Range. It’s the ever-present metric which many people judge an EV by. With most people coming from petrol or diesel cars that will comfortably do 400 miles on a tank and wariness around charging, the more range an EV has, the less of a factor range anxiety is. Here, we look at the EVs with the most.
There are a several notable long-range EVs in the pipeline, but we’re going to keep our top five to the ones you could walk into a showroom and conceivably drive away in today. We’re basing the ranges on quoted figures.
It’s also worth giving some context to range and EVs. Most will cover over 200 miles on a charge and given the vast majority of us travel well under 30 miles per day, that’s plenty. However, for longer journeys more range is convenient – which isn’t to say it’s impossible to drive a 150-mile EV across the country. Many people do and it simply requires planning.
Anyway, to the list!
Tesla’s large saloon has always been a capable mile muncher since its launch all the way back in 2012. The Long Range version has a 100kWh battery offering a range of 412 miles. It doesn’t skimp on performance either, with an all-wheel drive powertrain offering 670bhp for 0-62mph in 3.1 seconds and a top speed of 155mph. Supercharging at 250kW means that lots of miles can be added quickly via one of the best charging networks out there. It’s not the cheapest option on this list, but it’s still a lot of car for £83,980.
It’s a draw for second place between yet more of Tesla’s current model range. Both the Model 3 Long Range and Model X Long Range will top 360 miles on a charge according to quoted figures. The former has a 75kWh battery which is hardly a whopper in the scheme of things, but its 434bhp dual motor powertrain is efficient. The Model X is a much larger beast and uses effectively the same powertrain as the Model S Long Range to achieve the 360 mile figure. The Model 3 Long Range is a veritable bargain at £48,490, whilst the X starts at £90,980.
The Volkswagen ID.3 is already proving a big hit amongst buyers thanks to its everyday usability and low entry price of well below £30,000. For those with deeper pockets, the 77kWh Pro S or Tour models start at £37,242 and have an official range of 341 miles on a charge. When we tested the 58kWh 1st Edition, we found VW’s efficiency figures close to reality, so we’re in little doubt that the ID.3 could achieve that range in the real world. It’s a nice car to drive with plenty of kit, too, so it’s not just a one-trick pony.
It’s little surprise that the ID.3’s SUV stablemate, the Volkswagen ID.4, is also up there in the range stakes. It shares the same powertrain, with that combo of a 77kWh battery and single 201bhp motor driving the rear wheels enabling it to travel up to 323 miles on a charge. The 125kW/200 miles per 30 minute charging speed is also shared, as is much of the interior features and tech – which is no bad thing. The VW ID.4 with a 77kWh battery starts at £37,800.
Rounding off our top five is another car based on VW Group’s MEB platform. The Škoda Enyaq iV shares the same powertrains as the VW ID.3 and ID.4, so its little surprise to find it here. It is, however, slightly larger than the ID.4 and carrying a little more heft, hence the slightly lower overall range of 316 miles. You still get the latest VW infotainment as well as an interior made – in part – from materials created from recycled plastic bottles, and a mass of other standard features. Another thing in the Enyaq iV’s favour is its lower starting price, with the 77kWh iV 80 variant priced at £35,950 on the road.
There’s a battery size arms race going on with new EVs. With petrol and diesel, we didn’t crow at cars with huge petrol tanks having good range; we lauded those with the best efficiency. As consumers we should demand efficiency from new EVs, too, rather than bigger batteries. Some of the best EVs available today squeeze big miles from smaller batteries, like those from Hyundai and Kia that don’t quite make this list. However, for the ultimate demonstration of why efficiency is important, look no further than the team from Mission Motorsport and Enso tyres who squeezed 475 miles from a Renault ZOE, which has a WLTP figure of 245 miles. Read about it here.
Related Articles...
