When we hear about hybrid or electric cars, some would immediately associate these vehicles with either efficiency, lower emissions, or the so-called “future of the automotive industry.” But is being sustainable or efficient the sole purpose of electrified cars? Or can these vehicles offer actual performance that can match a gasoline performance cars?
In the early days of electrification in cars, the pioneer models were dull vehicles with mediocre power outputs and limited driving ranges.
However, those days are over. Nowadays, hybrid and electric vehicles can sometimes meet or beat their combustion-engined counterparts in power and autonomy. In fact, some of the best electric and hybrid performance cars now have the performance to menace a few gasoline supercars.
This article will look at some of our favorite best new performance hybrid and electric cars. We include models from all-out supercars to 4-door sporty saloons, so read on if you’re looking for a powerful and exciting performance electrified vehicle.
Rimac Nevera
Base price: $2.3 million USD
A clear example that answers the question posed in the introduction is this first car. The Rimac Nevera is the production version of the Rimac C_Two Concept introduced in 2018.
The Nevera is a fully electric hypercar that can rival most high-performance and exclusive cars in the world, such as the Pininfarina Battista, the Bugatti Chiron, NIO EP9, or the new Tesla Roadster.
The Nevera name refers to a Croatian word that means “an unexpected and powerful Mediterranean storm.”
The Rimac Nevera is spectacular at first glance. However, it is even more idyllic if you look under its statuesque bodywork.
Rimac’s second production model has four electric motors capable of developing 1,914 hp and 1,740 lb.-ft. of torque. In addition, Rimac’s All-Wheel Torque Vectoring 2 (R-AWTV 2) system replaces the traditional electronic stability program.
The power is supplied by a 120 kWh H-shaped liquid-cooled lithium-magnesium-nickel battery, a component designed from the ground up by Rimac. The car can travel up to 342 miles on a single charge.
The Nevera can go from 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds, reach 186 mph from a standstill in 9.3 seconds, complete the ¼ mile in 8.6 seconds, and reach a top speed of 256 mph.
Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid
Base price $109,000 USD
The Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid is a real sports car, and, in every sports car, there is a strong heart under the hood. Although the hybrid models provide some extra ingredients to the mix.
The Panamera 4 E-Hybrid is the entry model to the electrified Panamera lineup. This car offers a combined power of 462 horsepower (340 kW), thanks to its 136 horsepower (100 kW) electric motor and its 2.9-liter V6 twin-turbo engine that yields 330 horsepower (243 kW).
The Panamera’s electric motor perfectly integrates with the eight-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission to generate 295 lb.-ft. of torque
Thanks to its modern cell chemistry, energy storage in the new Panamera was significantly increased while keeping the battery size the same.
Thus, the capacity is now 17.9 kWh instead of 14.1 kWh from the previous model. This increase makes it possible to cover up to 40 miles in purely electric driving.
However, the total torque of 516 lb.-ft. of torque is even more impressive since it’s available from 1,000 rpm. So, when the driver activates Sport mode, the 4 E-Hybrid displays forceful and seemingly endless power.
In the Panamera 4 E-Hybrid, the driver feels a unique sensation of lightness, allowing him to enjoy the car’s power with little effort.
Volvo Polestar 1
Base price $156,500 USD
Even though 2022 is the last model year of the Polestar 1 plug-in hybrid, as Volvo announced last year that it would stop manufacturing it, we could not leave this car off our list.
In 2019, the production of an exceptional car began. One that showed the capabilities and technological resources of Polestar as an independent Volvo brand.
The Volvo Polestar 1 is a 2+2 coupe that exhibits a powerful propulsion system and a range in an electric mode, according to the WLTP protocol, of no less than 77 miles.
The Polestar is built on a carbon-fiber monocoque. It offers remarkable dynamic abilities, with adjustable Öhlins shock absorbers and Akebono brakes with six-piston calipers.
However, since this car weighs about 5,180 pounds, Volvo engineers had to develop a propulsion system that could be up to the task.
As a result, the Polestar 1 features a 2.0-liter four-cylinder block with two electric motors on the rear axle to generate a combined power of 609 horses and a maximum torque of 737 lb.-ft.
Other highlights include its 34 kWh capacity battery, which offers the greatest range in electric mode for a hybrid vehicle. It also features torque vectoring, all-wheel-drive, and 21-inch wheels mounted on Pirelli P Zero tires.
BMW i8 Coupe
Base price $148,500 USD
The BMW i8 Roadster is futuristic down to the smallest detail. Its design transmits exceptional dynamism thanks to its original lightweight carbon fiber articulated doors which allow easy opening.
The athletic front end continues to bring out the unique character of the plug-in hybrid and proudly displays the BMW double kidney grille, flanked by full-LED headlights and the redesigned Air Curtain system.
The distinctive “Black Belt,” which emerges from the bonnet, extends throughout the vehicle, underlining its flat silhouette. The spectacular design optimizes airflow and provides unprecedented aerodynamics.
The innovative plug-in hybrid motor of the BMW i8 Roadster generates 374 horsepower and 420 lb.-ft of torque to launch the car from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.6 seconds.
The intelligent energy management of the BMW i8 Roadster coordinates the interaction of the electric motor and the battery with the combustion engine, aiming for maximum performance with minimum consumption.
The result is a powerful plug-in hybrid system with tremendous efficiency, capable of delivering 35 MPGe.
Finally, the i8’s LifeDrive architecture comprises the Drive module, an aluminum chassis, and the Life module, an ultralight, high-strength carbon fiber passenger compartment.
Both components have been weight-optimized to bring sustainability and maximum sportiness to the road efficiently.
Koenigsegg Gemera
Base price $1.7 million USD
Koenigsegg has produced the ultimate passenger car for families. Still, this plug-in hybrid grand tourer isn’t your average family sedan.
Instead, this is a revolutionary advance in automotive design and could lay the groundwork for a new generation of vehicles. There’s no doubt the Gemera has the potential to become one of the most groundbreaking vehicles produced in the last few years.
Koenigsegg’s Gemera is the first four-seater of the Swedish automaker. The design features four seats and a rather strange amount of cup holders, with eight total.
We’re not sure why Koenigsegg felt they needed to install so many cup holders, but those who like to have more than one drink at a time would appreciate it.
The Gemera is powered by a 2.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-three, paired with three electric motors placed on both rear wheels and one on the crankshaft. The total output is an impressive 1,677 horsepower with a jaw-dropping 2,581 lb.-ft. of torque
Besides its mind-boggling thrust, The Gemera comes with memory foam seats in your choice of Alcantara cloth or leather.
While this may seem like the best family car of all time, it won’t be priced within reach of the average blue-collar income family of four. Its price tag is around $1.7 million.
Aston Martin Valkyrie
Base price $3 million USD
Aston Martin’s rebirth is not just empty words. The brand has received a significant injection of capital and has been working to recover the ground that it lost in recent years. The result is the Valkyrie, the first hypercar made by Aston Martin, already regarded by some as one of the most fascinating cars in history.
The Aston Martin Valkyrie is a dream hybrid hypercar. It has tons of downforce, insane power, technology, and a build that could basically be called aerospace grade.
This feat of engineering is the work of Adrian Newey, one of the most successful designers in the world of motorsport and responsible for Formula 1 championship-winning cars for decades.
The Valkyrie features a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 engine signed by Cosworth. This engine can put out 1,000 horsepower combined with a hybrid electric system; the Valkyrie can generate 1,155 horses and 663 lb.-ft. of torque.
This powertrain allows the Valkyrie to go from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.5 seconds and reach an unrestricted top speed of 250 mph.
It’s worth mentioning, that the Valkyrie is not for beginners since the car relies on Venturi tunnels under the body to generate lots of downforce to make it go faster, so inexperienced drivers can get caught up in the feel.
McLaren Speedtail
Base price $2.25 million USD
The limited-production hybrid sports car Speedtail is McLaren’s fastest car ever built. The McLaren Special Operations division developed the original project to create a successor to the McLaren F1.
The McLaren Speedtail is a spiritual relay that recovers the idea of that supercar from the 1990s to develop a car capable of reconciling high performance and luxury. Therefore, we can consider the McLaren Speedtail a hypercar or Hyper-GT because of its emphasis on being one of the fastest cars in the world and one of the most luxurious.
Considering the approach of the McLaren Speedtail, its direct rivals are the Bugatti Chiron and the Koenigsegg Regera. Two models with the same concept of combining high performance and luxury.
Its technology and features allow it to compete with more radical models in its philosophy, such as Mercedes-AMG One and Aston Martin Valkyrie.
A hybrid power unit that comprises a 4.0-liter V8 twin-turbo engine, paired with an electric motor and a 7-speed Graziano dual-clutch automatic transmission, is the heart of the McLaren Speedtail.
With this configuration, the Speedtail develops 1,050 horsepower and 848 lb.-ft. of torque. The result is a 0 to 60 mph time of just 2.5 seconds and a top speed of 250 mph.
Pininfarina Battista
Base price $2 million USD
With Italian competitors like Ferrari or Lamborghini, creating one of the fastest cars in the world wasn’t a walk in the park for Pininfarina. Still, they pulled it off with the Battista.
Still, being at the top of performance is not always the most important thing. What really makes the Pininfarina Battista special is that it is entirely electric.
After almost a three-year wait, the “production” Pininfarina Battista is finally available and has received a facelift compared to the model shown in 2019.
The changes are subtle but more numerous than you might think. The most obvious, without a doubt, is that the strange, thin air intake that joined the two headlights just below the badge has been eliminated.
The Battista is exceptionally light thanks to its carbon-fiber monocoque chassis and 4 electric motors – one on each wheel. This car produces 1,926 horsepower and a torque of 1,429 lb.-ft.
Acceleration from 0 to 60 mph takes 1.8 seconds, reaching 186 mph in 12 seconds. Additionally, the Battista can travel up to 280 miles on a single charge, thanks to a 120 kWh battery manufactured by Rimac.
This T-shaped 120-kWh battery pack is filled with 6,960 lithium-ion cells to deliver 97 percent of usable capacity. Moreover, each wheel’s AC permanent-magnet electric motor makes full four-wheel torque vectoring possible.
Lotus Evija
Base price $2.2 million USD
Despite its massive power, the fully electric Lotus Evija is a car that its manufacturer, Lotus, hopes will become a vehicle for the day-to-day of its buyers. This is where the engine software comes in, designed so that the car adapts to each driving scenario.
Lotus Evija has four electric motors, one at each wheel. Each motor delivers 500 horsepower, so the car generates 2,000 horsepower combined and 1,253 lb.-ft. of torque. The Evija can launch itself from 0 to 60 mph in less than three seconds and reach a top speed of 198 mph.
Still, the Evija only unleashes its ripping 2,000 horsepower when Track mode is selected. Still, it holds its own with the rest of the modes. For instance, in Range mode, it puts out 1,000 horsepower,1,400 in Tour, and 1,700 in Sport.
Beyond these figures, the Evija also changes the engine torque delivery. Here, the differences navigate between comfortable and sporty driving.
Its lithium-ion battery has a 70 kilowatt-hours capacity with a range of 248 miles in the WLTP cycle, quite a feat for such a small battery.
Still, that figure decreases when applying sporty driving. This is because Lotus is homologating a consumption of 17.25 kilowatts/hour per 62 miles.
Rivals to the 2021 Lotus Evija include the Pininfarina Battista, the Aspark Owl, and the Rimac C_Two.
Audi RS e-tron
Base price $143,400 USD
Besides trading the usual noise for silence, the highlight of the RS e-tron GT is its brutal acceleration. Barring a Formula or WRC race car, very few models with an internal combustion engine can squeeze passengers into their seats like this fully electric sports saloon from Audi does.
An example of the capabilities of this electric car is its 598 horsepower, which momentarily increases to 646 with Overboost mode. As a result, the car takes 2.9 seconds to go from 0 to 60 mph.
But far from just being able to go explosively in a straight line like a muscle car, this Audi can roll with precision and stability superior to other RS models.
The weight distribution, the low center of gravity, the four-wheel drive, and its many tech advances allow the RS e-tron to behave sublimely even in highly tight curves.
But, besides the performance this car achieves at high speeds, the Audi RS e-tron stands in other categories such as range which is on par with the average of combustion cars: 292 miles. Moreover, the recharge time is five minutes to recover a range of 60 miles.
Mercedes AMG Project One
Base Price $2.72 million USD
To put it simply, the Mercedes-AMG Project One is the wildest machine that the star’s firm has designed for public roads.
Behind Project One’s cockpit lies a hybrid power unit led by a 1.6-liter turbocharged V6 block. It is the same used in Lewis Hamilton’s car in the 2015 Formula One season.
The block itself is assembled by the engine division of the Mercedes-AMG F1 team in Brixworth, near Northampton, in the United Kingdom. Mercedes promises an output of around 1,000 horsepower.
There are also four electric motors in Project One. These include two coupled to the heat block to enhance peak torque, while the other two connect to the front wheels. Thus, power is delivered to both the front and rear axles, making the hypercar four-wheel drive.
Mercedes-AMG has fitted a large air intake above the cabin and two separate ducts to help cool the engine and gearbox for this beast. In addition, generous inlets at the front of the car can also cool the drivetrain and brakes.
Although there aren’t official figures, 0-60 mph acceleration should be 2.6 seconds. Additionally, 0-124 mph will take less than 6.0 seconds.
The top speed will be electronically limited to 218 mph. Its electric-only range will be around 15 miles when fully charged.
Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4
Base price $2.6 million USD
No, there is no rear spoiler or retractable headlights. Instead, the Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 pays tribute to the initial prototype that gave birth to the legend of the Countach.
This new supercar is a reinterpretation of the classic model that takes some characteristic elements of the original model. It brings them to the 21st century in a sober configuration while balancing between the latest Sant’Agata Bolognese designs and the retro purity of the first Countach.
Specifically, it adopts the influence of the Quattrovalvole with features like the headlights, the flat area at the end of the nose that goes from side to side, the step on the front hood, and the hexagonal wheel arches.
And instead of taking the Aventador’s 6.5 V12 that produces 780 horsepower in the Ultimae version, Lamborghini has opted for Sián’s electrified configuration. This means a 6.5-liter V12 that produces 780 horsepower but is assisted by a 34-horsepower electric motor that works at 48 V.
In fact, the Countach is a mild hybrid where the electric motor is integrated with the gearbox to offer immediate response and maximize performance, reaching a total output of 814 horsepower.
This 21st century Countach can go from 0-60 in 2.8 seconds and reach a top speed of 221 mph.
Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance
Base price $221,888 USD
We think Mercedes-AMG is after with their hybrid GT 63 S E Performance is raw performance. Still, if it can also receive an “eco” label in some countries, the better, but its eyes are well set on performance numbers that will blow your mind.
For instance, the gas engine is a mighty 4.0-liter biturbo V8, making 630 horsepower and 663 pound-feet of torque.
The electric motor develops up to 201 hp for 10 seconds — constants are 99 hp — to the rear axle. Still, it can also send power to the front axle, depending on driving conditions.
Combined with the electric motor, this version of the AMG GT 4-door generates a whopping total of 831 horsepower and 1,032 pound-feet of torque, most of it available from startup.
The combustion engine is controlled by a nine-gear automatic transmission. The electric one has a two-speed transmission to ensure maximum performance even at high speeds.
Its battery is only 6.1 kWh, small next to an EQA (65 kWh) or other plug-in hybrids from Mercedes, such as the GLC (13.5 kWh).
The Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance does not pursue significant electric range figures. Instead, it is a battery small enough to avoid unnecessary weight but large enough to power its high-performance electric motor.
The battery’s technology, exclusive to Mercedes-AMG, was born in its Formula 1 team.
Ferrari FS90 Stradale
Base price $1.2 million USD
The new Ferrari SF90 Stradale is the first series-produced plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) to come out of Maranello.
This car takes its name from the legendary Tuscan circuit and nods to the Ferrari’s Scuderia 90th anniversary so it’s no coincidence that its nomenclature, SF90, coincides with the same single-seater contesting this year’s Formula 1 championship.
Motoring purists and Cavallino’s legendary aura enthusiasts may be wary of reading “Plug-in Hybrid” and “Ferrari” in the same sentence. It seems like a forced pairing. However, any hesitation vanishes in the face of overwhelming evidence: 1,000 combined horsepower.
The Stradale’s turbocharged V8 petrol engine offers the best performance in this powertrain class. Based on their F154 engine lineup, this eight-cylinder generates 1,000 horsepower and 590 lb.-ft. of torque. The Stradale is also equipped with 3 electric motors that generate a combined power of 220 horses (162 kW).
And to send this joint power of 1,000 horsepower to the wheels, Ferrari equipped the SF90 Stradale with an F1, eight-speed dual-clutch transmission.
This transmission lacks the reverse gear as the front electric motors perform that function.
The Ferrari SF90 Stradale can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 211 mph.
Koenigsegg Regera
Base price $2 million USD
The Regera is a Swedish hybrid hypercar made by the automaker Koenigsegg. The Koenigsegg Regera is characterized by technological advancements that allow the car to generate 1500 horsepower.
This hypercar made by Koenigsegg offers an exotic powertrain comprising a twin-turbo 5.0-liter V8 and three electric motors. Also, instead of a transmission, the Regera relies on Koenigsegg’s Direct Drive system. This system combines the 4 propellers so that the assembly rotates without interruptions and saves up to 50% in energy losses.
The configuration utilizes an electric motor in each rear wheel plus an electric motor connected to the crankshaft of the V8 engine, which is also permanently connected to the rear axle. All four motors working in concert send a continuous power delivery to the rear axle, generating over 1,500 horsepower and 1,475 lb.-ft. of torque and of torque.
The 5-liter twin-turbo V8 engine is manufactured entirely of aluminum and developed internally by the company. It is now equipped with active hydraulic supports and a carbon fiber intake manifold with optimized tracts.
In addition, the batteries used by the Regera have a capacity of 9.27 kWh. They are supplied by the Croatian manufacturer Rimac.
The Regera reaches 60 mph in 2.8 seconds and has a top speed of 279 mph.
Delage D12
Base price $2.3 million USD
The Delage D12 is a long-awaited hybrid hypercar currently in development and will be limited to 30 units, each at 2.3 million dollars. The first deliveries are planned for the second half of 2023.
The D12 was introduced in August 2020. The initial forecast was that its production would begin in 2021, but they did not meet this. So now, the brand points to the second half of 2023 as a new target.
The Delage D12 has a hybrid power unit that combines the electric part with an atmospheric 7.6-liter V12 with 1,004 horsepower. There are two versions, one called Club and another GT.
The first has an electric motor of 20 horses used only in maneuvers such as starts or parking. In the GT version, the electric input is 112 hp.
The silhouette of the Delage D12 is more typical of a single-seater designed by and for the race tracks.
According to Delage, the weight of the Club variant is 2888 pounds and that of the GT, 3086 pounds. The total output of the first is 1,024 horsepower, while the second reaches 1,115.
The most capable of the Delage D12 can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds.
