subscription.

The SV+ and Platinum can also be optioned with a heat pump ($300).

But the $29,990 S+ cannot. And it lacks the twin displays of the car you see in the images, which means no automatic battery preconditioning, although like the more expensive trims it does still have wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. You also get 18-inch steel wheels with aero hubcaps, and a range of 303 miles (487 km) on a single charge. See what I mean about wheel size and range?

How does it drive?

A Nissan Leaf — Turning over a new leaf. Credit: Nissan

I’d very much like to spend some time in an S+ and an SV+, if only to see what difference a larger tire sidewall makes to the ride comfort. On 19-inch wheels, the ride was firm and translated bumps and divots through the suspension and into the cabin. There wasn’t much body roll, but your progress will be limited by the grip available to the low rolling-resistance tires—push too hard and the result is plenty of understeer.

But this is not a “push too hard” kind of EV. With just 214 hp, it accelerates quickly enough to get out of its own way, but it’s telling that Nissan did not share a 0–60 mph time during the briefing. (If I had to guess, I’d say between 5–6 seconds, which used to be considered very rapid.)

It has four drive modes—Eco, Normal, Sport, and Personal—with three different throttle maps and two steering weights to choose from. And there are now four levels of lift-off regenerative braking, which you toggle on with the left steering wheel paddle and off with the right paddle. You can’t turn regen completely off, so like General Motors’ family of EVs, the Leaf will not really coast and loses a few mph even on downhill stretches, as it converts some kinetic energy to electrical energy.

There’s also an e-Step button on the dash, which turns on maximum regen braking and may add some friction braking to the mix. Unlike using the paddles, this setting should remain on the next time you start the car. But neither of the full regen settings is able to bring the car to a complete stop—we were told that the feature is viewed with suspicion in some markets, including Japan, and like pop-out door handles, it appears that China is in the process of banning one-pedal driving entirely.

There are plenty of real buttons and switches in here. Nissan

Both e-Step and max-regen work very well in traffic or on a twisty road, where they simulate engine braking. But given the choice, I would use the paddles to control regen braking. That’s because, like the Mercedes EQ family of EVs, in this mode the brake pedal moves toward the firewall as the car slows. The engineer’s excuse for this is that the pedal moves by the same distance it would have moved had the driver used it to slow the car by the amount it has just slowed. But my rebuttal is that the brake pedal should always be where I expect to find it in an emergency, and if that’s an inch farther away, that’s not cool.

That’s really a minor gripe, though; no one says you have to push the e-Step switch on the dash. Slightly more annoying—but only slightly—is the wind noise from the sideview mirrors, which is noticeable even at 45 mph (72 km/h), although easily drowned out if you’re listening to something on the audio system.

For a daily driver, the third-generation Leaf is rather compelling, especially the S+, although the lack of heated front seats in that model might be too much of a deal-breaker, considering how important seat heaters are to EV efficiency in winter. (Because it’s more efficient to heat the driver than warm all the air in the car.)

The SV+ is more likely to be the sweet spot—this trim level can have the Seabreeze paint you see here or a white pearl, which are alternatives to the four shades available to the S+. The Hyundai Kona EV and Kia Niro EV are probably the Leaf’s two closest rivals, both of which are compelling cars. And the forthcoming Kia EV3 will probably also be cross-shopped. All of which is good news if you’re looking for a smaller, affordable electric car.

Small, affordable, efficient: A lot to like about the 2026 Nissan Leaf Read More »