Is it any surprise that this year’s list of outstanding vehicles is half-filled with electric cars? For me as a journalist, 2022 marks the tipping point where I spent just as much time charging battery-powered cars and SUVs as I did gassing up at the fuel pump, a testament to just how deep electrification has penetrated into nearly every niche of the new vehicle market.
Most of these electric interlopers were good, and a few of them were great (with a couple of weirdos mixed in for good measure). To help you make a plan for what to consider in the new year, here are 10 drives from 2022 that made the strongest impression, regardless of what was under the hood.
The Best Sports Sedan Anyone’s Built in Years: Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing
Name another three-pedal, V8-powered luxury sports sedan. I’ll wait. The Blackwing edition of Cadillac’s midsize CT5 four-door illustrates that driver engagement is still possible in an era where electronic nannies, all-wheel drive systems and titanic curb weights have pushed luxury pilots further away from the tarmac than ever before. Featuring a six-speed manual gearbox, a terrifying exhaust roar and 668 horsepower, the perfectly balanced Blackwing is on another level when compared against similarly-sized entries from BMW M, Mercedes-AMG and Audi RS.
Read our full review here.
The Best Gas-to-EV Transubstantiation: BMW i4 M50
Ripping out an auto’s gasoline guts and replacing them with an electrified pacemaker is a strategy that doesn’t always pan out when compared against ground-up EV designs. The BMW i4 M50 is the exception, pairing the best of the brand’s body styles (a smart-sized four-door hatchback) with a high-performance, all-wheel drive electric drivetrain that puffs its chest to the tune of 536 horsepower. Quick, comfortable and practical, the i4 M50 can fade into the background of your day-to-day or jump to the forefront as a highlight when you take the long way home.
Read our full review here.
The Best Pure Sports Car You Can Buy: Mazda MX-5 Miata
The Mazda MX-5 Miata embraces the relentless forward march of technological process while at the same time clinging to a driving past that’s quickly receding into the rearview mirror. Featuring a lively, rev-happy four-cylinder engine and a platform that leverages the latest technologies to “add lightness,” the MX-5’s modest horsepower and roadster design fly in the face of the established SUV order. It’s a car that exists solely to be driven, and one that isn’t afraid to go it alone in a landscape with no direct competitors. It’s also likely the last chance to experience the open road in communion with the two-seat convertibles that defined the original sports car segment nearly 70 years ago.
Read our full review here.
The Best EV That’s Actually Affordable: Hyundai Ioniq 5
Six-figure electrics wow with their mega-torque dumps and eye-watering acceleration, but the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is just as noteworthy as any big-buck EV thanks to its focus on design and its next-generation fast-charge capability. With angled body panels resembling a collection of 8-bit Nintendo sprites, the sharply styled Ioniq 5 introduces an equally futuristic 800-volt electrical system that makes short work of empty batteries when hitched to DC fast chargers. Best of all is its retail sticker of just over $40,000 — if you can find one still on the lot, that is.
Read our full review here.
The Best Argument Against a Full-Size Pickup: Ford Maverick
Full-size trucks are the perfect example of “more” not always being more. Today’s big rigs are so unwieldy to drive and thirsty at the fuel pump that they’re increasingly difficult to justify as commuters. Enter the Ford Maverick, a pint-size pickup whose modest cargo carrying and towing capacity are nevertheless over and above what the majority of the public are ever likely to need. Best of all? The cheaper you spec it, the better it gets, especially when eyeballing the entry-level hybrid model’s 37 mpg in combined driving.
Read our full review here.
Review: The 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 Is a Major Electric Gamble
The Silver Star’s least interesting design is also its most important
The Best Reason to Dump Your Gas-Powered Luxury Car: Audi RS e-tron GT
Speaking of six-figure EVs, the Audi RS e-tron GT is the one to get. Unlike the visually bland Mercedes-Benz EQS, the e-tron GT arrests the eyes with its chiseled physique, proclaiming its presence in a manner benefiting its $140,000 starting price. In top-tier RS trim it also displays a startling willingness to change direction, when not obliterating the horizon by way of its 637-horsepower, dual-motor all-wheel-drive setup. Dial things back and the e-tron cruises just as comfortably as any of its gas-fired peers, making it an all-around killer that makes its case based on its overall experience rather than focusing solely on range statistics.
Read our full review here.
The Best Pragmatic Icon Revival: Nissan Z
What to do with an iconic sports car badge in an era that cares little for enthusiasts? If you’re Toyota, you farm things out to BMW, but if you’re Nissan you make it a point of pride to mine your heritage for all its worth. The new Nissan Z might be the best example of something borrowed and something new currently out there, grabbing a 400-horsepower twin-turbo engine from the in-house Infiniti brand, carrying over its previous platform, and wrapping it all in sheet metal that pulls heavily from both the ‘70s and ‘90s high points of classic Z design. It shouldn’t work, but it does.
Read our full review here.
The Best Case for Electrified Extroversion: BMW iX xDrive50
The culmination of 10 years of BMW’s Project i, the iX xDrive50 SUV is as visually polarizing as it is excellent to drive. Proving the future doesn’t always have to look like a hard sell from the corporate concerns that brought you Robocop, the iX’s interior is a welcoming sanctuary of warmth replete with organic design cues and materials elevating it above much of the rest of the luxury pack. It’s a truck that turns heads, for better or worse, but you can easily leave the haters behind thanks to its 516 horsepower electric setup, and have them gasping for breath thanks to 315 miles of driving range.
Read our full review here.
The Best Compact Pocket Rocket: Hyundai Elantra N
With folds and edges so sharp you’ll want to keep your hands to yourself, the Hyundai Elantra N invites the same kind of attention as the BMW iX, only this time it’s backed up by the most entertaining turbocharged four-cylinder drivetrain under $35,000. Aimed squarely at longtime sport compact performers like the Subaru WRX and the Honda Civic Type R, the 276-horsepower Elantra N is raucous and ebullient in a world where affordable fun has increasingly been pushed to the margins. Did I mention it comes with a six-speed manual gearbox?
The Best Electric Car Everyone’s Forgotten About: Chevrolet Bolt EUV
The future moves pretty fast, especially when it comes to electric car technology. Although the Chevrolet Bolt and its slightly larger EUV sibling missed out on GM’s new Ultium battery platform, they still have a lot to offer EV fans on a budget. Priced at just over $33,000, the Bolt EUV comes with a big backseat, a bright blue paint job and real-world driving range that lets you lean on it as your only automobile. It’s also the cheapest way to let GM’s fantastic Super Cruise limited self-driving tech take the wheel, a killer feature you won’t find on any other battery-powered model in its price range.
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