Dolby Atmos is the gold standard for high-fidelity surround-sound. That said, if you were to make a Dolby Audio vs. Dolby Atmos comparison, you'd find that "surround sound" isn't exactly an adequate descriptor for the tech — instead, Dolby Atmos is proper spatial audio. With Atmos and a capable speaker system, you can hear distinct audio "objects" within 3D space. Using a stack of psychoacoustic tricks and special physical speaker channels, like upward-firing units that can bounce sound off a ceiling, Dolby Atmos ain't your grandpa's 5.1 surround system.

If you wanted to beef up your car with an aftermarket CarPlay unit with Dolby Atmos, you could do that. But why would you want Dolby Atmos in a vehicle, anyway? It might sound odd to want movie theater-tier audio in a car, but when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Many luxury cars have come with elaborate multi-speaker systems for ages, and it would be a waste of the tech's capabilities if manufacturers simply ran plain stereo sound through such detailed systems.

By using Dolby Atmos processing, cars equipped with the technology can provide any soundstage you like. Atmos can output your music so it sounds like it's all around you, with instruments mixed to be placed at specific points in 3D space. And it's a perfectly-tuned feature available on all the cars listed here! For when you're not on the road, though, you can still experience Dolby Atmos on Bluetooth headphones and speakers with music that's been mixed for Atmos on services like Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, and Tidal.

As the German marque's flagship luxury vehicles, it's no surprise that the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and the Mercedes-Maybach were among the first in the manufacturer's vehicle lineup to get Dolby Atmos. Back in 2021, Mercedes announced that Atmos technology would be included not only with the two aforementioned luxury vehicles by default, but that it would also be integrated with the optional Burmester sound system.

If you've ever thought the number of speakers in a typical Dolby Atmos home theater was a lot, wait until you hear that the Maybach and S-Class both feature 31 speakers in total, courtesy of the Burmester. And, among those 31 speakers, six of them are "3D" speakers that emit sound from above passengers, which is a perfect setup for the optimal Atmos experience. It's a bi-amped system with sound transducers in the seats, near-ear speakers, and a massive 18.5-liter subwoofer. In total, the system outputs 1,750 watts of power, which almost certainly means that wherever you're going, the sound of whatever music is playing at your destination probably won't sound quite as impressive as what you listened to on the way there.

The Lucid Air is an EV we've praised plenty of times before. It's one of the few electric cars more powerful than a Tesla Model S, and, at the time of writing, the Lucid Air Grand Touring is also the longest-range electric vehicle you can buy. There's already a lot to love about this EV market disruptor, but in 2021, the Lucid Air gained another selling point by becoming the first EV to be equipped with Dolby Atmos.

While the Lucid doesn't have the staggering 31-speaker array of the Mercedes offerings we just looked at, its 21 speakers are certainly nothing to scoff at. Whether your Lucid gets Atmos depends on the trim level, though. The Lucid Air Pure is the entry-level model that comes with a 9-speaker non-Atmos system. For just under $3,000, however, you can upgrade to the full-fat 21-speaker array. The Lucid Air Touring also offers it as an optional extra, but the top-spec Lucid Air Grand Touring model includes it as a standard feature.

Historically, the Cadillac brand has a reputation for luxury and excess, one might say. It's perhaps no surprise that the entire Cadillac EV range offers Dolby Atmos as an optional extra, at the very least, with some models including the tech in the base package. Specifically, the option is available on the 2025 OPTIQ, the entire 2026 EV range, and the 2026 Escalade.

Cadillac didn't just get together with Dolby on this one. It also pulled in the expertise of the renowned audio brand, AKG. This means the speaker tuning for these vehicles' sound systems was done by some of the best engineers in the business. The goal, according to Cadillac, was to recreate "the precision of a 7.1.4 studio mix within the vehicle's cabin" — so the system's speaker placement and tuning was designed with that aim in mind. 

So, if you listen to an Atmos-mixed song using one of the services mentioned earlier, it should sound like you're right there with the musicians when you're listening in select Cadillac vehicles. Don't forget that Dolby Atmos isn't just about speakers and their placement, though. It's also about how sound interacts with the physical surfaces in real-world space. Cadillac has taken this into account with their vehicles, but hearing is believing.

We tipped the Volvo EX90 as one of the safest EVs you can buy, but Volvos are about more than just playing it safe. The EX60, EX90, and ES90 models all include Dolby Atmos. The exact implementation of the Atmos tech differs from one model to the next; for example, the EX60 ships with both Apple Music and Dolby Atmos, and it was, in fact, the very first Volvo to do so.

The EX60 has a 28-speaker system designed and built by Bowers & Wilkins. Some of those speakers are built into the headrests of every main seat, which means that if you ever have the opportunity to listen to music in this car, you're going hear it right by your ears. The speaker count drops to 25 in both the ES90 and the EX90, but the sound systems in these vehicles are still manufactured by Bowers & Wilkins.

Dolby isn't included with every trim level, though. In Top Gear's review of the EX60, the reviewer noted that this top-tier sound option is included in the "Ultra" trim, and that "unless you are spectacularly cloth-eared or have no interest in music, you'd be mad not to spring for that."

The Polestar 3 might be one of the least satisfying EVs to own, according to users, but there's no doubt that offering Dolby Atmos as an optional feature goes in the "plus" column of this vehicle's balance sheet. Which is a little ironic, given it's included as part of the "Plus Pack" upgrade for the plucky EV underdog.

The Polestar 3's 25-speaker Bowers & Wilkins system has been an option on the vehicle since the last quarter of 2023. Curiously, neither the Polestar 4 nor the Polestar 5 offer Dolby Atmos, even though both vehicles have options for elaborate and powerful multi-speaker systems.

Likewise, there doesn't seem to be any indication — as of this writing — that the planned Polestar 6 or Polestar 7 EVs will feature this technology. However, not all details about these cars are available yet, so it's hard to say for certain. If it turns out the Polestar 3 ends up being the only model in Polestar's entire lineup to feature Dolby Atmos, it would be a curious affair, indeed.

One of the most famous quirks of the Lotus brands is that most of Lotus' cars have model names that start with the letter E. Well, now that the company famous for making lightweight sports cars has moved into the world of electric propulsion, the "E" can now stand for "electric," too. 

The most famous Lotus EV is arguably the 217-mph Lotus Evija, which is one of the fastest electric vehicles in the world. However, what many Lotus customers may very well buy instead is the Eletre SUV, which is where you'll find the option for a Dolby Atmos sound system.

When it comes to sound, there are two separate options for the Eletre. You can get a 1,380-watt, 15-speaker system or a 2,160-watt, 23-speaker system — both made by KEF, and both with Atmos bundled into them. According to Lotus, the Eletre is the first vehicle in the world that combines a KEF audio system with Dolby Atmos.

By far the most intriguing car on this list to feature Dolby Atmos, the Li Mega is more of a rolling home than it is a car. This Chinese-market family wagon has enormous interior space and modular seating. It can assume Lounge Mode, Family Room Mode, First-Class Mode, and other quirky configurations thanks to its rotating and reclining seats.

The Li Mega's Movie Room mode, however, is the most relevant one for the purposes of discussing Atmos. In this configuration, the second- and third-row seats recline so that passengers can watch movies or shows on the integrated entertainment screen while enjoying — you guessed it — Dolby Atmos. Unlike the other cars we've seen so far, the Dolby implementation in the Li Mega includes not only Dolby Atmos but also Dolby Vision.

The Li Mega has three screens for your viewing pleasure, all of which are OLED. On top of the one drop-down passenger screen, the car has two additional front-console monitors. Where was this car back in the '90s? Back then, all we got were gas station coloring books and Game Boys, if we were lucky.

If this list is going to feature Mercedes, then you can bet it's also going to feature BMW. Dolby Atmos is an optional extra for the entire range of BMW 7 series models, and in these vehicles, the tech is paired with a Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound system.

If you thought the 31-speaker system for the Mercedes cars was elaborate, hold onto your headphones. The BMW solution has 36 speakers pumping out a grand total of 1,965 watts. There are roof-mounted speakers, "Diamond Dome" tweeters, headrest drivers, and other speakers pretty much everywhere you look inside the car's cabin.

This option is available for both ICE and EV models in the 2026 7 Series line. Even better, if you want a BMW with Dolby Atmos, you won't be limited to the wallet-busting 7 Series for long. The BMW iX3 Long Wheelbase EV will also be getting Atmos; if that's the case, then other models may not be off the table, either.