The 2018 Cars Technica cars and SUVs of the year

Enlarge / In addition to all the new stuff we got to drive (see below), 2018 was the year we dove into the delightful world of Japanese imports. (credit: Aurich Lawson)

Just as I finally got used to writing the date as 2018, it’s time to learn a whole new number. As is now traditional, the end of the year is an opportunity to remember some of the four-wheeled friends we made on this most recent trip around the sun. It was a busy 12 months for the Cars Technica gang—and we are officially a gang now.

Tim Lee has been responsible for some great coverage of Waymo, Uber, Cruise, and that whole autonomous driving thing. When she wasn’t busy holding the EPA’s feet to the fire or covering the growth of zero-emissions mass transit, Megan Geuss got to ride in Audi’s new battery electric vehicle before anyone else. Cyrus Farivar has done the old-school thing with some shoe-leather reporting on Tesla’s factory troubles. Sean Gallagher wrote his first (but not last) truck review, and Ars managing editor Eric Bangeman has gamely tested every SUV, crossover, and minivan we could get to Chicago.

As for me? I discovered I’m at peace with the fact that I’m not a professional racing driver, for one thing. My plan to travel by air less often didn’t work out so well—people are welcome to buy trees in my name—but I did get to see some interesting new concept cars and, more importantly, drive some good new BEVs.