Best Luxury Electric Cars For 2023

Still relatively new to the EV scene, Lucid came in hot with a 1,111 horsepower, AWD wide-set sedan with the Lucid Air Dream Edition. Now the lineup has matured to include the Air Ground Touring, Touring and the more accessible priced Pure edition with power, range and price all coming down accordingly. The Pure starts at $89,050. A Sapphire performance edition with three motors is also coming later this year.

Lucid is more than a Tesla competitor, it obliterates the EV startup with range up to 516 miles on a 900 volt system and 114 kWh battery. A Performance Grand Touring improves all stats, incredibly. Fast charging takes 20 minutes for 300 miles. It may look like a more stately sedan stretched wide, but it can move.

With a terrifyingly fast zero-to-60 mph time of 3 seconds, it’s an impressive ride beyond the sumptuous seating and floating screens under an expansive glass roof. The Pure adds a metal roof, which might feel less luxurious, but with 400 plus miles of range, there’s no such thing as “range anxiety” in this car.

Tesla went Plaid on the Model S and nothing’s ever been the same since. A major update to Tesla’s first mainstream sedan brought a lot of changes, mainly a triple-motor 1,020-horsepower Plaid variant with 395-mile range. The base is now a dual-motor with 405 miles of range and 6,700 horsepower. New screens (including a smaller backseat display for passengers to watch streaming shows) and a yoke steering wheel were added. The yoke proved a mixed bag, and has since been made optional.

The Plaid brings the competitive spirit to the luxury sedan market with ultra-fast zero-to-60 times, but still offers ample space for passengers and cargo. This sedan can do it all even if it lacks some of the creature comforts of other sedans at its price point. There’s a reason Tesla has revolutionized the EV segment and the Model S is a major part of that. Recent price reductions have brought the dual-motor under $90,130.

As more hit the road, the 2023 Polestar 2—especially the single-motor variant—continues to set the standard for a reliable, sturdy EV with premium flair. Its sporty exterior is still confusingly somewhere between large hatchback sedan and small crossover, but the EV from the Volvo spinoff company maintains a sleek and premium appearance. Despite a tight back seat, there’s plenty of cargo room and it can handle all types of driving with up to 270-mile range and performance-ready variants. The built-in Google infotainment system is intuitive and easy with stellar navigation thanks to Google Maps. It’s a dependable EV for converts and doubters alike.

Big changes are coming for 2024, with more range and a new front end, but until then it’s settled into two variants after launching in 2021: single- or dual-motor on a 78 kWh battery with longer range for both versions up to 270 miles. Both can be boosted (at a price) with extra features for performance, range, design and comfort. A BST edition 270 performance variant debuted for the 2023 model year with limited examples.

The Polestar 2 is clearly a premium vehicle, but just like it straddles the line for model size, its pricing is also caught between luxury and more affordable, almost. The base starts under $50,000 for the single-motor version. The limited run version is nearly $77,000, while pricing for the redesigned 2024 MY hasn’t been released yet.

An electric companion to the E-Class, the EQE offers a battery-powered option for the mid-size luxury sedan customer. It maintains Mercedes standards but pushes the brand into its future electric design. The EQE line launches with the 288-horsepower, rear-wheel drive EQE 350 followed by the more powerful all-wheel-drive EQE 500 4Matic. Prepare for a glass-smooth ride.

Its $74,900 starting price tag brings a plethora of tech goodies on a 12.8-inch OLED touchscreen and standard safety features. A helpful voice assistant makes driving entertainment easier to access and there’s fingerprint, voice and facial recognition. The massive Hyperscreen can be added, but the base version has you covered and saves you thousands. Welcome to the future.

BMW deploys a similar strategy with the electric 2023 i4 that they’ve used with the 3 and 4 Series gas cars, selling three powertrains ranging from the 281 horsepower eDrive35 to the 536 hp M50, with the eDrive40’s 335 horsepower taking the Goldilocks seat. While only the M50 gets AWD and the other two suffice with rear-wheel propulsion, they share BMW’s excellent chassis tuning, with superb cornering capability and quick-to-blistering acceleration. The kicker is a hatchback that’s more versatile than you get from a 3 Series’s trunk. One of its best features is its reasonable price for a luxury option with up to 301 miles of range.

Except for its name, there’s little not to like about the 2023 Genesis Electrified G80, a 365-horsepower, all-wheel drive EV conversion of the well-received twin-turbo G80 3.5T Sport. If you aren’t familiar, Genesis is the Hyundai Motor Group’s luxury brand and the Electrified G80 is a no-holds barred luxury car with muscular sheet metal, a sumptuous interior and all the latest tech features—a true grand tourer that can compete with the best from Germany and Japan.

As a new EV closely based on the gas-powered Genesis G80, the Electrified version ditches the gas model’s spare tire, panoramic glass roof and uses more lightweight aluminum instead of steel. It also ramps up the starting price to over $80,000. But the Electrified G80 is almost 600 pounds heavier than its internal combustion counterpart, thanks mostly to the 1,204-pound battery pack installed beneath the cabin floor. Its dual-motor, all-wheel drive powertrain delivers up to 282 miles of range. “Electrified” is its formal name although neither that word nor the abbreviated “EV” appear anywhere on the car.

As more luxury EVs come onto the scene, the Mercedes-Benz EQS loses some of its luster and its high starting price glares, hence the drop in our ranking. While it feels like a limo ride that you never want to end, it’s still a driver’s ride that’s comfortable and fun to drive with a big battery and performance drive modes. But it’s a big car. While it borrows from the traditional S-Class sedan this is a new vehicle for Mercedes and it sets the tone for its growing EV portfolio.

The single motor, rear-wheel drive 450+ or dual-motor, all-wheel drive 580 4MATIC both offer impressive range for a bulkier sedan and large trunk space. An optional 56-inch Hyperscreen is impressive, but even without the massive display the EQS brings in a solid navigation system and functional voice system, MBUX. If an emphasis on performance is what you seek, the AMG EQS could provide that with very similar styling and overall appearance.

Massage seating, pillows and high-quality materials throughout make the cabin experience enjoyable for all. The ample legroom also helps. Electric vehicles are known for silent rides, but the EQS is both eerily quiet and instantly responsive, a true luxury delight. This car is more about luxury than electrification.

The e-tron GT doesn’t disappoint even if it’s a more distant cousin of the Porsche Taycan. The e-tron GT is a gorgeous coupe-like four-door with low, slinky lines, plenty of power, sporty handling combined with a comfortable ride and a tasty, driver-oriented interior. It makes drivers happy.

The e-tron GT is the first fully electrified Audi for enthusiasts. It comes in just one body style with two trim levels—Premium Plus and Prestige—plus a high-priced, higher-performance variant, the RS e-tron GT. It sits like a low-slung sports car despite its sedan-like length and size. It’s certainly sports-car fast with a lap timer but its suspension and steering is tuned for road trips, so it’s not only for race days.

The front seats are comfortable and spacious, but keep in mind the back seat is tight. While a stylish speedster, when it comes to battery efficiency, performance drivers might be disappointed it’s not as efficient as a Tesla on its 83.7 kWh battery. The e-tron GT starts at $104,900 for 2023, and represents a good value in the luxury-performance sport sedan class for its combination of content and performance.

The GTS is packed with sporty features but positioned the cars for buyers seeking a mid-level value proposition. As such, the Taycan GTS is distinguished by powertrains that put it between the $103,800 Taycan 4S and the $150,900 Taycan Turbo. Both the Taycan GTS ($134,100) and Taycan GTS Sport Turismo ($136,00) are powered by a 93.4 kWh lithium-ion battery pack feeding two motors producing a total of 590 horsepower and 626 pound-feet of torque. As with the pricing, that puts it above the 4S (562 horsepower, 479 pound-feet) but shy of the Turbo (670 and 626).

The GTS is hands down a sportier option with a race feel in the front seats: The seats, headliner and heated steering wheel feature Race-Tex, an Alcantara-like material that feels grippy and plush. It can get to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds. Synthetic sounds accompany the drive (but can be turned off if unwanted). It’s impressive that a 5,100-pound car can move like this and with livelier steering feedback than other Taycans.

While not the most efficient or long-range battery, the fast-charging compatible system makes up for that shortcoming and should ease range anxiety. It might not be the traditional Porsche but it’s worth a look, electric or otherwise.

For performance-minded buyers who don’t want to step up to a Turbo model, Porsche has you covered with the all-wheel-drive Taycan GTS sedan and GTS Sport Turismo wagon that bumps up power up to 509 hp (590 using Overboost) and adds a variety of trim and suspension tuning upgrades.