The 10 best vehicles Ars Technica drove in 2025

Of all the cars we've driven and reviewed this year, these are our picks.

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[markgo]

But its rugged looks—and especially tires—eat away at the range.

Efficiency and range aren’t the sole important criteria. My wife’s Volvo, with low profile highly efficient EV tires, required total wheel replacement after a low-speed curb strike. The over $2500 in tires and wheel would have paid for a lot of extra charging.

Tire guy said cracking wheels used to be rare, but is common with low-profile EV wheels.

 

[markgo]

The tires aren't the problem. The wheels are. You should've got smaller wheels. Keeping the same circumference, smaller wheels are both more efficient and less likely to be damaged by a pothole. And less expensive. And reduce NVH.

Obviously it’s the wheels. Which require low profile tires. Which do a poor job of protecting the wheels.

And Volvo provided no choices on wheel size. Many models don’t.

 

[markgo]

Well, I was going to say auto-locking is not something I would like until I saw how hard it is to lock the doors. I would have never thought you couldn't lock the doors with the car off or the doors open. The 5 was high on the list for replacing our current commuter sedan.

Key fob works. Digital keys on your phone works. App works (albeit a bit slowly) I’m not sure where you got the idea that it’s hard to lock. And while capacitive touch isn’t as sensitive as it was on my VW it’s never really bothered me.

I have never wanted auto lock/unlock, nor does anybody who walks past their parked car regularly.