Lotus Cars Limited
Only recently in their nearly 100-year history did electric vehicles shapeshift from workaday transportation into maximalist expressions of automotive luxury. The genre’s lingering identity crisis resolved with the 2008 advent of the Tesla Roadster, a taut and trendy two-seater that would forever alter the auto industry (while boldly going where no four-wheeler had gone before). The six-figure sports car not only rewrote the rules of electrification, it seeded what would become Tesla’s whopping $860 billion company valuation.
A scant 15 years after that auspicious debut, the superluxury field is now flush with electrified options. Combining cutting-edge battery-powered technology with traditionalist creature comforts, these examples stop at nothing to tick every box motorists didn’t know they wanted, from remarkable ride quality and private jet–like interiors to outrageous performance. Here’s our selection of the 10 most exciting luxury EVs.
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Lucid Air Sapphire
Image Credit: Lucid Motors While everyone from Audi and Mercedes-Benz to Porsche and Tesla are building competent performance sedans, a California-based startup emerges as an unlikely challenger for the crown in that segment. Unlike its competitors, the Lucid Air Sapphire pounces on the genre by digging deep into athleticism. Leveraging triple motors and a torque-vectoring strategy that helps the 2.6-ton four-door defy its heft, the 1,234 hp Air Sapphire can catapult from zero to 60 mph in 1.89 seconds and reach a top speed of 205 mph. And it can cover as much as 427 miles between charges.
Eye-opening metrics are the Sapphire’s calling card, but the zephyr-like four door earns a spot on our top 10 list because it balances its oomph with an airy cabin. A floating dashboard and twin touchscreens offer the usual tech, but elegantly integrated fan, temperature, and volume controls bring just enough convenience to the otherwise minimalist interior. That blend of elegant design, functionality, and spunk is enough to push the Lucid Air Sapphire squarely into the desire zone.
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Cadillac Celestiq
Image Credit: Dejan Sokolovski, courtesy of Cadillac. With the goal of reasserting its long-lost “Standard of the World” tagline, Cadillac offers the new Celestiq sedan as an ambitious proof of life. Boasting bespoke build possibilities and a plethora of sophisticated materials, the Celestiq is perhaps as pivotal to the automaker as its V-16-powered sedan was in 1933.
The new EV is not for the proportionally faint of heart, though, with an expansive tail section, a wheelbase that out-Escalades an Escalade, and a windshield that’s steeper than that of a Corvette. But for a moonshot attempt at reestablishing a decades-old canon of excellence, the Celestiq suggests that the best may be yet to come for Cadillac.
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Lotus Emeya
Image Credit: Lotus Cars Limited When Lotus debuted the Eletre, a 905 hp land missile seeking to annihilate SUV competition everywhere, it marked a stark departure from the British marque’s ascetic ideals of lightweight and minimalist construction. Now Lotus has Emeya, which expands upon that winning EV formula with a lower-slung, sportier package.
While the new GT won’t be confused with a rough-and-ready race car, its gorgeous interior and refined overall design pair with the same outrageous power of the Eletre to deliver a distinctive and deliciously detailed crossover experience. And thanks to a center of gravity that’s nearly four inches lower than Eletre, the Emeya has nimbler handling, which only adds to its repertoire of very special skills.
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Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV
Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz While other electrified sport utility vehicles wow with wild silhouettes and outrageous capability, the triple-pointed star brings a more understated arsenal to its first electrified Maybach, the Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV. While the model’s 649 hp twin-motor setup delivers a zero-to-60 mph time of 4.1 seconds, rear passengers might not take much interest in the outside world thanks to the cushy adaptive air suspension which keeps the ride eerily smooth and steady. Reclining seats and a full suite of wellness features—like massage and aromatherapy—promise this EV will be hard to exit when pulling up to a destination.
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Mercedes-Benz EQG
Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz’s boxy Geländewagen is the transport of choice for urbanites with aspirations of adventure. While the current gas-powered models have earned icon status for their military-chic aesthetic, the forthcoming EQG is expected to unlock new levels of capability, comfort, and quiet.
Packing four powerful motors capable of vectoring the upright box-on-wheels through seemingly impassable terrain, the EQG should elevate every preestablished G-Wagen metric while upping the plushness, isolation, and civility levels for passengers. If that’s not a step up for those seeking a go-anywhere steed, we’re not sure what is.
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Cadillac Escalade IQ
Image Credit: Cadillac Though Cadillac’s plus-sized Escalade became inextricably linked to hip-hop excess in the 1990s, it has since dipped below the radar in the Succession age. Its high-profile stance isn’t what we’d typically associate with quiet luxury, yet the electrified Escalade’s reimagined architecture makes it far more posh than the next battery-powered SUV. Tucked beneath a capacious cabin is a mammoth 200 kWh battery enabling an estimated range of more than 450 miles.
Sure, there are gimmicky features like Arrival mode, which crabs the massive sport ‘ute diagonally into parking spots. But it’s the insides that matter here, where attractions like a rear executive seating package, 40-speaker AKG sound system with active noise cancellation, and a 9K pillar-to-pillar display envelope passengers in a rarified, hushed environment.
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BMW i7
Image Credit: Daniel Kraus, courtesy of BMW. Until the newest generation of 7-Series models arrived, Bavarian Motor Works seemed forever doomed to lose the flagship-sedan battle to its foes from Stuttgart. While hybrid and purely internal-combustion versions carry the torch for the way things were, the future of luxury is held firmly in the capable hands of the all-electric i7 model.
Some might find the long-wheelbase sedan’s backlit, crystalline trim and Merino leather/cashmere materials a bit much, but that’s exactly the point of BMW’s latest efforts. With options like an incredible 8K, 31-inch letterboxed screen that folds down for rear passengers, and a 536 hp dual-motor setup that enables smooth, swift acceleration, the i7 upstages its Teutonic rivals in grand fashion, suggesting that sometimes more is more.
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Rolls-Royce Spectre
Image Credit: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Rather than leaping blindly into electrification, the 117-year-old Rolls-Royce strategized by asking its most loyal customers questions through the prism of the 102EX, an experimental prototype that explored battery-powered luxury. While cruising range wasn’t quite there in 2011, customers were impressed by the one-off’s silent, smooth propulsion and discreetly plush demeanor. Those learnings led to Spectre, the brand’s first EV-powered offering.
The sleek, coach-doored coupe achieves peak Rolls by reinforcing what Henry Royce asserted in 1900: “The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean.” Familiar landmarks remain, mostly through sympathetic carryover or slight reinterpretation—the Pantheon grille, opulent hides and veneers, and an inscrutable sense of occasion that defines the overall experience, for starters. Spectre succeeds spectacularly because it transforms a storied past into an even more luxurious future.
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Everrati Range Rover Classic
Image Credit: Everrati There are no sacred cows at UK-based Everrati, the firm that stirs the pot by electrifying everything from iconic Ford GT40s to air-cooled Porsche 911s. While Everrati’s short-wheelbase Land Rover Series trucks appeal with their naïve style and stripped-down aesthetic, more usable refinement comes with Everrati’s Range Rover Classic series.
Eschewing the naked ruggedness of Land Rover’s Series and Defender trucks, the Range Rover Classic examples from Everrati incorporate a state-of-the-art drivetrain while elevating the interior with bespoke details. However, unlike plushed-up Landy restomods, Everrati embraces the truck’s off-road-ready underpinnings while bringing a modern twist to its rugged authenticity—arguably the most luxurious aspect of these classic SUVs.
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Lamborghini Lanzador
Image Credit: Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. We know that this is only a concept, but we are enamored. Lamborghini’s off-road supercar, the Huracán Sterrato, proved the brand could zag when the world expected them to zig, and its first fully electric concept car doubles down on that outlandish element of surprise. While offering a twin-motor drivetrain with over 1,340 hp seems absolutely in Lamborghini’s wheelhouse, packaging it in a high-riding “GT” format proves that Sant’Agata Bolognese’s product planners know no limits.
The Lanzador’s lifted stance, all-terrain capability, spacious storage capacity (from fold-down rear seats), and a front trunk suggest that the concept’s architecture will be flexible enough to enable road-trippers to bring their most prized possessions along for the drive when a production version of this Lambo hits the market in 2028.