Latest Tech: Shop the best SUVs for 2021

The Kia Telluride blew us away when it first launched. More than a year later, it still stands as a seriously impressive midsize SUV that isn’t afraid to get fancy.

Despite a low starting price of around $32,000, the Telluride can be kitted out with luxury trimmings including Nappa leather, ventilated seats and power-folding rear rows. The Telluride offers three rows of seating, so big families don’t need to opt for a car that won’t fit in the garage. An 8-inch infotainment system is standard, but higher trims get a more impressive 10.3-inch display with both touch and physical controls. It’s a darned comfortable ride, too.

It’s not the most fuel-efficient SUV out there, with its 291-hp V6 offering up 20 mpg city and 26 mpg highway with front-wheel drive, although adding AWD only lowers those figures by 1 or 2. But for a vehicle that’ll carry the whole family and tow 5,000 pounds, it’s still a solid value in the midsize SUV space.

Read our 2021 Kia Telluride review.

Body-on-frame SUVs still exist, they’re just harder to find, and these truck-based utes are generally quite large. But if you need to haul a whole lot of stuff, whether it’s people or cargo, the new-for-2021 Chevy Tahoe is ready to stand and deliver.

The Tahoe was massively refined for 2021, thanks to a new independent rear suspension that takes the ride from truck-ish to plush. That revised rear end also helped maximize space in the redesign, with 66% more cargo space behind the third row (now 25.5 cubic feet) and third-row seats that get an extra 10 inches of legroom. It’s practically a Brooklyn studio apartment in here, and for a lot less than you’d pay for real estate in NYC, with prices starting around $50,000.

Families will appreciate… well, just about everything the Tahoe offers. There are a thousand places to store things, there are USB ports available in every row and up to nine cameras can provide a detailed view around the vehicle for pitch-perfect parking. Proper safety systems have finally reached this segment, as well, with the Tahoe packing standard stuff like automatic emergency braking, parking sensors and blind-spot monitoring.

Read our 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe preview.

The first luxury SUV from Hyundai’s Genesis offshoot is a stunner that prioritizes luxury over sporting pretension in a way that few vehicles do in 2021.

The 2021 Genesis GV80 looks like nothing else on the road, thanks to Genesis’ sharp brand style that features split headlights and taillights with a big ol’ shiny grille up front. Its fastback-style roofline doesn’t impugn on second-row space, and there’s still a commendable amount of storage space on offer, with the option to convert some of it to a fold-down third row.

Luxury is the name of the game in the GV80, with an available 3.5-liter V6 that scoots to the tune of 375 hp and 391 lb-ft. It doesn’t have air suspension, but the ride quality is still soft and comfortable for long stretches of time on the highway. The interior is old-school fancy, with a focus on soft edges and high-quality leather surfaces. Genesis’ tech is impressive, too, especially its 14.5-inch infotainment display, which looks posher than what the Germans are currently offering up.

Read our 2021 Genesis GV80 review.

If you thought the Cadillac Escalade was just a tarted-up Tahoe with some extra leather, you’d be wrong. Well, you’d have been right up until 2021, but now, Cadillac’s large-and-in-charge hauler stands on its own as a seriously impressive tech showcase on wheels.

Cadillac absolutely nailed the 2021 Escalade. A new independent rear suspension has vastly improved the ride while also enhancing interior capacities for both people and parcels. Its new face is imposing in the best kind of way, while the inside has dramatically ramped up in quality, sporting a unique layout that feels whatever the opposite of corporate is.

The dashboard is sure to wow you the most, thanks to its three OLED panels that combine to offer 38 inches of screen, stretching from the driver’s eyes practically to the passenger. GM’s infotainment system is a peach, too, and the hands-off Super Cruise system should help relieve the strain of hours-long road trips. V8 engines typically live under the hood, but a 3.0-liter diesel I6 will be available for those wanting a little extra efficiency.

Read our 2021 Cadillac Escalade review.

See? I told you Porsche has a lock on sporty SUVs.

The 2021 Porsche Cayenne GTS is the Macan GTS’ bigger brother. Available in long-roof and “coupe” body styles, the Cayenne GTS is all about driving purity, and it shows. Its 453-hp, 4.0-liter V8 engine offers an impressive amount of motive force with the sound profile to match, and its suspension offers agility that few competitors can match. Throw in some add-ons like all-wheel steering and active anti-roll bars, and you’ve basically got a sports car on stilts, albeit mild ones, since the Cayenne GTS sits pretty low to the ground.

Even though Porsche loves to charge you for things that might come standard with other OEMs, the Cayenne GTS has an impressive amount of tech that comes baked into its $110,000-plus price tag. A 12.3-inch display runs the PCM infotainment system, with four USB-C ports on offer for juicing up, in addition to wireless Apple CarPlay and a Wi-Fi hotspot. But you might be having too much fun in the corners to even notice that stuff.

Read our 2021 Porsche Cayenne preview.

The 2021 Mercedes-AMG GLS63 is a three-row SUV with 600 hp. Yep.

If you want to take the entire family to a speed that might let you escape low Earth orbit, the GLS63 is happy to oblige. Its 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V8 puts out an impressive 603 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque, and with a 0-to-60 time almost in the 3-second range, it builds speed in a way that borders on supernatural. But comfort remains a top priority, and its ride quality is smooth enough to make the miles melt away on a longer road trip.

Mercedes always puts luxury at the forefront, and the GLS63 is no exception. Its interior is one of my favorites, with a simple layout that relies on lots of soft leather and warm wood-trim complements. All three rows are comfortable, but the front buckets get the most love with options like massaging ventilated seats and enough storage space for most, but probably not all of your Birkins.

Read our 2021 Mercedes-Benz AMG GLS review.

How can the best electric SUV be a Ford Mustang? Because it’s really, really good, that’s how.

The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E might lean heavy on marketing, but underneath the badges and Mustang-reminiscent taillights is a competent, capable electric crossover. It offers a variety of outputs with either two or four driven wheels, depending on trim, which means folks can opt for sportier versions or something more sedate. Range varies based on trim, as well, but Mach-E variants can offer up to an EPA-estimated 300 miles of range, which should more than suit the commute for most folks.

The Mach-E’s style is like no other, both inside and out. An uncluttered dashboard with fabric trim leaves the interior feeling both premium and spacious, while a 15.5-inch portrait display runs the best version of Ford’s Sync 4 software to date, impressing us with both its feature set and the visual punch of having a big ol’ screen smack dab in the middle of the dash. If this is a preview of things to come from Ford’s future electrified vehicles, consider us excited.

Read our 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E preview.

Land Rover has a long history of making SUVs that offer solid on-road comportment with off-road chops that are very hard to beat, and its latest entry exemplifies that mantra.

The 2021 Land Rover Defender brings the hallowed nameplate back to the US with great success. Its design is equal parts vintage and modern, turning the slab-sided Defenders of yore into slightly softer, yet still aggressive SUVs. Available in two- and four-door configurations, this unibody utility vehicle can traverse all sorts of terrains, with the larger variant offering 11.5 inches of ground clearance, a 38-degree approach angle and the ability to ford nearly 3 feet of standing water.

The base engine, a 2.0-liter turbocharged I4, offers up 296 hp and 295 lb-ft, but you can throw a bit more money at the dealer to get a 3.0-liter I6 with a mild-hybrid system that boosts output to 395 hp and 406 lb-ft, but both engines are capable of towing up to 8,200 pounds.

Read our 2021 Land Rover Defender review.

There’s no substitute for the 2021 Rolls-Royce Cullinan. If you want to spend house money on a car, there’s nothing finer available.

After finally bowing to public pressure, Rolls-Royce came out with a sport utility vehicle that possesses every luxury feature you could ever want. Do you want a headliner that contains a fiber-optic star map of the sky on the exact date of your birth? Rolls-Royce can do it. Do you want bright yellow leather to match some equally lemony sheep’s-wool floormats? Look no further. Feeling like some champagne from the back seat? Why, just pop open the compartment that holds your chilled crystal flutes.

With a starting price of $325,000 and an options list that might actually lack an endpoint, the Cullinan is a pipe dream for a hefty plurality of the world, but if decadence is what you crave, it’s hard to top the Roller.

Read our 2020 Rolls Royce Cullinan review.