As it looks to accelerate the pace of its AI development, Google is further streamlining the teams building its AI services, platforms, and tools. On Thursday, Logan Kilpatrick, who leads product for Google’s AI Studio developer platform, said in a post on X that Google’s AI Studio team and the team developing the API for […]

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• The deadly Azerbaijani plane crash on Christmas Day is souring Russia's attempt to keep Baku close.
• Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly said Russia shot down the plane, and is demanding answers.
• Putin apologized, but Aliyev is still pressuring Russia and says it must take responsibility.

Azerbaijan's president has repeatedly accused Russia of covering up the cause of a plane crash that killed 38 passengers on Christmas Day, publicly criticizing Moscow again on Monday.

"The initial investigation and its results have been reported to me, but I can say with full certainty that the blame for the deaths of Azerbaijani citizens in this disaster lies with representatives of the Russian Federation," Ilham Aliyev said in remarks to state news agency Azertac.

"And we demand justice, we demand punishment of the guilty, we demand full transparency and human behavior," said Aliyev, who spoke just after meeting families of the crash victims.

His comments mark a sudden and rapidly deepening point of tension between Azerbaijan and Russia as the latter has tried to maintain ties since the outbreak of full war in Ukraine. While Baku and Moscow are not close allies in the traditional sense, Russia supplies arms to Azerbaijan and has sought to be the main mediator for its bitter conflict with Armenia.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin visited Aliyev in August for two days, and the pair were photographed chatting in their work shirts on sofas in Aliyev's home, alongside the First Lady of Azerbaijan.

The tone in their relations has shifted dramatically since the crash.

Aliyev has repeatedly said that preliminary investigations showed the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was shot down by Russian air defense systems, saying it was "riddled with holes" and affected by electronic warfare. The plane was flying to the Chechen city of Grozny and made its emergency landing in Kazakhstan.

"If timely measures had been taken to close the Russian airspace near the city of Grozny, if all the rules of ground services had been observed, as well as proper coordination between the armed forces of the Russian Federation and civilian services, this tragedy would not have happened," Aliyev said on Monday.

Notably, Aliyev chose to speak in Russian instead of Azerbaijani, which he said was to honor the flight's two deceased pilots, who spoke Russian.

The Azerbaijani president said that Baku wasn't alleging Russia shot down the plane intentionally but accused Russian officials of not investigating the crash properly.

"The cover-up of this incident by Russian state agencies and the focus on absurd theories causes surprise, regret, and rightful indignation," he said.

Russia's federal transport agency had initially said the Azerbaijani Airlines flight was struck by birds, then blamed Ukrainian drones and fog for forcing the plane out of Grozny airspace.

The US, on the other hand, has said that it had seen "early indications" that the Azerbaijani Airlines flight was possibly "brought down by Russian air defense systems."

Meanwhile, Putin's press office issued an apology on December 28 without taking responsibility for the crash.

"Vladimir Putin offered his apologies that the tragic incident had occurred in Russia's airspace and once again conveyed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the plane crash victims and wished those injured the quickest recovery," its statement said.

But Aliyev is refusing to lighten the pressure on Russia, saying that Putin's apology was "not enough" and that Moscow "must acknowledge its guilt" and punish those responsible.

He added on Monday that investigators were uncovering inconsistencies in Russia's airspace regulations that he said pointed to "serious criminal issues here."

The now-widening rift between Moscow and Baku comes as Azerbaijan has sought to reduce Russian influence on regional matters, especially when dealing with its archrival, Armenia.

For example, Russia had stationed peacekeepers in the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh until September 2023, when Azerbaijan seized the area and flushed out Moscow's forces. Some pro-Kremlin commentators in Russia have also said that Azerbaijani volunteers are appearing among Ukraine's ranks.

But Russia has responded relatively tamely, as it seeks more ex-Soviet allies to deal with its increasing isolation from Western sanctions and the war in Ukraine.

"I would like to note from the start that our relationship is developing in a positive way," Putin said in October when hosting Aliyev in Moscow, referencing Russian investments in the Azerbaijani economy.

Per Azertac, Aliyev responded and said that "the dynamics of our bilateral relations have been quite noticeable."

At CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Nvidia unveiled Project Digits, a “personal AI supercomputer” that provides access to the company’s Grace Blackwell hardware platform in a compact form factor. “[Project Digits] runs the entire Nvidia AI stack — all of Nvidia software runs on this,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said onstage during a press conference […]

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Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev has a lot to celebrate this holiday season. After a bumpy few years following Robinhood’s 2021 IPO — a period during which shares of the commission-free trading app plummeted by more than 90% after it abruptly restricted trading in some meme stocks — the 12-year-old company was just declared Yahoo Finance’s […]

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• As demand for EVs cooled, hybrid cars took off in 2024.
• Companies that placed early bets on hybrids reaped the rewards.
• Hybrids will likely play a big role in the electric transition.

Hybrid cars had a huge comeback in 2024.

These cars, which use a mix of battery-electric and gas power, emerged as the winner in a year when demand for EVs hit a plateau.

A new group of green-car shoppers flooded the market in 2024, and unlike their wealthy early adopter counterparts, these new consumers are much more practical. The compromise of a hybrid appeals to these shoppers, who tend to be both environmentally conscious and budget-conscious.

This shift toward hybrids was great news for companies like Toyota, which remained steadfast in the hybrid market as others fled to focus on pure EVs. Meanwhile, other companies were left scrambling last year as their expensive plans to phase out gas-powered cars hit a roadblock.

Here's how 2024 became the year of the hybrid car.

1. Shoppers cooled on EVs

In 2024, demand for electric cars pulled back as wealthy early adopters fled the segment.

What automotive executives and industry watchers initially identified as price sensitivity turned out to be a bigger problem for EVs. A different breed of car shoppers started flocking to dealer lots, and they were more drawn to the compromise of a hybrid.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk once blamed the popularity of hybrid cars for the company's poor sales performance in the first half of the year.

Read more about how automakers were forced to rethink their EV plans.

2. Hybrids weren't immune to rising prices

Affordability became a key issue for car shoppers last year as higher interest rates kept shoppers on a budget. Hybrids were often considered a more affordable option, but that rule didn't always hold true.

Massive demand for a specific type of hybrid car, the plug-in hybrid, sent prices of these already expensive models soaring.

Read more about how everyone wanted a plug-in hybrid, and how that demand sent prices soaring.

3. EV demand took a hit

Greater numbers of average customers were in the market for electric cars last year, and these shoppers weren't as easily swayed as the wealthy early adopters who drove the segment's early growth.

Car companies weren't prepared for this stark drop-off in demand and were stuck slashing prices on their big, expensive EVs while they quickly pivoted to offering more hybrids.

Read more about how automakers over-estimated EV demand.

4. Hybrid bets paid off

Sales of hybrid cars took off in the first quarter of last year, benefiting companies like Toyota and Ford. Both of these big-name brands have a wide range of hybrid options, including the more expensive plug-in variety.

The Ford F-150 and Toyota RAV4 were the two most popular cars of 2024. Both saw huge sales increases last year due to interest in their hybrid models, executives have said.

"Hybrids are just rockin'," Toyota Motor North America Sales Chief David Christ said in March.

Read more about how Toyota was right about hybrid cars all along. And how Ford's secret weapon in the fight against Tesla has been hybrids.

5. Hybrids proved that they were here to stay

While the first wave of early adopters only lasted a few years for EV sellers, this more practical shopper is here to stay — at least for now.

Studies last year showed plenty of interest in pure electric vehicles, but many average consumers will require hybrids as a stepping stone as issues like charging infrastructure and affordability continue to exist.

While companies remain steadfast in their commitment to all-electric futures, several are making hybrids a bigger part of that transition.

Read more about how a hybrid-car comeback is in the making — and it could be great news for your wallet.

• Hybrids ruled the roost in 2024.
• Some of the most popular cars in 2024 also have the highest share of hybrid sales.
• Despite a tough year for EVs, the Tesla Model Y makes the top five.

Once thought to be a dying segment, hybrid electric-gas cars had their best year ever in 2024.

A shift in the green car buyer base from wealthy early adopters to more frugal, practical shoppers gave hybrids new life. This new swath of buyers was not ready to make the jump to a fully electric car, said Ivan Drury, an automotive analyst for the car-shopping website Edmunds.

"Hybrids this year became an extremely easy default decision for someone who doesn't want to go full electric but wants basically 70% or 80% of benefits," Drury said in an interview. "These cars come with almost none of the extra costs or hassle in the sense that disrupting your lifestyle."

The popularity of these models is reflected in the top 10 best sellers, according to data provided by Edmunds. The top three — Ford's F-150 pickup truck, Toyota's RAV4 SUV, and Honda's CR-V — all have hybrid options that did especially well this year.

For example, about half of all RAV4 and CR-V sales are hybrids, according to Edmunds. Meanwhile, Ford has lauded the success of the F-150 hybrid this year as these vehicles make up more of the Blue Oval's sales.

Vehicle affordability also greatly influenced the popularity of hybrids this year, with models like the Honda Civic gaining in popularity.

"Customers recognized that this is a proven technology that the most trusted car companies have already been making," Drury said. "It's a win-win for anyone wary of EVs and shut out by higher interest rates this year."

1. Ford F-150

The No. 1 spot is never a question. For the 47th consecutive year, the F-150 pickup truck is the top-selling car in America.

Ford has leaned heavily into hybrid demand this year, and the F-150 is no exception. Due to the popularity of the Pro-Power Onboard feature, which turns your hybrid into a mobile generator, the company has said that about 20% of buyers choose the hybrid version.

2. Toyota RAV4

Toyota has sold more than 430,000 RAV4s so far in 2024, about half of which are hybrids.

An early leader in hybrid technology, Toyota has been proven right this year in its bet on these partially electrified cars.

3. Honda CR-V

The Honda CR-V, which also has a highly popular hybrid option, moved up one spot this year, knocking Chevrolet's pickup truck out of the top three.

4. Chevrolet Silverado 1500

Chevrolet's profit-driving Silverado 1500 pickup truck is still a highly popular car, commanding 2.5% of the US market in 2024.

Chevrolet also released a fully electric version of the Silverado 1500 this year, but it does not currently sell a hybrid model. GM had previously planned to skip hybrid models in North America but reversed those plans earlier this year.

5. Tesla Model Y

Tesla's most popular car rounds out this year's top five, with an estimated 336,833 units sold so far this year.

Tesla had a tough year as the EV market faced upheaval, and price cuts alone weren't enough to stoke demand. The affordable Model Y bucks this trend, and Tesla investors are hopeful more affordable models will carry Elon Musk's automaker through the coming years.

6. Toyota Corolla

Much has been made of the dying sedan segment, but Toyota and Honda continue to find success with these reliable vehicles.

The Toyota Corolla still accounts for more than 2% of the entire US market, proving a continued interest in affordable models, Drury said.

7. Toyota Camry

Toyota's Camry went exclusively hybrid for the 2025 model year. It also comes in a hatchback body style, which helps bolster the nameplate's popularity.

8. Nissan Rogue

The Nissan Rogue is an outlier on the list as one of the only SUVs without a hybrid option.

Nissan, which has struggled with demand overall this year, is considering a tie-up with hybrid leader Honda.

9. Honda Civic

The Honda Civic jumped seven spots this year to eke its way into the top 10. The rise of this reliable sedan, with a starting price below $30,000, is a good example of car shoppers' shifting preferences in 2024, according to Drury.

10. Chevrolet Equinox

The Chevrolet Equinox also jumped a few spots this year to make its way into the top 10. Starting at $28,600, this Chevy crossover sold about 206,100 units this year to capture 1.4% of the US market.

Chevrolet recognizes the popularity of this nameplate, choosing it as one of the first to electrify in 2024.

• Ahead of its shift to an all-EV future, Jaguar unveiled a new brand identity this year.
• The rebrand was roasted by many online. But some advertising vets have said it was a smart strategy.
• Jaguar's first new EV model is expected in 2025 — and industry watchers said it has to deliver.

Jaguar gambled big this year on a total brand transformation. And in 2025, the British luxury carmaker will need to prove all the fuss was worth it.

It's set next year to debut the first EV in its new all-electric lineup: After setting up global audiences to expect something big — this year's Jaguar advertising controversy was the talk of the industry and beyond — now it's got to deliver something that matches the moment its rebrand has created, industry watchers said.

A space-age concept car — presented in pink and blue — with swooping lines and curious interior features stoked some excitement for the brand, whose leaders have said it intends to go much more upmarket.

Sometime next year, if the company stays on its own timeline, we'll see the result.

"I think the biggest risk for them now is making sure the production model lives up to the promise and doesn't suffer death by a thousand cuts," Greg Andersen, the CEO of the Omaha, Nebraska, creative agency Bailey Lauerman, told BI recently. "Rolling out an unapologetic, future-facing brand along with a marginally better car might not go so well."

Here's how Jaguar — a favored vehicle of the British royal family, UK prime ministers, and James Bond villains — got to this point:

Jaguar's slumping sales call for a reset

Jag's sales had been slumping globally for years. In 2021, Jaguar first announced that it would ditch internal combustion engines and go all-in on EVs.

And in 2024, the nearly century-old Jaguar made major moves to ramp up that transition. Jaguar Land Rover, owned by India-based Tata Motors, said it would phase out production of all its current models by the end of this year.

In their place will come the new fully electric models, the first of which the company said would be unveiled in 2025 — and are expected to go on sale to the public in 2026.

A new Jaguar is born

In November of this year, soon after stopping new vehicle sales in the UK, Jaguar released the controversial new vision and brand identity.

The public reaction to the debut of Jaguar's new rebranding campaign wasn't quite as positive as the company may have hoped.

In particular, a promotional video Jag unveiled as part of the campaign — which also included an updated typeface for Jaguar's iconic logo, a redesigned leaping-jaguar mark, and a new creative philosophy to "copy nothing" — raised some eyebrows.

The video shows models clad in colorful, ultra-modern outfits doing things like exiting an elevator, painting a wall, and swinging a sledgehammer before they all sit down on a rock in a pink desert landscape.

Phrases like "create exuberant," "live vivid," and "delete ordinary," flashed across the screen. And notably, for a car company, there were no cars in the ad.

Social media users, late-night TV hosts, and some in the media roasted Jaguar over its decision not to include cars in the video, which was a viral sensation.

Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk weighed in, posting on X: "Do you sell cars?"

"The Late Show's" Stephen Colbert said on his program: "Where are the cars? Does Jaguar sell ketamine now?"

It wasn't just the lack of cars in the initial video that got people talking. A rash of criticism cropped up online and elsewhere, with some right-leaning personalities accusing the company of abandoning its traditional history and pushing into "woke" politics.

In response to the backlash, Jaguar's managing director Rawdon Glover told the Financial Times he was disappointed by "the level of vile hatred and intolerance" that he said the video garnered online, particularly against the models it featured. But he also said the campaign had drummed up positive buzz.

Marketing and rebranding professionals gave mixed reviews to Business Insider at the time — one called the campaign "bonkers," and another said it was a relatively successful rollout.

The ad industry vets all agreed that, at the very least, the rebrand sparked conversation.

Jaguar released a concept car to match its new image

A few weeks after its rebrand launch, at the beginning of December, Jaguar unveiled a design concept for its next generation of electric vehicles — finally pairing an image of a car with its "exuberant modernism" rebranding campaign.

The pastel-colored concept car — dubbed "Type 00" for zero tailpipe emissions and its status as car zero in the brand's new lineage — featured several novel design elements, like a glassless rear tailgate, a brass divider running through the middle of the cabin, and pedestals of travertine stone to support the floating seats.

When the concept car was released, several advertising veterans applauded it for continuing Jag's rebrand strategy.

"This is a master class in what rebranding can accomplish for a company — a new forward-facing product and brand, clearly designed for its new customer persona, that everyone is talking about," Jim Heininger, the founder and principal of the Chicago firm The Rebranding Experts, previously told Business Insider.

Others were less convinced.

Christos Joannides, the founder and creative director of the luxury branding agency Flat 6 Concepts in Los Angeles, said the concept car didn't do enough to ground Jaguar's new ethos in reality.

"By showcasing a production model with more realistic features, Jaguar could have conveyed its vision more effectively and provided tangible evidence of its direction," Joannides said. "As it stands, the concept car feels superficial and gimmicky, like a desperate attempt to be different without any real substance or coherent strategy."

Jaguar needs to deliver in 2025

For better or worse, Jaguar had a big year. And even bigger is the company's need to follow through next year.

The first model of Jaguar's new lineup — the electric four-door GT — will be unveiled in late 2025, the company has said.

It said the model would use dedicated Jaguar Electric Architecture, have a projected driving range of up to 430 miles on a single charge, and be able to add up to 200 miles of range after 15 minutes of rapid charging.

But with a price tag that could near $200,000, Jaguar's new models will really need to be incredible, EV news outlet Electrek argued.

With so much competition, it could still be a tough sell.

"Unless Jaguar's expectations for its upcoming line of EVs is tempered with a dose of reality, the company will be planning to produce far more vehicles than there will be buyers willing to take them home," analyst Sam Fiorani, vice president of global forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, told Car and Driver.

Jaguar has said updating its brand for the future is the right move.

"We have forged a fearlessly creative new character for Jaguar that is true to the DNA of the brand but future-facing, relevant, and one that really stands out," managing director Glover said at the time the concept car was revealed.

We'll see next year whether it was right.

• Nissan and Honda confirmed Monday that they're in merger talks.
• Nissan's lack of hybrids has affected the success of popular models like the Rogue.
• Honda has seen big sales increases for popular models with hybrid offerings.

A tie-up between Nissan and Honda could solve one big problem for Nissan: a lack of hybrids.

That's what dealers who spoke with Business Insider said last week amid reports that the Japanese automakers are in talks to create a new global auto goliath. Now, this week, the automakers have confirmed the chatter — saying they're indeed in official merger talks. Mitsubishi Motors also is involved in the talks, the Monday statement from the companies said.

Nissan is one of few car manufacturers in the US without a hybrid or plug-in hybrid offering, despite taking an early lead in EV sales with the Leaf in 2010.

Green car shoppers have turned away from EVs in favor of hybrid models this year, leaving Nissan with unpopular and unprofitable battery-powered offerings in the Leaf and Ariya SUV.

Nissan dealers have dealt with slumping sales all year, particularly for the brand's top seller, the Rogue. Once a segment leader, sales of the Rogue fell 10% through the first nine months of the year compared to the same period last year, according to company data.

And dealers say they're losing customers to Honda and Toyota, which have hybrid versions of their CR-V and RAV4 SUVs.

One dealer with both Nissan and Honda stores says it's "painfully obvious" that Nissan is losing customers to brands with more hybrids. The dealer didn't want to be identified, but Business Insider confirmed his identity.

He said it has become common for a Nissan shopper to migrate to the Honda store after they realize there aren't any hybrids.

Following disappointing sales results in the first quarter, Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida acknowledged the hybrid blind spot, saying during an earnings press conference that until last year, Nissan wasn't able to predict the rapid rise in demand for hybrids. The company has said it is shifting efforts toward hybrid offerings, but dealers and automotive industry experts say that change could take years.

Meanwhile, Honda is riding the hybrid wave this year as customers gravitate toward the hybrid versions of the CR-V SUV and Civic sedan. Just this month, Honda said it has plans to double its global hybrid sales to 1.3 million vehicles by 2030, as it aims to create a "bridge" to EV adoption.

Dealer skepticism over another auto merger

Still, some dealers are wary of yet another global auto merger.

Adam Lee, a dealer in Maine with several major brands, including Nissan, Honda, and Chrylser, said he's grown cynical about promised "synergies" after experiencing several different mergers as a Chrysler dealer.

"Show me a merger where the synergies actually existed, and I'll show you something that doesn't exist," Lee said. "I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I tend to be cynical about anything like this."

Chyrsler-owner Stellantis is in the middle of a tough transition right now, as the CEO who led the merger of Fiat Chrysler and PSA stepped down suddenly at the start of the month. Before that, Chrysler lived through a messy marriage with Germany's Daimler in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Lee said Nissan could probably use some help with hybrids and other plug-in models but argued: "You don't necessarily need to merge to do that."

OpenAI says it has no plans to release an API for Sora, its AI model that can generate reasonably realistic videos when provided with a text description or reference image. During an AMA with members of OpenAI’s dev team, Romain Huet, head of developer experience at OpenAI, said that a Sora API isn’t in the […]

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Google on Tuesday announced support for third-party tools in Gemini Code Assist, its enterprise-focused AI code completion service. Code Assist launched in April as a rebrand of a similar service Google offered under its now-defunct Duet AI branding. Available through plug-ins for popular dev environments like VS Code and JetBrains, Code Assist is powered by Google’s Gemini […]

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The all-electric 2025 Lucid Air Pure is a dreamy, sexy car that’s no less luxurious for being the cheapest trim in Lucid’s Air lineup. I felt fancy and discerning driving around, but in an understated way – as if I were wearing designer sweatpants.  But does fancy equal value? I spent about 10 days driving […]

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• Elon Musk is almost $200 billion richer than Jeff Bezos and worth more than Costco.
• His net worth hit $447 billion after Tesla stock jumped and SpaceX's valuation rose to $350 billion.
• Just five years ago, Musk was worth about $25 billion, and Tesla was valued below $100 billion.

Elon Musk is nearly $200 billion richer than Jeff Bezos, and personally worth more than Costco, after adding $63 billion to his fortune in a single day.

His net worth surged to $447 billion on Wednesday, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after Tesla stock jumped 6% and SpaceX's valuation leaped to $350 billion based on employee share sales.

Musk's fortune has ballooned by $218 billion this year — a sum that exceeds the net worth of every other person on the rich list except Amazon's Bezos ($249 billion) and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg ($224 billion).

Musk is now more than twice as wealthy as Oracle's Larry Ellison ($198 billion), and more than three times as rich as Warren Buffett ($144 billion).

His one-day gain — the largest in the index's history — rivals the total wealth of Binance cofounder Changpeng Zhao, ranked 23rd with a $63.2 billion fortune. It also helped to lift the combined wealth of the 500 richest people on the planet to above $10 trillion for the first time, Bloomberg said.

Musk is now worth more on paper than the vast majority of US public companies, including Costco ($442 billion), Home Depot ($419 billion), and Netflix ($400 billion).

His wealth is largely made up of his roughly 13% stake and some contested stock options in Tesla, and his 42% slice of SpaceX. Musk's other businesses include xAI, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and X Corp, formerly Twitter.

Tesla shares have surged more than 70% this year to $425 at Wednesday's close, valuing the company at nearly $1.4 trillion. That figure comfortably exceeds the roughly $1 trillion market value of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and approaches the $1.6 trillion value of Zuckerberg's Meta.

The electric vehicle maker's shares have soared as investors bet it will harness artificial intelligence in revolutionary products such as self-driving cars and humanoid robots.

Musk's prominent role in Donald Trump's campaign, and his emergence as a close advisor to the president-elect who's tasked him with streamlining the US government, have also fueled optimism around his companies.

SpaceX is now valued at $350 billion based on the latest price paid by the company and its backers to buy shares from employees, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. The Starlink owner's valuation was previously $210 billion after a secondary share sale in June.

It's worth underscoring how dramatic Musk's wealth jump has been. He was worth less than $170 billion as recently as April, and only about $25 billion five years ago — around 1/18 of his net worth now.

Tesla was worth less than $100 billion during the Covid crash of 2020, or about 1/14 of its valuation today.

Google’s next major AI model has arrived to combat a slew of new offerings from OpenAI. On Wednesday, Google announced Gemini 2.0 Flash, which the company says can natively generate images and audio in addition to text. 2.0 Flash can also use third-party apps and services, allowing it to tap into Google Search, execute code, […]

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Devs expect tech vendors to supply software development kits, or SDKs, alongside their products to make it easier to create apps using those products. But many vendors only offer APIs, which are simply protocols that enable software components to communicate with each other. Alex Rattray, the founder of Stainless, thinks AI can assist, here. Stainless […]

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• Coming EV models include small hatchbacks, pickups, sports cars, and minivans.
• They come from brands like Audi, Cadillac, Lucid, Mercedes-Benz, Rivian, Tesla, and Volkswagen.
• This article is part of "Getting Ready for Electric," a series of guides and practical advice for buying your next EV.

A large number of exciting EVs are headed to market soon.

Several automakers have modified their electrification strategies in recent months, replacing some of their prior electric-vehicle concepts with a focus on internal-combustion-engine and hybrid models.

Even with this strategic change, you can expect to see a lot of EV options in the coming years.

Here's a collection of cool EVs — including small hatchbacks, pickups, sports cars, and minivans — that we can't wait to drive.

Audi Q6 e-tron

The Audi Q6 e-tron is the 11th battery electric model to join the brand's lineup and marks the debut of Audi's all-new EV platform.

With a 100-kWh battery pack, the Q6 e-tron is rated by the Environmental Protection Agency for 321 miles of range. The Q6 e-tron with Quattro all-wheel drive has 456 horsepower and can do 0 to 60 mph in just 4.9 seconds. There's also a higher-performance SQ6 e-tron.

The Q6 e-tron starts at $63,800.

Cadillac Vistiq

The Cadillac Vistiq, starting at $77,400, is a three-row midsize luxury electric SUV positioned between the smaller Lyriq and the flagship Escalade IQ.

Cadillac says the Vistiq will have a range of about 300 miles with a 102-kWh lithium-ion battery pack. With dual electric motors generating 615 horsepower, it can go from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds.

Production at GM's Spring Hill, Tennessee, plant is expected to start in early 2025.

Canoo pickup truck

The Texas-based startup EV maker Canoo unveiled its electric pickup in 2021, but there hasn't been much news about the innovative cab-forward truck since. So it's unclear when it will go into production. What we do know is intriguing, including 600 horsepower, 200-plus miles of range, and an ultraconfigurable truck bed.

Hyundai Ioniq 9

The 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9 is an all-electric midsize three-row family SUV set to go on sale in the first half of 2025. Built on the Electric Global Modular Platform platform, which also underpins the Kia EV9, the Ioniq 9 features a 110.3-kWh battery pack and an estimated range of 385 miles.

Kia EV4

The Kia EV4 is a concept for a stylish compact EV sedan that debuted at the 2023 Los Angeles Auto Show. Kia has not confirmed that the EV4 will enter production. But Car and Driver believes it could arrive as early as 2026 with up to 300 miles of range and a starting price of about $39,000.

Lotus Emeya

The Lotus Emeya is a high-performance four-door GT with as much as 905 horsepower. According to Lotus, the Chinese-built EV can do 0 to 62 mph in 2.78 seconds and has a top speed of 159 mph.

Lucid Gravity

The Gravity is the second model to emerge from the American EV startup Lucid. It's a three-row luxury SUV with up to 828 horsepower and an estimated 440 miles of range. The Gravity Grand Touring is on sale now, starting at $94,900.

Mercedes-Benz G 580 with EQ Technology

The iconic Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen can finally be had as an EV. Offered alongside its internal-combustion siblings, the 2025 Mercedes-Benz G 580 with EQ Technology comes with a 122-kWh battery pack, 239 miles of range, 579 horsepower, and a starting price of $161,500.

Polestar 5

The Polestar 5 is a luxury high-performance EV sedan that is scheduled to launch in 2025. The Polestar 5, set to compete against the likes of the Porsche Panamera and Mercedes-Benz EQS, will be built on the brand's first dedicated EV platform, featuring an 800-volt battery and electric motors that can produce up to 884 horsepower. While developed by Polestar's research-and-development teams in the UK and Sweden, the 5 will be built in the brand's new factory in Chongqing, China, alongside the coming Polestar 6 EV sports car.

Ram 1500 REV

The Ram 1500 REV is Stellantis' answer to the Ford F150 Lightning and Chevrolet Silverado EV. Its 168-kWh battery pack helps it reach an estimated 350 miles of driving range. According to Ram, the 654-horsepower pickup can do 0 to 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds and tow up to 14,000 pounds.

Rivian R3X

The R3X is the high-performance variant of the Rivian's coming R3 midsize electric SUV and has distinct hatchback styling. According to Rivian, the R3X should be able to achieve over 300 miles of range and do 0 to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds. The R3 and R3X are expected to arrive after Rivian commences customer deliveries of the R2 in the first half of 2026.

Scout Terra and Traveler

Volkswagen Group's Scout Motors recently unveiled its Scout Terra pickup and Scout Traveler SUV. The body-on-frame off-roaders, with a starting price between $50,000 and $60,000, are inspired by the International Scout utility vehicles of the 1960s and '70s. The Terra and Traveler are set to enter production in 2027 in South Carolina.

Tesla Roadster

The long-awaited second-generation Tesla Roadster was announced in 2017 and remains in development purgatory. The Roadster was supposed to go on sale in 2020 but has been continuously delayed. When it does arrive, Tesla says it should go from 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds, reach 250 mph, and have a range of 620 miles.

Volkswagen ID Buzz

The VW bus is back. Volkswagen relaunched its counterculture-era icon as the all-electric 2025 ID Buzz. The new bus, which starts at $60,000, comes with a 91-kWh lithium-ion battery pack and is available in all-wheel drive. The ID Buzz has an estimated 234 miles of range.

• Tiya Gordon worked in design before she pivoted to cofounded It's Electric, a climate tech startup.
• Gordon launched the company in 2022 after struggling to find an accessible EV charger in Brooklyn.
• She shared how they raised $11 million in grants and investment from prominent investors like Uber.

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Tiya Gordon, 45, the founder of electric charging startup It's Electric. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I'm a New Yorker and a staunch believer in public transportation. For most of my life, I never owned a car.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, all the forms of public transportation I used daily were unsafe.

I had to think about how I could transport my then-five-year-old and how I would reach family members if something terrible happened.

I considered getting a car for the first time. I made this list: It was written in Sharpie on a piece of grid paper, and it said, "New?" "Used?" "EV???" However, I had to immediately eliminate electric vehicles from my potential options because, in 2020, there was no accessible place to charge them in Brooklyn.

I realized there was a lack of infrastructure to transition to EV cars and that was the seed idea for my company.

Although my career was in design, I pivoted and cofounded a climate tech startup called It's Electric in 2022. We're focused on scaling electric vehicle charging in densely populated cities.

We're now a company of 10 people and we've received $11.8 million in funding and grants. Uber invested in our seed round. My best advice is to find simple solutions to big pain points and prove your work with receipts.

We found a simple solution for electric charging

When we started building It's Electric in 2021, my cofounder and I conducted research to determine what was preventing EV chargers from being deployed quickly and at scale in US cities.

In a city like London, there are a lot of lampposts that have been retrofitted into curbside chargers because they can handle 220 to 240 volts of electricity. In the US, the power feeds in our lamposts are typically much lower, at 110 volts.

If we wanted to have lamppost chargers, we'd need to upgrade the utility main and corresponding interconnection agreement, load analysis, transformer, submeter, and customer connection box.

We discovered that one asset in cities, that has plenty of power ready to go, is buildings, which we can use to power public chargers.

If a library, home, or commercial building agrees to power a public charger, we share revenue with that building to give them passive income as an incentive. It's a very simple idea. We say it's not deep tech, it's shallow tech.

Running a pilot helped get investors on board

Our business started with just us two founders, but after we raised a $2.2 million pre-seed round in May 2023, we hired our first two employees.

During our pre-seed stage, multiple investors told me that our idea was so simple that it must not work, or surely someone else was already doing it. We had to prove that a simple solution could be effective.

One way we did that was by getting our pilot off the ground in 2023.

We secured our partnership with Hyundai after winning their EV Open Innovation Challenge. Winners were selected based on their potential to expand market access to electric vehicles.

We knew we needed to test in the real world and in a notoriously hard-to-open city. So we approached the New York City Economic Development Corporation to ask if we could pilot our technology on their buildings in the Brooklyn Army Terminal. After much work, this became our first pilot and was crucial to landing investment.

Our work on this pilot was so successful that EDC launched a brand new program based on our pilot.

Have receipts and discuss your wins

Our pilot demonstrated that our solution offsets emissions, and we could collect data from the demo to show it was scalable, low-cost, and quick to install.

The pilot meant I could provide investors with proven results. We'd gone beyond what investors expected of us, which placated their queries and also attracted investors we hadn't yet spoken to.

Having a small-scale demonstration of your solution is more helpful in pitching to a large corporation than trying to sell a concept. It meant we were able to demonstrate a Series A level of progress at a pre-seed level.

So many investors said, "If it is so simple and such a good idea, then why aren't others already doing it?" My answer was, "Because no one else is doing it, we are the first." My advice to founders is to be tenacious but make sure you have the receipts.

We talked about our wins, such as prize nominations and media acknowledgments, to show investors that, by the jury of peers, our solution is winning.

Uber invested in our seed round

In July 2024, we closed our $6.5 million seed round, which was co-led by a Nordic fund, Failup Ventures, and Uber. Now, we're a team of 10.

Our involvement with Uber began when we met representatives from the company at a conference. Everyone thinks of companies like Uber as big corporate giants, but we started our partnership with them by chance. It wasn't a sales or business meeting; it was just two optimistic people working in transportation who had a great conversation.

A big challenge to Uber's zero-emissions goal is that Uber drivers live in cities and don't have garages, so it's really hard to charge electric vehicles. We provided a cheap, fast solution for urban drivers to charge electric cars. Uber needed more drivers to adopt electric cars to reach its goals, and we pitched ourselves as that stepping stone. A series of productive conversations helped us build this partnership.

Having Uber support our solution has been a great validation for our startup. It's also meant we've had access to smart people on their team to understand different policies and how we can help meet city goals.

My advice for founders who want to develop relationships with established companies is to try to solve problems for other people. Don't say you want a partnership because of what it can do for your startup, but put yourself out there as the problem-solver for a larger corporation. You want to find their pain point and point out that there isn't a solution that's already in the market.

• Pope Francis received the first all-electric popemobile from Mercedes-Benz.
• The G 580 model has a classic white exterior and a swiveling adjustable seat in the rear center.
• The Vatican recently announced plans to transition to a fully-electric fleet by 2030.

Mercedes-Benz has supplied the Vatican with popemobiles for decades — and for the first time, the Pope will ride an all-electric version.

"The first all-electric G-Class combines sustainability, elegant design and maximum functionality," Mercedes-Benz Group AG's chief design officer, Gorden Wagener, said in a release. "It is a great honor for us to be able to present this special vehicle to Pope Francis today."

Mercedes-Benz said it has been working on the vehicle for about a year and it contains four electric motors for each wheel. The vehicle's electric drivetrain was made to accommodate slow rides at public appearances.

The vehicle has a classic white exterior, like former popemobiles. In place of the popemobile's bench seat, the rear now features a swiveling and height-adjustable single seat. Two seats are also on the right and left of the main seat for other passengers.

The company's popemobiles are specially crafted white vehicles used to carry the pope through large crowds in St. Peter's Square while behind bulletproof glass. The new vehicle comes just in time for the 2025 Jubilee, which occurs every 2025 years and is expected to attract millions in Rome.

Mercedes-Benz didn't respond to a request for comment about the vehicle costs, but some estimates have pegged it around $500,000.

While Mercedes-Benz has been the standard manufacturer for years, the Pope ditched his typical popemobile for a Hyundai in 2015. He also previously approved plans for a new electric popemobile made by Fisker, but it's not clear if that was ever delivered and the EV company filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

The new EV popemobile arrives amid a larger push from the Vatican to go all-electric.

Pope Francis specifically has emphasized the need for sustainable development. In his 2015 encyclical letter Laudato si', he wrote about the dangers of the environmental crisis and cited the need for lifestyle changes. In November, the Vatican also announced plans with Volkswagon to transition to a fully electric fleet by 2030.

Ola Källenius, chairman of the board of management at Mercedes-Benz Group AG, said in a press release that it's sending out a "clear call for electromobility and decarbonization."

"Mercedes-Benz not only stands for the special and individual — but also for consistently creating the conditions for a net-carbon-neutral new car fleet in 2039," Källeniu said.