11 Best EVs and Plug-Ins of the 2018 Geneva Motor Show

The bug-eyed Honda Prototype E is probably too offbeat for US soil. The subcompact hatchback is, however, designed with US crashes — that is, safety specs — in mind. The platform, or basic design, could be used on a vehicle more suited to American tastes. Swapping out the odd headlamps might enough, or it could be a whole new design, perhaps as an SUV/crossover, not a hatchback.

Can your Tesla do this? (Maybe on Autopilot, sure.) Volvo's Polestar subbrand, here taking the mostly racing line, is going electric. The historical Polestar was an arms-length performance operation for track and street Volvos, like a Scandinavian AMG or Alpina. Of late it included hyper-fast plug-in hybrids. Volvo bought Polestar (the motorsport guys are now Cyan Racing). Meanwhile, in Geneva at the motor show ...

... Volvo showed the Polestar 2, an electric vehicle to match Tesla Model S on specs: dual motors, 78-kWh battery, 300kW power output (400 hp) and 500 km target range (310 miles). The infotainment system display grows to 11 inches and runs completely on Google Android. Polestar describes the interiors as "vegan [with] progressive textiles that will appeal to a forward-thinking audience." 2020 launch edition P2's will be $67,000; regular models will start at 40,000 euros or $45,000.

Haven't we seen this Audi EV SUV before? Uh, no. Audi has lots going on, including five future EVs. The Audi Q4 e-tron is a compact concept with a big battery, 82 kWh, for up to 280 miles range (450 km), with rear or front-rear motors. A 125-kW recharge rate (half what Tesla Supercharger does) recharges 224 miles (80 percent) in 30 minutes. Best guess is it ships late 2020.

The Fiat Concept Centoventi (120th Anniversary) concept is a modular, affordable, democratizing electric mobility option. Translation: Fiat hopes this is the affordable small EV the Fiat 500e wasn't quite. To a basic common shell, buyers can accessories and many of the pieces would be installed by the buyers. 3D printing would create a custom or replacement cupholder. To the standard paint, you'd overlay a printed wrap, maybe every year or every season. Modular battery packs (add more as needed) go up to 310 miles.

Britain's Aston Martin will make the Lagonda the “world’s first zero emission luxury brand,” with new models beginning in 2022. One may well be the All-Terrain Concept, a fully electric, full-luxury SUV. In the concept, the front seats swivel to face the rear passengers, and the rear doors are rear-hinged. It's an evolution of the Geneva 2018 Vision Concept. Unless Lagonda plans modest stowage, the rear end will have to be made more practical come production time.

The Hispano Suiza Carmen is a 750-kW/1,019 hp grand tourer with a carbon fiber body. Power comes from an 80 kWh battery now, 105 kWh coming later. The front looks modern-supercar, the rear looks pre-war (note covered rear wheels). This Hispano Suiza, of Barcelona, claims lineage to the 1904 founders and Carmen is a founder's daughter. There's also a Croatian Hispano Suiza claiming the name and promoting a 1,000-hp combustion supercar.

The Citroen Ami One 100th anniversary Electric Concept provides five minutes to five years of urban mobility rideshare available to anyone. Even if you don't have a license (since it's low-power), as long as you're 16 or older. Top speed is 28 mph (45 km/h), range is 62 miles (100 km), and it's just 98 inches (2.5 meters long). If you want the Ami One for minutes or days, it's a rideshare you just grab off the street; if you want it for months or years, you'd enter into a lease.

Thank of the McLaren Speedtail as a Chevy Volt with more power: 309 hp from the motor, 746 hp from a V8 engine, total available 1,035 hp (the two power curves peak differently). The driver sits dead-center in the cockpit, with passengers on each side, slightly behind. The rear carbon fiber bodywork lifts up at speed to become a spoiler. An inductive charger in front allows wireless refills. There will be 106 built at $2.1 million and all are spoken for. Sorry.

The GFG (designers Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro once of Italdesign) created a hyper-SUV (yes, this is the correct photo) called the Kangaroo. The suspension lifts enough so the same vehicle can be an off-roader or a ground-hunger track vehicle (ride height 5.5-10.2 inches). Dual motors generate 483 hp. The battery is 90 kWh; ranged is said to be 280 miles. For now, this is a pure show car, with no current firm production plans.