Automobili Pininfarina
Internal-combustion-engine apologists love to throw shade at EVs. Dogma and infighting aside, the flow of unbridled electrons offers unrivaled acceleration when compared to gas-burning alternatives. The EV speed advantage is due to the technology’s broad powerband, instant torque, and absence of gear shifts thanks mostly to single-speed transmissions.
While even gas-powered hypercars such as the Bugatti Chiron suffer moments of lag as turbos spool and gears transition, EVs can dispatch power to all four wheels with near instantaneous torque transfer. It’s also worth noting the difference between “quick” and “fast;” the former referring to acceleration while the latter typically relates to top speed, a metric where many gas-powered cars still hold an edge. Semantics aside, here are 15 of the quickest-accelerating EVs in ascending order.
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Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
Image Credit: Hyundai Motor Company Challenging the ultra-premium players that dominate the extreme end of the EV spectrum is the unlikely Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. The Korean carmaker famously poached BMW’s M division boss Albert Biermann in a bid to elevate the brand’s performance. Bierman has since retired but leaves the 641 hp Ioniq 5 N as part of his legacy. Purported to cover zero to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds, the dual-motor model has a $67,475 MSRP, making it a bargain amidst this field of flashy performers.
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Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 4Matic+
Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz’s top-of-the-line EQS launched the legacy automaker’s entrance into the mainstream EV market, but the smaller EQE outsprints the big-bodied sedan with a claimed zero-to-60 mph time of 3.2 seconds. The AMG package also bisects the bubble-shaped four-door’s ovoid figure with flares, spoilers, and other visual signifiers that give the 677 hp sedan a more aggressive look than its EQS sibling.
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Audi RS e-tron GT
Image Credit: Audi AG Like the Porsche Taycan with which it shares a platform, Audi’s RS e-tron GT incorporates a two-speed transmission that helps boost acceleration and improve efficiency at highway speeds. Leveraging its dual motors and driving all four wheels with up to 637 hp, the Audi RS e-tron GT can leap to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds on its way to an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph. Though not as uncorked as its sister car from Porsche, this RS breaks new performance ground for an Audi sedan.
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GMC Hummer EV Pickup Truck
Image Credit: GMC The General Motors Hummer EV was conceived with a more-is-more approach to engineering. While many manufacturers seek to optimize efficiency through lightweight construction and slippery aerodynamics, the Hummer EV Pickup Truck tips the scales at over 9,000 pounds, a relatively astounding heft that is defied by a touted zero-to-60 mph time of around 3 seconds. All that mass is overcome by 1,000 hp routed through three motors, offering a maximalist answer to the pickup-truck question nobody asked.
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Rivian R1S
Image Credit: Rivian Automotive, Inc. The most richly funded automotive startup in history might have had a few sales stumbles and hurdles to profitability, but Rivian has had no problem building surprisingly sprightly trucks and SUVs. With up to 835 hp and 908 ft lbs of torque hailing from four motors, the R1S can reach 60 mph from a standstill in 3.0 seconds flat. Also noteworthy is its torque-vectoring capability, which aids its handling and off-road acumen. And the automaker’s recently unveiled R2 and R3 midsize offerings are claimed to offer even quicker acceleration times, but we’ll have to wait for verification.
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Lotus Evija
Image Credit: Alex Lawrence, courtesy of Lotus Cars While the Evija hypercar from Lotus has yet to reach customer garages, the sold-out flagship is designed with a focus on weight reduction. The $2.3 million two-seater weighs around 3,700 pounds, embracing Lotus founder Colin Chapman’s famous maxim to “add lightness.” Lotus also added more than a bit of muscle, with 2,000 hp launching the vehicle from zero to 60 mph in less than 3.0 seconds. More impressive, the Evija is expected to reach 186 mph in 9 seconds and have a top speed beyond 200 mph.
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Tesla Cyberbeast
Image Credit: Sotheby’s Motorsport While there’s a plethora of outlandishly powerful EVs that can break 60 mph in under 3 seconds, none are as visually outrageous as the Tesla Cybertruck. In its top-tier version, the Cyberbeast, the stainless steel–bodied geometry experiment covers zero to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds.
Along with that face-flattening thrust comes the pickup’s novel application of technology beneath its polarizing proportions. From the steer-by-wire four-wheel steering to its remarkably stiff exoskeleton, the 845 hp Cyberbeast is sure to inspire retaliation from Tesla’s similarly innovation-minded EV competitors, keeping the unlikely genre of ultra-high-performance pickups alive and kicking. In the case of the Cyberbeast, an example sold on April 9 for $262,500 through Sotheby’s Motorsport.
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Nio EP9
Image Credit: Nio Inc. The Chinese brand Nio launched its product lineup with the EP9 hypercar in 2016, entering the market with a halo vehicle whose appeal was intended to trickle down to more workaday sedans, SUVs, and wagons. While the EP9’s 1,341 hp, $3.48 million price tag, and rate of acceleration from zero to 60 mph in 2.6-seconds are all eye-catching figures, the brand’s struggles are perhaps more intriguing.
The company has been pedaling hard to stay afloat, with a $1 billion government bailout, ongoing losses, and a still-faltering stock price. Nio’s intention to become the next Tesla was certainly ambitious, but the current challenge is to build affordable cars that produce ludicrous sales figures, not performance numbers.
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Porsche Taycan Turbo GT
Image Credit: Porsche AG In order to compete with Tesla’s hot-rodded Model S Plaid and the contending Lucid Air Sapphire, Porsche upped the output of its flagship electric sedan’s four motors. Notably, it also took the drastic measure of removing the rear seats, thereby making this Taycan variant a 1,092 hp two-seat four-door.
The track-focused model’s zeo-to-60 mph time of 2.2 seconds may not be the quickest, but its record-breaking lap times at the Nürburgring Nordschleife and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca racetracks prove the Taycan’s mettle where it matters most to the German brand.
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BYD Yangwang U9
Image Credit: BYD Auto Co., Ltd. BYD has been creating buzz for approaching numbers that threaten Tesla’s global sales crown. The Chinese multinational conglomerate was edged out by Elon’s brand for the first quarter of 2024, but the challenger gains an edge with its curiously named Yanwang U9. Unlike most EV hypercars with four-digit horsepower figures and seven-digit price tags, BYD’s 1,287 hp flagship comes in at $233,000. And that’s for a car that can still scoot to 60 mph in 2.0 seconds flat.
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Lucid Air Sapphire
Image Credit: Lucid Motors Lucid’s Air Dream Edition debuted in 2021 with 1,111 hp, disrupting the miniscule EV sedan space with a disarmingly potent offering. The marque’s recently released Sapphire ups the ante when it comes to acceleration, with a claimed zero-to-60 mph time of 1.89 seconds.
The urgency comes from three motors producing 1,234 hp. That output is routed through all four wheels via a torque-vectoring system that helps the hefty sedan rotate through corners. The EPA estimated range of the five-passenger Sapphire is 427 miles.
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Pininfarina Battista
Image Credit: Automobili Pininfarina GmbH If the buttoned-down styling of the Rimac Nevera doesn’t do it for you, you might consider the similarly powerful but more fancifully styled Pininfarina Battista. The Italianate take on the Croatian hypercar claims similarly outrageous numbers—1,900 hp hailing from four electric motors. The zero-emissions power train enables the car to rocket from zero to 62 mph in 1.86 seconds.
However, key differentiators between the Rimac Nevera and the Pininfarina Battista are the latter’s Luca Borgogno–designed carbon-fiber body—defined by complex curves—and the imaginatively trimmed cabin. The Battista tops out at 217 mph, though, so it’s not as fast as the Nevera.
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Rimac Nevera Time Attack
Image Credit: Rimac Automobili The Rimac Nevera Time Attack’s 1,813 hp motors can whisk the Croatian-built two-seater to 62 mph from a standstill in 1.81 seconds. Perhaps more impressive is that it can reach its top speed of 259 mph and then slow to a stop in a faster total time than it takes a McLaren F1 to reach 217 mph.
Rimac isn’t betting entirely on electric, however. The brand’s acquisition of the Bugatti nameplate will lead to a hybridized V-16 power plant producing the best of both worlds: the charisma of an old school internal-combustion engine and the efficient speed of battery-assisted torque.
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Aspark Owl
Image Credit: Aspark The long-delayed Aspark Owl is a Japanese hypercar aiming for a host of all-electric superlatives: the most powerful electric motors (1,980 hp), the quickest EV (zero to 60 mph in 1.72 seconds), and the fastest as well (260 mph). Aspark also promises a version bodied in carbon fiber that starts at $3.75 million.
The Owl has been responsible for two Guinness World Records (for eight-mile and quarter-mile average speeds) but shifting production from Italy back to Japan has produced even more delays, requiring patience from would-be owners.
