Power Up: 5 Of The Best Electric Cars You Can Buy In 2021
Whether we like it or not widespread electrification is coming, so how do you navigate driving an electric car without looking like a Tesla fanboy or Greta’s personal driver? We count up not just the best, but also the coolest electric cars on sale right now, and you’ll notice not one of them comes from Silicon Valley.
Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo
The Porsche Taycan revolutionised electric cars not just because it brought electrification to one of the most auspicious legacy brands in the car world, but because it genuinely drives just like the best petrol-powered Porsches.
In its more adventurous Cross Turismo body shape, particularly, this is an electric car that has real appeal, while producing zero tailpipe emissions and looking great while doing it. Go for the Turbo or Turbo S and it’ll also blast past most, if not all petrol powered supercars in a straight line. Talk about a do-it-all supercar.
Audi e-tron GT
The Audi e-tron GT could well be considered the Porsche Taycan’s more Teutonic brother, as the two cars actually share most of their underpinnings, yet offer quite distinct experiences. So while the Porsche is still the better of the two to drive, there are few more refined and relaxing GT cars on sale right now than the e-tron GT.
Combine this with a more aggressive design penned under the watchful eye of Audi’s chief of design, Marc Lichte, the GT’s lesser non-RS form is actually the one to go for, offering a refined and more usable balance on the road. It’s a great way to get your hands on the cutting-edge J1 platform if Porsches just aren’t your vibe.
Polestar 2
Polestar is a name you might not immediately recognise, but if you feel like it shares more than a bit of its Swedish flair with the latest Volvos you’d be right to think so, as this is Volvo’s sexier and more dynamic offshoot.
The Polestar 2 is the marque’s second bespoke model, and shares its twin-motor setup with the more upright XC40, but slips it into an unusual yet very attractive three-box shape. The modern and almost geometric interior is even more striking, and features the first Google-designed interface in a mainstream car that finally gives Tesla a run for its money.
Volkswagen ID.3
The Volkswagen ID.3 isn’t the sexiest new electric car, but it has massive boots to fill and VW has not held back in its development. Designed to replace the Golf in time as VW’s core model, the new ID.3 has quite literally had billions spent on it, and on the road you can feel it.
The bespoke platform makes it drive like few other low-cost EVs, and it feels like a new generation of cars from one of the biggest players in the industry.
Steer clear of the optional stickers, specify the cool 20-inch wheels and white interior highlights and the ID.3 does have a certain flair, but more than that right now, it feels a bit like driving around in an iPod when everyone else is still on a Sony Walkman.
Honda e
The Honda e might not have the largest battery pack, the longest range or biggest interior, but we challenge you to find a cooler city car on sale than this little Japanese number. The retro design finds its origins in the Civic from the 1960s, but its detailing is pure concept car, with frameless windows, a glass charging flap and Pokemon-cute headlights.
Yet all this pales into insignificance when you step inside, as the Honda e might just have the best interior of any new car, regardless of price. It’s bank of no less than five screens stretch from pillar to pillar, and appear to sit on a Formica wood-effect shelf, while the brown seatbelts, grey fabric seats and glass roof are refreshingly free of any pretentiousness. It’s a brilliant little package.
