Enlarge / The previous Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV was the world's best-selling plug-in hybrid, apparently. Now the new one has more power and a bigger battery, among other improvements. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

What to make of Mitsubishi, now we're almost a quarter of the way into this century? For enthusiasts of a certain age, the brand is synonymous with rallying and fire-breathing all-wheel drive sedans with extremely short service intervals. To my old driving instructor, Mitsubishi was the Mercedes of Japan. And a Mitsubishi was even the first electric vehicle I reviewed for Ars, way back in 2012 .

These days it feels very much like the third brand at the Nissan-Renault alliance. The rallying heyday is long past, and its lineup here in the USA is down to just three SUVs and the sub-$20,000 Mirage, all focused on value for money rather than all-out luxury. Mitsubishi didn't follow up the electric i-MiEV with another battery EV , but it does make a plug-in hybrid powertrain for the Outlander SUV.

The Outlander is relatively affordable by today's standards, starting at $40,345, and a week with a model year 2024 example found it to be a solid PHEV with a big enough battery to make most of one's daily motoring emission-free.

Enlarge / Alfa Romeo has a new crossover called the Tonale. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

I don't believe that Jeremy Clarkson was right when he said that you could only be a true petrolhead once you'd owned an Alfa Romeo, but the oafish TV presenter wasn't entirely off-base. I've just spent a week with Alfa's latest creation, the unfortunately named Tonale, and it has left me scratching my head. Beset by gremlins and not exactly cheap, it nonetheless charmed me in a way that I really don't think would have happened if I'd been driving, say, a Dodge .

Once upon a time, Alfa Romeo was Ferrari before there really was a Ferrari, building Grand Prix-winning race cars and drop-dead gorgeous road cars. That feels like a very long time ago now. A planned resurgence, set in motion while the brand was under the control of the late Sergio Marchionne , has fallen far short of its original ambitious sales targets— 100,000 Guilias a year , we were told at the time.

But the brand lives on, and it has an all-new model out. The Tonale is a smaller crossover than the Stelvio, and here in the US it is only available with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. It pairs a 180 hp (135 kW), 1.3 L four-cylinder gasoline engine that drives the front wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission with a 121 hp (90 kW) electric motor that drives the rear wheels, fed by a 15.5 kWh lithium-ion battery.

Enlarge / After a confusing mess for the last generation, Toyota's stylists have done a decent job with the new Prius. I think it needs a front plate if you're going to have it a light shade like this silver. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

Earlier this year, we spent some time with the new Toyota Prius . There was a lot to like about the new car, the fifth to bear its name—sleek looks and minimal fuel consumption are the highlights. Today, it's Prius Prime, the plug-in hybrid variant. Toyota might have been early to hybrids and uncomfortably late to battery electric vehicles, but the Prius Prime straddles the line between the two, offering a battery big enough for most daily driving and a highly efficient gas-burning powertrain for longer journeys.

Much of what I wrote about the not-Prime Prius applies to the plug-in, too. There are the same sleek looks, with a steeply raked windshield and a far more cohesive design than the model it replaced—that one looked like the result of two separate car designs that were later crashed into each other . I'm starting to think that the car needs a front license plate to look right—that little bump out on the fascia where a plate is supposed to attach looks rather obvious in the case of our Virginia-registered tester.

The $39,170 Prius Prime XSE Premium we tested doesn't look quite as racy as the blue car we had in May—mostly, that's down to the different design of alloy wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels with aerodynamic covers are available with the Prius Prime SE ($32,350), but like the XSE Premium, the mid-range XSE ($35,600) also rides on the bigger 19-inch wheels. I mention this upfront because if you're looking for the most efficient option, the stripped-out base model on small wheels has a lower drag coefficient and runs more economically.

Enlarge / There's certainly no ignoring the BMW XM's styling. But don't let it distract you from a competent chassis and powertrain. (credit: BMW)

BMW provided flights from LA to Phoenix and back, plus two nights in a hotel, so we could drive the XM. Ars does not accept paid editorial content.

There was a time when "M" cars were lauded not only for the dynamic capability bestowed upon them by BMW's motorsport division but also for their measured aesthetic. Models like the E39-generation M5 epitomized the "if you know, you know" design philosophy, a balanced approach that won the hearts of enthusiasts and mostly flew under the radar for everyone else. But as the new XM plug-in hybrid clearly illustrates, the M Division is undergoing a sea change.

It has been more than four decades since BMW produced the last M1 , the only other road-going machine developed exclusively by the company's storied performance arm. And much like the M1, the XM serves as a statement of purpose.

But this is not a limited-production, mid-engine supercar, nor is it a stripped-down homologation specially built to satisfy the stipulations of a racing series, as the first M3 was. Instead, the XM was designed to represent the pinnacle. Not the pinnacle of performance, but the pinnacle of the modern BMW experience. And it resoundingly succeeds in that mission.

Enlarge / The styling changes to the Volvo XC60 as part of its midlife refresh are much more subtle than the engineering changes. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

Back in 2018 we tested the Volvo XC60 plug-in hybrid , Sweden's midsize electrified crossover. A handsome thing, it has mostly supplanted the trusty Volvo station wagon, as car buyers prefer the loftier driving position but want to keep a generous cargo capacity and a handy rear hatch. Last year, Volvo gave the crossover its midlife refresh, adding a hefty bump in battery capacity—and therefore electric driving range—in the process.

At the time, I wrote that the XC60 made a compelling case for itself, but is that still true five years later?

Visually, the Volvo's facelift appears extremely subtle. The XC60 was already a handsome-looking machine—I find most of the current Volvos to be easy on the eyes—but to be honest I would struggle to tell you what has changed when comparing photos of the older and newer cars. It's perhaps a case of "don't fix it if it's not broken."

Enlarge / Ferrari has ditched the V8 for its latest mid-engined supercar, the 296 GTS. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

Ferrari provided flights from DC to Bologna and back, plus three nights in a hotel, so we could meet the 499P and drive the 296 GTS. Ars does not accept paid editorial content.

IMOLA, ITALY—Time is running out for the internal combustion engine. Looming bans on new vehicles powered by internal combustion engines are set to go into effect in the mid-2030s around the world, from California to China, but even now, there are dozens of European cities that have implemented low-emissions zones that restrict passenger cars to hybrids and EVs. And unlike the average CO ₂ regulations that govern carmakers, there are no exemptions for building in low volumes.

That means if you build supercars—like, say, Ferrari—and you want to sell your supercars to people who live in the center of cities (which supercar owners often do), it's time to get electrified. That's something Ferrari has been working on for some time, first in Formula 1 and then in its ultra-expensive, ultra-low-volume models like the LaFerrari and SF90. But now, that tech has trickled down to the manufacturer's bread-and-butter model, a mid-engined machine called the 296. During the spring, Ferrari debuted the hardtop 296 GTB. More recently, it took the wraps off the folding-top 296 GTS, tested here.

Visually, it's easy to place this as a mid-engined Ferrari, and were you to line up a 296 alongside an F8, 488 , and 458, the evolution of the shape would be obvious. Then again, there are only so many places you can put a mid-engined car's engine and radiators, and where those go dictates where you need ducts, vents, and so on. However, break out a tape measure and you'll discover the wheelbase has shrunk by a couple of inches (50 mm).

Enlarge / You might think this looks like any other McLaren. But the Artura is a clean-sheet design with a new plug-in hybrid EV powertrain. And a total output of 671 hp. (credit: McLaren)

McLaren provided flights from DC to Malaga and back, plus two nights in a hotel, so we could drive the Artura at Ascari Race Resort. Ars does not accept paid editorial content.

Since the launch of the McLaren MP4-12C in 2011, all the company's road cars have fundamentally used different variants of the same V8 engine and similar versions of the same carbon fiber monocoque chassis. But 11 years is a long time in the life cycle of an automotive platform, and now the British supercar maker has a shiny new toy called the Artura.

It's a clean-sheet design, powered by a plug-in hybrid EV powertrain with an all-new V6 engine augmented by a hybrid electric motor, with perhaps the best-looking interior of any McLaren to date and a raft of technology upgrades that should improve the experience without compromising driver engagement. And unlike McLaren's last PHEV, the multimillion-dollar P1 , the Artura replaces the brand's previous entry-level supercar, the 570 , so it starts at a (reasonable for a McLaren) $233,000.

New monocoque

Perhaps surprisingly for a company that pioneered the use of carbon fiber chassis in Formula 1 and then again with the F1 road car of 1993, McLaren Automotive has historically contracted the production of its carbon fiber monocoque tubs to an Austrian company called CarboTech. But with the advent of this new platform, called the McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA), that work is being done in-house at a new facility in Sheffield in northern England.