From InsideEVs.
Welcome to the 2026 edition of the InsideEVs Breakthrough Awards, where we celebrate the cars that are getting us closer to an all-electric future. The goal is to find the cars that make electric vehicles more enticing, more attainable or more practical for American buyers, and this is our best field yet.
Over this past year, InsideEVs editors and writers tested dozens of cars in cities spanning the globe. From Shanghai and Bucharest to San Diego and Columbus, we sampled the best electric cars on sale. Then our five judges put together an Editor’s Choice list, celebrating the U.S.-market EVs that moved the industry forward this year.
This is the second year we’ve done this award program. As before, the rules work like this:
-The car had to be new or substantially updated for model-year 2025 or 2026.
-It had to be on sale in the U.S. at the start of our final judging process, which was around September-October.
-Only one car could represent a brand, or a larger automaker group: two picks below stand for the entire General Motors and Hyundai Motor Group families, for example.
Read more on our site here:
2026 Breakthrough Awards: We’ve Tested Hundreds Of EVs. These Are The Best
https://insideevs.com/features/782016/breakthrough-ev-finalists/
The Best EVs We Drove In 2025: How We Picked The Winners
https://insideevs.com/features/782380/podcast-breakthrough-awards-2025/
The 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Keeps Getting Everything Right
https://insideevs.com/features/781195/hyundai-ioniq-5-breakthrough-awards/
The Best Plug-In Hybrid Cars of 2025: PHEVs With Great Electric Range And Gas Mileage
https://insideevs.com/features/768711/best-plug-in-hybrid/
The Best Compact Electric SUVs To Buy In 2025
https://insideevs.com/features/764420/best-compact-electric-suvs-to-buy/
The Best 3-Row Electric SUVs and Vans You Can Buy in 2025: The Most Spacious & Versatile Long-Range EVs
https://insideevs.com/features/771246/best-three-row-evs/
Why BYD’s 5-Minute Fast-Charging Is Our Technology Of The Year
https://insideevs.com/features/782245/byd-breathrough-2026-megawatt-charging/
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00:00 – Breakthrough Awards Introduction
01:16 – Cadillac Optiq
02:16 – Hyundai IONIQ 5
04:30 – Lucid Gravity
06:38 – Tesla Model Y
09:30 – Nissan Leaf
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