Does the 2023 Toyota Prius Prime reboot the formula pioneered by the Chevy Volt for the better? How do the aero-focused VW ID.7 and plush Mercedes EQE SUV drive? And automakers start to detail which models are eligible for the full $7,500 tax credit amount. This and more, here at Green Car Reports.
We drove the 2023 Toyota Prius Prime, which goes up to 44 all-electric plug-in miles before becoming a hybrid rated at up to 51 mpg combined. That’s better on the hybrid front than the Chevy Volt, but not up to the electric miles the pioneering GM model offered when discontinued five years ago. With the same striking shape as the new Prius hybrid, we looked at how it fits into the market today—and wondered if owners will plug them in.
In a first drive of the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV, we found it offers impressive comfort, luxury, and driving range despite a smaller battery pack than the larger EQS SUV. Its charging times aren’t quite leading-edge, though.
Also check out our preview drive of the 2025 Volkswagen ID.7. This segment-buster offering up to 350 miles of range in its upcoming U.S. version looks like a sedan but is a hatchback, and it it shows why aero rules for EVs—and, perhaps, why there is hope for cars after all.
On the news front, the Ford F-150 Lightning and Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring plug-in hybrid are the only two Ford models eligible for the full $7,500 EV tax credit with battery raw materials rules going into effect April 18. Ford is the first, or one of the first, companies to confirm the eligibility of its vehicles.
Sila is claiming a 20% range boost with silicon-anode battery tech that’s on the way eventually in the boxy, brawny Mercedes EQQ SUV—with fast-charging promised, too.
And Volkswagen has suggested that it plans to sunset a longtime European best-seller—the VW Golf—in favor of EVs set to arrive later in the decade.
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