This is the AutoRAI Car of the Year 2025!
Not an easy job
It was not an easy job. With the entire editorial team of AutoRAI.nl, we discussed at length which car should be given this title. Which cars were all mentioned?
The Zeekr 7X example. A family car that can fast charge extremely fast with an 800V on-board grid. And the Mercedes-Benz CLA also passed by. Also interesting, because up to 773 km (WLTP) driving range and DC fast charging with power up to 320 kW. Whew, that’s not squeaky clean! We are also charmed by the
Also fun: the Renault 4 E-Tech Electric. A fun EV with retro looks and fine driving characteristics. Also nice and a touch retro: the Hyundai Inster. Despite its compact exterior dimensions, the interior of this car is particularly well thought out and especially nice and spacious. An outlier in our list what the Kia PV5. A smart, next-gen commercial vehicle that is also available with regular seats. Well and cleverly designed. Will undoubtedly become a success.
The 2025 AutoRAI Car of the Year is … – AutoRAI TV
Also very good: the Kia EV3 and Skoda Elroq
And then we end up with the Kia EV3. Smartly built, comfortable and drives pleasantly. Nothing wrong with it. The same goes for the
Affordable electric transportation
Also appearing on our shortlist was the BYD Dolphin Surf. An excellent electric hatchback on sale starting at 22,990 euros, but the version you want is the Comfort. That is because it has an electric motor with 156 hp and a range of up to 310 kilometers on a full charge of electricity (WLTP). Without question, a puffy little EV, whose appearance may scare off some buyers.
Also, the Leapmotor B10 is bound to be a hit. What a lot of car for your money! The Dutch will love this, but in terms of design it does not steal our hearts. It does with its value for money. But there was a car that did touch our editors with its design, comfort, build quality, space, competitive price and value for money. And that is a car that very few people know about.
AutoRAI Car of the Year 2025: Firefly!
The AutoRAI Car of the Year 2025 is the… Firefly, a model from sister brand NIO. What a damn handy and especially well-built car it is!
Why does the Firefly win?
Why does the Firefly win? It has mostly to do with value for money. It is bizarre what you get for your euros in this car. And upgrading to a more expensive version is not necessary at all. In fact, it already has everything you could want. It is spacious, extremely well thought out, comfortable, has a good frunk, can load quickly, offers fine performance and is also very nicely built. Moreover, the Firefly is a so-called Software Defined Vehicle (SDV). That means that this car can always be improved during its life cycle. This is similar to the oldest Tesla Model S’s. Those still have the latest software on board. The same principle applies to this Firefly.
Partly Chinese, but mostly a European
Okay, so we are declaring a Chinese person the winner? Yes and no. On paper, this is indeed a Chinese car brand, but the development of this Firefly simply took place in Europe, namely in Munich. We also spoke with the development team of this car, and they were mainly Germans. This Firefly was developed with the European market in mind, only it will be built in China. In China, by the way, this car is unstoppable. It is an outright hit there. It also costs only 16,000 euros converted there. Cuckoo! In the Netherlands, that’s at least 29,900 euros, unless you were paying attention during Black Friday – late November, early December. At that time, Firefly was asking 24,900 euros for stock models. For that money, you totally had an extremely good deal. The Firefly scores well with its pricing anyway. You just get a lot of car for your money. And also a car that scores very well on several points.
Prices from low to high
- BYD Dolphin Surf- from 22,990 euros
- Hyundai Inster – from 24,295 euros
- Leapmotor B10 56.2 kWh – from 27,995 euros
- Firefly – from 29,900 euros
- Renault 4 E-Tech Electric – from 29,990 euros
- Skoda Elroq 52 kWh – from 34,990 euros
- Kia EV3 – from 36,995 euros
- Kia PV5 Passenger: from 39,995 euros
- Mercedes-Benz CLA – 48,089 euros
- Smart #5 – from 48,440 euros
- Zeekr 7X – from 52,990 euros
The Firefly in brief
Just a quick note of some facts about the Firefly. It is built on an all-new TF1 platform developed specifically for BEV applications. The car has a 41.2 kWh battery pack and an electric motor with an output of 105 kW and maximum torque of 200 Nm. With that, the Firefly accelerates from 0-100 km/h in 8.1 seconds. There is a choice of Eco, Comfort and Sport driving modes.
Standard equipment
In fact, everything is already included as standard. Think navigation, a rearview camera, six-spoke 18-inch alloy wheels, front and rear LED lighting, heated seats with fabric/pu upholstery, a heatable steering wheel, a 7.1 Dolby Atmos sound system with 14 speakers, Waterfall Ambient Lighting ambient lighting, extra storage space under the front seat and a 3-phase 11 kW on-board charger.
If you opt for the Comfort top version, you get a panoramic roof, a power tailgate, an illuminated Firefly logo, microfiber upholstery for the seats, power front seats with ventilation and massage function, ten-spoke 18-inch wheels and a smart scent system. Things we didn’t actually miss in the First Edition we drove.
Warranty Firefly
You also get 5 years to 150,000 kilometers factory warranty on the car, 96 months to 160,000 kilometers warranty on the battery pack and a 120-month anti-corrosion warranty. In principle, the battery is swappable just like NIO models, only the battery swap stations in the Netherlands are not designed for that. So those are accessible only to NIO. A lot of things are above average, but of course there are areas for improvement.
What could be better?
- The tire selection is not optimal, which Firefly could have done better. Rather exchange the Giti’s for rubber from Continental, Michelin, Pirelli or another well-regarded tire brand.
- The “hat shelf” rattles a bit. This is also a flexible element, not a solid shelf.
- You have no regular speed limiter or normal cruise control, which is a shame: because the adaptive cruise control works quite nervously and brakes at odd times. Seems simple to us to build in via an over-the-air update. So Firefly, definitely do it!
- You also can’t sit very low as a driver
- The steering does not offer a whole lot of feel, especially around mid-range, but it is not unpleasant.
- The interior mirror cannot be lowered very far, a disadvantage if you are a little smaller and sit a little closer to the steering wheel.
- The car does not have a heat pump because the battery pack is excellently insulated inside the car, according to Firefly.
- And finally, mounting a tow bar is not possible
What’s good about the Firefly?
- It is only 4 meters long, but the interior space is enormous.
- The car weighs 1,467 kg, relatively light for a BEV and thus favorable for your road taxes
- The car also has a hefty wheelbase, making it feel like a mini-SUV of sorts.
- You’ve got a 92 liter frunk, you’ve got some use for that!
- In addition, you have a 404-liter rear luggage compartment; fold down the backrests in 40/60 ratio to create 1,253-liter
- In the back seat, you can sit excellently even as an adult.
- There are hidden storage compartments under the passenger seat and under the rear seat
- The interior gives a real living room feel
- The use of materials is of exceptionally high level, the same goes for the build quality. We would even dare to call this premium.
- The infotainment system with 13.2-inch touchscreen is one of the best on the market: fast, logical and, above all, beautifully designed. Compliments to this Aster software system, everything is extremely logical.
- The navigation system also takes into account charging stops along the way
- Driving assistance systems can be easily silenced with a simple swipe and press of a button, only disabling the lane assist requires a simple additional action in the menu.
- The car has independent MacPherson front suspension and a 5-link construction for the rear axle: unique in this segment! It therefore steers very maturely.
- Also nice: rear-wheel drive and 143 hp. And ESP can be partially off.
- You get a 41.2 kWh LFP battery pack and a range of 330 kilometers (WLTP)
- The car can fast charge 100 kW DC
- Vehicle to load: check!
- 3-phase 11 kW on-board charger: also check!
- You have a choice of one-pedal-driving to a stop or normal driving: good that you can choose
- The car has favorable energy consumption even at lower temperatures. 15 kWh per 100 kilometers is perfectly achievable.
- Also notable is the extremely small turning radius of 9.4 meters
- Safe the car is too: 7 airbags, lots of driver assistance systems and use of extra strong steel and aluminum alloys
- And Firefly delivers on its promise by regularly updating the car: for example, the latest update added battery pre-heating.
Many newcomers in 2026!
In short: lots of strong points and for that reason – looking at value for money – we label this Firefly as the AutoRAI Car of the Year 2025. 2026 will also be a particularly interesting car year! In that year we will be introduced, for example, to the new Renault Twingo, Skoda Epiq, Volkswagen ID.Polo, Cupra Raval, Kia EV2, Smart #2 (successor Fortwo) and the Porsche Cayenne. Other newcomers include the Nissan Juke, Honda Super N and Honda 0 family, Lexus ES, the new Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio, BMW 3 Series, BMW iX3, Leapmotor B03X and B05 and Hyundai IONIQ 3.
Wishing you a fantastic 2026!
In short: you don’t want to miss these cars! So keep following us! We wish you a great 2026 on behalf of the entire team and we will see each other in 2026!