Ditching Tesla? Here are the Best New Luxury EV Alternatives

Elon Musk’s doubling down on his whole edgelord meme-king shtick on Twitter and his welcome-back embrace of right-wing voices on the platform have not only depressed Tesla’s stock but have had the side effect of alienating part of Tesla’s consumer base, including some in Hollywood.

Case in point: Climate advocate and onetime Tesla owner Mark Ruffalo recently tweeted at Musk to decry his support of the GOP and its anti-environment policies. “This used to mean something to you. You spoke about it personally to me. … You’re shilling for the climate denier party of fossil fuel zealots,” wrote Ruffalo. Similarly, actress and Democratic activist Alyssa Milano recently posted that she is ditching her Tesla. “I gave back my Tesla. I bough the VW ev. I love it,” she wrote.

But fret not: A host of excellent luxury electric vehicles has just hit the market. Not only do these new models have many of the features that make their gas-powered siblings great, but they’re also simply great driving machines that happen to be electric. That’s hard work, and it takes a lot of engineering, design brain power and billions of dollars to get this right.

THR rounds up the most desirable luxury EV models from makers including BMW, Audi (which counts Olivia Wilde as an ambassador), Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Polestar and Rivian, along with ultra-luxury electric offerings from Rolls-Royce (the Spectre) and Cadillac (whose new customizable Celestiq, starting at $300k, counts Lenny Kravitz as one of its earliest customers).

BMW

BMW’s all-electric “i” lineup has three new models — the SUV iX (from $84,100); and two sedans, the i4 (from $51,400) and the i7 (from $119,300) — all of which replace the outgoing i3. The i4 sedan, especially the i4 M50 model (from $67,300), brings the BMW drive you’ve come to expect into the EV era and has a driving style that, if you close your eyes, feels just as dialed-in as a gas-powered 3 Series.

AUDI

When it comes to drivability, the same qualities apply to Audi’s ever-growing E-tron lineup, which now has a whopping eight models, including the new Q4 E-tron (from $48,800) and the Q4 Sportback E-tron (from $56,800). After a few days driving the latter around town, this reporter began to see how it could replace a gas-powered Audi Q4 as a daily driver. It’s a luxurious small SUV with a lot of style and room.

MERCEDES-BENZ

Building off the success of its EQ lineup, Mercedes-Benz has a slew of new EVs for 2023, including the new midsize EQE sedan (from $74,900), two upcoming SUVs (the EQE and the EQE-AMG, prices to be announced) and the newly launched EQS SUV (from $104,400).

The real standout is the EQS SUV, which is available in earth-tone shades (the Alpine Green is stunning) and has three rows and more advanced technological features than most of its competitors. “When we started the EQ family, in general this was a really awesome project because it was creating something, truly, from a blank sheet of paper,” says Occa Büchner, head of color & trim, advanced materials & sustainability, at Mercedes-Benz AG. “There has never been a car like this before. We had to think of the EQ in a really strategic way and how to do it and how to differ it also from our combustion engine vehicles, but still make it look like and feel for each of the senses, just like a Mercedes.”

After spending time behind the wheel, the EQS SUV is clearly one of the best cars you can buy right now, period, electric or not.

VOLVO

Volvo, which has been on a tear since the introduction of the electric XC40 Recharge SUV and the stylish C40 Recharge crossover will finally have a seven-seater electric SUV in their lineup with Volvo EX90, expected to hit the market in early 2024.  

POLESTAR

Polestar, which split off from Volvo to become its own brand, is adding the Polestar 3, their first SUV as well. Why all the SUVs? Considering that trucks and SUVs makeup over 80% of all new car sales, according to JD Power, the move to a flood of all-electric SUVs was inevitable. 

CADILLAC

In the ultra high-end market, Cadillac recently debuted its customizable Celestiq to a star-studded audience at Milk Studios. Lenny Kravitz, who is spec’ing out a Celestiq with his choice of trim and colors (from more than 200 options), said he can’t wait to drive it around the streets of Paris, where he lives part of the year: “I’m designing this car to be an extension of my home and to be this beautiful vehicle to drive down the most iconic streets in Europe at night with my music playing, rolling through streets at 2 a.m.” (The details of Kravitz’s ride have yet to be revealed.)

With a starting price of $300,000, each Celestiq is custom-built and hand-made to the buyer’s specifications in tandem with their own Cadillac design concierge. Cadillac mentions that no two Celestiqs will be the same and each build would take about eight months from deposit to delivery. 

When asked who the buyer for a such a high-end Cadillac would be, Melissa Grady Dias, chief marketing officer of Cadillac tells THR, “We’re seeing that it’s people who really want to use the vehicle to tell their own story because the design process is so long and detailed, we’re finding that it becomes something that someone can tell their story with.”

ROLLS-ROYCE

There now literally is a Rolls-Royce of EVs, with the debut of the brand’s Spectre, an outrageously designed, over-the-top two-door coupe with a classic grill and a price tag that starts at $415,000 and goes way up from there. From its almost-18-foot length to the Starlight Coach Doors, which incorporate 4,796 softly illuminated ‘stars’ and a bevy of bespoke options, the first all-electric Rolls does not shy away from the limelight.

“Overall our customer base continues to get younger with an average age of close to 40 years old. With the Spectre, our first ever fully electric Rolls Royce, we see this continuing,” says Martin Fritsches, president and CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Americas. “When we start to hand over the keys to the first customers next October, we think it’s going to be the car that everyone, particularly in Beverly Hills and Hollywood, will want to have.”

RIVIAN

One brand that has tested customer loyalty with long wait times related to COVID and supply-chain issues is Rivian, the electric-car company based in Irvine, California. But the brand, whose lineup includes a four-door R1T pickup (from $73,000) and a recently launched SUV, the R1S (from $78,000), is now making deliveries at a regular clip.

Good Trouble actor Josh Pence waited patiently — starting in July 2019 — for his Forest Green R1T. It was delivered in early fall. “I’m really into sustainability, EVs and technology in general. I’ve had a Tesla and, prior to that, a Prius and a Ford Escape hybrid. As much as I like gas-burning cars and motorcycles, once you’ve had an EV, there’s no going back,” says Pence.

When asked what drew him to Rivian, Pence replies, “I went to one of the drive events and, I don’t know, I just loved the people that worked for the company. You could tell they were super enthusiastic and they really cared and from what I had seen videos of the CEO talking about the cars and the company on a whole, he didn’t seem like an insane egomaniac,” says Pence, with a laugh. ”He’s a family man and he felt like a smart guy that was saying, ‘I’m going to create this great new company’ and that’s what sold me.”

But, like Tesla in the past, all car companies, old and new, have a unique relationship with their EV buying customer and that goes back to values, because for most people, driving an EV is about more than just a car, it’s their commitment to a larger social good.

“I think Rivian reflects my values,” Pence says, “and I will say this parenthetically, I understand that it’s not a vehicle that most people can afford, but I am very much a believer [that] early adopters are helping to drive change and they own some responsibility for helping this technology become more affordable over time.”

I love this truck” continues Pence. “I mean, the amount of people that I ended up talking to, it’s every single day. I don’t even know how many times a day. It’s crazy. It’s like walking a cute puppy around town.”

A version of this story first appeared in the Dec. 7 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.