In the last decade or so, there’s been a growing concern about the homogeneity of car design. Not only was the proliferation of SUVs, which have been subjected to increasingly strict safety standards in the U.S. along with all other passenger vehicles, seen as a detriment to automotive aesthetics, transforming daily drivers into rolling bricks, but the subsequent rise of electric vehicles threatened to turn the other half of the vehicular landscape into rolling eggs, with all the edges smoothed out to decrease drag and increase range.
All that handwringing, at least according to our list of the cars, trucks and SUVs we’re most excited to drive in the coming year, was for naught. Sure, maybe the majority of new vehicles on the road are more banal than we’d like, but Benjamin Hunting and Basem Wasef, two of our automotive correspondents, have assembled a list that proves you don’t need to succumb to the daily drudgery of nondescript motoring. Whether you’re looking for a newfangled muscle car, family-friendly van or go-anywhere SUV, they’ve got one to watch out for in 2025 — one that would certainly set you apart in the commuter lanes.
It’s not just about good looks, either. There’s boundary-pushing EV technology coming down the pike. There’s a truck that packs both a 92-kWh battery pack and a V6 engine. There’s even a Cadillac comeback on the horizon. Maybe.
What Benjamin Hunting Wants to Drive…
Dodge Charger
The plan is to build both turbo-six and EV-only editions of Dodge’s next full-size performance coupe. I’m keen to get behind the wheel of both. The Charger is so far the only car in the brand’s slashed portfolio, and it will be key to rebuilding its showrooms. That I6 is a smile-inducer in the Ram truck, and I’m looking forward to seeing how irresponsible it feels when dumped into a platform that weighs a thousand pounds less than a full-size pickup.
Read more about the EV struggle at Dodge:
Dodge Flips a Flaccid Middle Finger to “the System” With Electric Muscle Car
To promote the Charger Daytona EV, they decided to…make fun of kale?
Ram 1500 Ramcharger
Ram has waited longer than any other major truck builder to get serious about electrification. Now that it’s here, they’ve chosen to get full-weird about it, too, as the Ram 1500 Ramcharger is a battery-powered pickup with an entire Pentastar V6 under the hood to use as a back-up generator for when the truck outruns its extension cord. Leave it to Stellantis to come up with a concept no other pickup designer has dared put into practice.
Scout Terra
It’s a long shot that anyone gets to drive anything from Scout this year other than a prototype, but the VW-owned revival of an off-road favorite presents an intriguing faux-boutique alternative to brands like Rivian that have already carved out a large slice of the electric go-anywhere segment. The Terra pickup is what intrigues me most, as expanding the slate of EV pickups is our best bet at bringing down prices across the board and normalizing the idea of a utility-focused vehicle that doesn’t burn hydrocarbons.
Toyota 4Runner
I was worried it would take an asteroid strike to force the evolution of the 4Runner, a Toyota that’s clung to a 15-year-old platform and drivetrain even as every other SUV in its class joined the modern era. Say goodbye to one of the last five-speed automatic transmissions in current production and say hello to a hybrid setup borrowed from the also-revised Tacoma pickup. 4Runner buyers might not have cared that the sport-utility was in desperate need of a heart transplant (and skeleton swap, for that matter), but the upgrades for 2025 can only add to the appeal of a perennially popular member of the Toyota truck family.
Volkswagen ID.Buzz
Speaking of retro, the Volkswagen ID.Buzz only looks like it hails from yesteryear. This fully electric van calls back to VW’s peace-and-love past, and it’s unfortunately taken a few extra years to arrive on our shores after a European release a couple years back. It’s priced to milk as much nostalgia from boomer wallets as possible, with an entry point of $59,995, but it’s also the most compelling new product Volkswagen’s had in its portfolio in more than a decade.
Mini Aceman
An all-electric Mini with a driving range that’s usable outside of a major urban area? Ignore that it’s a crossover for a moment and focus on the fact that the Aceman presents a sizable step up in practicality over the automaker’s current EV offering, both in terms of utility and battery size. Mini is poised to carve out a chunk of the compact electrified field if they can just get the formula right, and the Aceman might be the thin end of that wedge. [Editor’s note: Unfortunately, due to tariffs on Chinese-made vehicles, the U.S. launch of the Aceman is indefinitely delayed. But that doesn’t change the fact that we’re dying to test drive the next generation of Mini.]
The 12 Best Cars, Trucks, SUVs and Motorcycles We Drove in 2024
Including a transcendent EV, the pickup Americans should be obsessed with and a two-wheeler that outdid supercars at Monterey Car WeekWhat Basem Wasef Wants to Drive…
Bugatti Tourbillon
Bugatti’s Veyron and Chiron were the hypercars nobody asked for, Ferdinand Piëch’s wet dream of excess that packaged a (relatively) compact, quad-turbocharged W16 powerplant into what would evolve into a 300-mph velvet hammer. Despite dubious profitability and Piëch’s passing, the flagship carries on in an upcoming hybridized version under the leadership of ultra-high performance EV mastermind Mate Rimac. This time around the W16 is replaced with a more expressive V16, and as if the multi-cylinder symphony wasn’t enough, electrification brings total output to a mind-boggling 1,800 horsepower. I can’t wait to drive the Tourbillon not because of its supernumerary achievements, but because no vehicle on earth will match its blend of mechanical wonder and outright capability.
Read about the EV tech coming to Bugatti:
Croatia Is the New Italy: Driving the Record-Breaking Rimac Nevera
The $2.1 million EV is the world’s quickest production car, but it’s just the start for the emergent automaker backed by Porsche, Hyundai and Kia
Cadillac Celestiq
Few things hook my heart stronger than a second chance at greatness, and the electric Cadillac Celestiq is exactly that. Aiming to reclaim the “Standard of the World” title that was bestowed upon the marque by the Royal Automobile Club’s Dewar Trophy in 1908, the Celestiq is Cadillac’s cost-is-no-object attempt to revive the handcraftsmanship that first made the brand great — a $300,000 fastback sedan that will be individually commissioned by clients in an atelier setting. Ambitiously, the Celestiq was inspired by a V16-powered Caddy; remarkably, it incorporates loads of traditional details inside, from polished metal surfaces to leather gracing every contact point from floor to ceiling. From 33 “microclimate” air-conditioning devices to a 41-speaker AKG sound system, the Celestiq is an EV I can’t wait to drive because few things are more inspirational than a great comeback story.
Ferrari EV
Little is known about Ferrari’s upcoming fully electrified supercar (will it be an SUV, like the Purosangue pictured above? Or a sports car, as many hope?), and perhaps that’s why it’s stoked my interest. How will the historically aesthetic Modenese manufacturer curve its sheetmetal? And more curiously, how will this engine-less kitty purr? Mysteries like these are what make this upcoming Italian as paradoxically intriguing as Sophia Loren in a silent film.
Defender OCTA
I’m a shameless fanboy of classic Defenders. I’ve owned a ’92 110, and I covet its predecessor in the form of my 1963 Series 2A. My appreciation of the family line stems more from its flaws — er, character — than it does performance or engineering prowess. Those priorities are likely to get rejiggered when I test the 626-horsepower Defender OCTA in South Africa. This beefed-up, brawned-out sport ‘ute will no doubt go like hell. But will it charm like the classics? All will be revealed in early 2025.
Hyundai N Vision 74
Quit playing games with my heart, Hyundai. After reporting that the rally-tastic, 775-horsepower, hydrogen-powered concept was finally going to production, other sources suggested that the project was in fact shut down. I don’t know who to believe at this point, but I think we can all agree that the concept’s punchy simplicity makes it a gotta-drive, want-to-own proposition in a time of rampant automotive conformity.
Jaguar’s Future EV
The teaser video for Jaguar’s rebrand was one of the most ill-received and controversial marketing campaigns in modern history. But I was relieved that the Batmobile-like Type 00 concept it presaged got people debating again, this time in a good way. Radically different from anything Jag has put out in the past, the rectilinear concept gives hints at the next chapter in the brand’s life which will kick off with an electrified production car to be revealed in late 2025. Though it most certainly won’t look as wild as the concept car, it will give Jaguar another shot at survival. That’s something car enthusiasts of all stripes should stand behind.
More Like This
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
