Zero Gas Engines, One 1,250-HP King: Wards’ 10 Best 2026

Wards' 10 Best Just Went All Electrified

For 32 years, Wards' 10 Best Engines & Propulsion Systems has been the industry's clearest read on where powertrains are actually headed — and this year it just delivered its biggest verdict yet. For the first time in the award's history, every single winner is electrified in some form: four battery-electric vehicles, four hybrids, and two plug-in hybrids. Zero gas-only engines made the cut. And sitting right in the middle of that hybrid class, doing 1,250 horsepower's worth of talking, is the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X.

That's not a small detail for anyone who follows performance and collector cars. The Wards 10 Best program has been running since 1995, and it's historically been a showcase for brawny V-8s and clever turbo fours as much as anything electrified. This year's sweep — four BEVs, four HEVs, and two PHEVs, with not one purely internal-combustion engine among them — is Wards calling it: electrification isn't a side category anymore. It's the category.

A Field Of 26, A Winner's Circle Of Ten

Wards' judges put 26 nominated powertrains through real-world driving evaluations, scoring each on horsepower, torque, noise/vibration/harshness, observed efficiency, and how innovative the technology actually is — all in service of one guiding question: does this powertrain sell the vehicle? Ten made the final list, and the mix tells its own story about where the market's attention is right now:

• BEV — Mercedes-Benz GLC 400 4Matic Electric (dual-motor)
• BEV — Rivian R2 Performance (dual-motor)
• BEV — Subaru Trailseeker (dual-motor)
• BEV — Volvo EX60 P10 AWD (dual-motor)
• HEV — Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X (5.5L twin-turbo V-8 hybrid)
• HEV — Hyundai Palisade Hybrid (2.5L turbo I-4 hybrid)
• HEV — Nissan Rogue Hybrid (1.5L turbo I-3 hybrid)
• HEV — Porsche 911 Carrera GTS T-Hybrid (3.6L eTurbo flat-6 hybrid)
• PHEV — BMW M5 Touring (4.4L turbo V-8 plug-in hybrid)
• PHEV — Toyota RAV4 PHEV GR Sport (2.5L I-4 plug-in hybrid)

Wards editors didn't mince words about what the list represents. Program manager Robin Warner noted that "even the hottest sports cars utilize electric help to engage drivers and, indeed, enhance the experience," while judge Drew Winter put the broader shift bluntly: "It's hard to believe the car-buying public once considered hybrids slow and underpowered." Fellow judges Bob Gritzinger and Gary Vasilash both pointed to the same thing — hybrids have moved from niche curiosity to core lineup strategy, and the performance and efficiency on display this year back that up.

It's worth remembering this didn't happen overnight — a first-generation Toyota Prius hybrid took home a Wards 10 Best win back in 2001, and the program formally added "Propulsion Systems" to its name in 2020 as electrified entries kept climbing the list. This year is simply the moment the trend finished the job.

The ZR1X: Hybrid As A Weapon, Not A Compromise

Of all ten winners, none makes the case for electrified performance louder than the Corvette ZR1X — the single most powerful powertrain on the entire list. At its center is a twin-turbocharged 5.5L DOHC LT7 V-8, built at GM's Bowling Green Assembly Performance Build Center in Kentucky, sending power to the rear wheels through a Tremec 8-speed dual-clutch transmission. Bolted onto the front axle is a 186-hp, 145-lb-ft electric motor, fed by a 1.9-kWh lithium-ion battery that's topped off through regenerative braking — with the front drive unit itself acting as the generator.

The engineering underneath that number is just as interesting as the number itself. The V-8 and the electric motor aren't mechanically linked — they operate independently or in concert, with the car's controls deciding which mode fits the moment. A high-voltage inverter supports short, high-current bursts for a push-to-pass function, and a Z-Mode display lets the driver dial in exactly how much power — and how much noise — they want on tap. At speeds above 160 mph, the front motor disconnects entirely, handing the job back to the V-8 alone for maximum efficiency at the top end. It's the kind of system that reads as complicated on paper and feels effortless from the driver's seat, which is precisely the point.

This isn't GM's first swing at a hybrid Corvette, either. The 2024 E-Ray introduced hybrid AWD to the Corvette lineup, and those lessons carried directly into the ZR1X. The ZR1X now sits alongside the 721-hp Grand Sport X as one of two hybrids in Chevrolet's current lineup — and Corvette-based engines have now won a Wards 10 Best trophy four years running.

Why This Matters For Collectors

For buyers and sellers in the enthusiast space, this is the signal worth paying attention to: electrified performance has officially stopped being an asterisk. A hybrid V-8 just out-muscled every other engine on an industry's most respected powertrain award — and did it while still being livable in daily traffic. Cars like the ZR1X are the new benchmark for what a modern American performance halo car looks like, and that's exactly the kind of vehicle that tends to hold — and build — collector interest over time.

Whether you're watching the ZR1X's long-term value curve, hunting for an E-Ray or Grand Sport X as a more attainable entry point into GM's hybrid performance story, or just want to see what else is rolling through current listings, there's no better place to start than right here.