2021 Hyundai Sonata
Price with tech: $33,850 | U.S. News Overall Score: 8.2/10
The 2021 Hyundai Sonata sedan comes packed with standard technology, making it a formidable competitor in the midsize car class, but to get the really cool stuff, step up to the tech-filled, top-end Limited trim for about $10,000 more than the base price. That’s where you’ll find the remote parking assist feature. The Sonata can pull into and out of a parking space at the touch of a button – you don’t even have to be in the driver’s seat.
The Limited and SEL trims also have blind spot monitoring, which is a common safety feature. But the Sonata’s safety system one-ups rivals with a camera that displays an image of your blind spot in the instrument cluster when you turn on your signal to change lanes.
2020 Porsche Taycan
Price with tech: $103,800 | U.S. News Overall Score: 8.6/10
Let’s be honest – everything about the 2020 Porsche Taycan luxury electric car is cool. This sleek sedan looks amazing and it’s blisteringly quick. The noteworthy tech is not nearly as sexy, but matters a lot: charging time. The Taycan uses an 800-volt electrical system, which means it’s able to charge twice as fast as a Tesla. It’s possible to go from an 8% charge to an 80% charge in just 20 minutes at a DC fast charger.
2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime
Price with tech: $43,860 | U.S. News Overall Score: N/A
The all-new 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime brings plug-in hybrid technology to Toyota’s popular compact SUV. The RAV4 Prime can drive up to 40 miles on electricity alone before using the engine in a more traditional hybrid setup. To get the most out of those all-electric miles, the available Predictive Efficient Drive uses driver habits, GPS data, the navigation system, and traffic information to optimize the gas and electric mix for efficiency.
To get navigation, which the system needs to figure out your route and traffic, you’ll need to add the navigation package, which costs $2,435, to the top XSE trim.
2020 Ford Escape
Price with tech: $33,400 | U.S. News Overall Score: 8.2/10
Many of the coolest tech features are built on the more common safety technologies available in new cars. The 2020 Ford Escape compact SUV, for instance, has available evasive steering assist. This safety feature detects if the car in front of you has slowed or stopped more quickly than anticipated, then provides steering assistance to swerve around the car if needed. This technology builds on the sensors, cameras, and software that make stop-and-go adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking possible.
That means you have to have those systems on board, so you’ll need to step up to the top-tier Titanium model.
2020 Tesla Model 3
Price with tech: $46,900 | U.S. News Overall Score: 8.8/10
The 2020 Tesla Model 3 luxury electric car has what the company calls “Full Self-Driving Capability.” With this feature enabled, the car can navigate point to point on the highway, change lanes unassisted, or be summoned from a parking space to where you wait nearby. This is a step beyond the automaker’s more well-known “Autopilot” feature.
What’s maybe even cooler, depending on how you look at it, is that Full Self-Driving Capability can be unlocked for $7,000. So even if you didn’t buy the car with that feature, it can be added while the car sits in your garage. That’s because Tesla uses over-the-air updates for many of its systems, including upgrades like this one.
2021 Cadillac CT4
Price with tech: TBD | U.S. News Overall Score: N/A
As high-tech safety systems take over more of the mundane driving tasks – like long, boring stretches of highway – it gets harder to remember to keep your mind on the road. But every semi-autonomous system available today requires that you be alert and aware of your surroundings at all times. No automotive system is truly self-driving.
That’s why GM’s Super Cruise system, rolling out in models such as the 2021 Cadillac CT4 luxury small car, has earned praise from testers. It not only takes over some driving tasks, but it monitors the driver to make sure you’re still engaged. If you’re not paying attention, you’re given a warning, and the system will eventually turn off. Super Cruise will become available on the Cadillac CT4 in early 2021.
2021 Genesis G90
Price with tech: $72,950 | U.S. News Overall Score: 8.4/10
Not every cool bit of tech involves autonomous driving or new safety features. Sometimes it’s all about maximum comfort, like the driver’s seat of the 2021 Genesis G90. The throne of this luxury large car is power-adjustable a whopping 22 ways, so if you can’t find a comfortable, supported driving position, that’s on you. Once you’ve found the sweet spot, the steering wheel and head-up display adjust automatically based on your seat position. Best of all, it’s a standard feature.
2021 Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class
Price with tech: $36,230 | U.S. News Overall Score: N/A
If you like calling out commands to an AI assistant like Amazon Alexa or Siri, then you’ll probably enjoy the MBUX in-car assistant that comes in the 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLA luxury subcompact SUV. You bring the assistant to attention by saying, “Hey, Mercedes” and then talking to it like you would almost any disembodied robot voice.
If you pair it with the optional navigation, the system also uses augmented reality to project street names over an image of the road ahead.
2021 Kia Telluride
Price with tech: $37,390 | U.S. News Overall Score: N/A
Some of the best tech helps you maintain your sanity as a driver of the family bus. The 2021 Kia Telluride, a midsize SUV, is a great example. That’s why the higher SX and EX trims provide the Quiet Mode and Driver Talk features.
Quiet Mode restricts the sound system to only the front speakers, which lets sleeping tots in the rear two rows lie. Driver Talk, on the other hand, sends your voice to the rear seats via the speakers so everyone knows that you don’t care who was touching who – just knock it off.
2020 Land Rover Discovery Sport
Price with tech: $37,800 | U.S. News Overall Score: N/A
Adventurous types who prefer to travel light will appreciate the Activity Key available for the 2020 Land Rover Discovery Sport. The Activity Key is an innovative rubberized, waterproof wristband that unlocks this luxury compact SUV when you touch it to the rear liftgate. So rather than tying your car key to your shoelace, zipping it into a pocket, or clipping it inside your hydration vest, you can leave it safely behind. This gadget can be added to any trim level for $410.
More Shopping Tools From U.S. News & World Report
If you’re looking for the coolest car tech on a budget, read our roundup of cars with the most high-tech features for the money. Technology skeptics who have driven for decades without any of these features might want to find out which are the best cars for older drivers.
When you’re ready to buy a high-tech car, use the U.S. News Best Price Program to find the best pre-negotiated price at a dealership near you. Shoppers have saved an average of more than $3,000 across all types of vehicles when using the program.
10 Coolest High-Tech Cars
- 2021 Hyundai Sonata - Price with tech: $33,850 | U.S. News Overall Score: 8.2/10
- 2020 Porsche Taycan - Price with tech: $103,800 | U.S. News Overall Score: 8.6/10
- 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime - Price with tech: $43,860 | U.S. News Overall Score: N/A
- 2020 Ford Escape - Price with tech: $33,400 | U.S. News Overall Score: 8.2/10
- 2020 Tesla Model 3 - Price with tech: $46,900 | U.S. News Overall Score: 8.8/10
- 2021 Cadillac CT4 - Price with tech: TBD | U.S. News Overall Score: N/A
- 2021 Genesis G90 - Price with tech: $72,950 | U.S. News Overall Score: 8.4/10
- 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class - Price with tech: $36,230 | U.S. News Overall Score: N/A
- 2021 Kia Telluride - Price with tech: $37,390 | U.S. News Overall Score: N/A
- 2020 Land Rover Discovery Sport - Price with tech: $37,800 | U.S. News Overall Score: N/A
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The Coolest Car Tech While We Wait for Flying Cars
During the mid-20th century, there was plenty of speculation that we’d all have flying cars by now, so it’s understandable if you’re disappointed by our lack of progress in that area. But there is a lot of incredibly cool technology available in cars right now that engineers in 1950 could hardly have dreamed of. We’re taking steps toward fully autonomous vehicles, we’re driving electric supercars, we’re talking to our cars – and they respond.
You don’t have to pay six-figure prices for the features that will eventually enable self-driving cars, advanced car safety features, and other forward-thinking tech. Many of the most amazing features can be found in reasonably affordable models, though it does usually require adding a package or upgrading the trim level. The following slides highlight mainstream cars with great new tech features, and on each slide, we’ve included the lowest price for the vehicle equipped with the technology described. As you read, keep in mind that the scores you see here might not exactly match the scores in our reviews. That’s because our reviews are updated whenever new information becomes available.