Earlier this week we named five DriftBreath Reports Best Car To Buy 2025 finalists.
The Chevrolet Equinox EV, Hyundai Kona Electric, Porsche Macan Electric, Rivian R1S, and Volkswagen ID.Buzz all made it to the final round.
One of these will earn the annual distinction, and over the next week we’ll take a deeper look at why each one made the shortlist. But before then we’re taking a brief look here at what isn’t on that list, and why.
First off, Best Car To Buy is an award given to vehicles that are completely new or substantially redesigned in the calendar year leading up to the event, and due to be widely available in the calendar year following the award.
2025 Volvo EX90
To earn a spot on our final round, we needed access to the model for testing by our entire editorial group in October—and that eliminated at least two models we’d been expecting to have as finalists: the Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3. Both of these South Carolina–made EVs are among the year’s most important new vehicles.
That also meant the Tesla Model 3 Highland didn’t make the cut, because it proved too challenging for our extended editorial team to test the same vehicle and specification. Deliveries of this substantially reengineered version of one of the most popular EVs ever started in January, and it definitely checks all the boxes, with a refined ride, more hushed interior, and far better fit and finish than original examples of the Model 3. In a full review of the 2024 Tesla Model 3 Highland, we found this model to offer all the efficiency and charging ease of its predecessor while being easier to live with.
2024 Dodge Charger Daytona
For some models, it’s simply a matter of timing. The 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona EV and its V-8 sounds might be delivered before the end of the year, but we’ve only had very limited access to prototypes (and can’t fully tell you about that as of yet). And the Jeep Wagoneer S electric SUV and Ram 1500 REV electric pickup simply won’t make it here in time to be included. Neither will the Cadillac Escalade IQ and Cadillac Optiq.
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
The same is largely the story with the Lucid Gravity, which is in production in Arizona and likely to be delivered in small numbers before the end of the year. But our time with this model has been limited to a short preview drive of a Gravity prototype, so it’s going on next year’s list, unfortunately.
2025 Volvo EX30
Another worthy contender for next year will the Volvo EX30, which the Swedish automaker has said that it will start delivering in the U.S. before the end of the year, after a false start and then a delay for this market of nearly a year.
Next year’s list will also likely include some plug-in hybrids once again. Due mostly to timing, and a lack of PHEVs we could agree qualified as fully new or reengineered, that’s something we simply didn’t have this year.
