The Complete Guide to Electric Vehicle Range 2023

✔ The Mercedes EQS 450+ has the longest range, at 395 miles

✔ The average electric vehicle range is now 220 miles

✔ Fill in the form above for free electric vehicle charging point quotes

You want to go electric, gliding noiselessly down motorways without a care or unnecessary carbon emission in your world.

It’s great for the Earth, cheap to charge, and finally viable – as long as your supply doesn’t run dry.

The stress of constantly trying to avoid that situation could give you range anxiety, but fortunately, there’s no need to worry. Electric vehicles come with robust ranges these days – see for yourself below.

Want to hop on board this green revolution with an electric charging point of your own? Just fill in this short form, and our trusted installers will send you bespoke quotes.

How far can an electric car go on one charge?

The average electric car can go 220 miles on one charge.

That means you could drive from London to Manchester without having to stop at a public electric charging station.

For comparison, the average petrol car can travel for 434.5 miles on one tank of fuel.

That’s nearly twice as far, allowing you to make it from London to Edinburgh in one go – but it’s also more expensive and worse for the climate.

The longest range electric vehicles

The electric vehicle with the longest range is the Mercedes EQS 450+, which you can drive for 395 miles on just one charge.

And as you can see below, there are plenty of options for anyone who wants to drive an electric car without experiencing range anxiety, according to the EV Database.

Can an electric car go 400 miles?

Yes, Lucid Motors’ Air Grand Touring model can go 410 miles on a single charge.

A few other electric cars – including Tesla’s Model S and the Mercedes EQS 450+ – have official ranges that top the 400-mile mark, but in real-life testing, they invariably fall short.

However, now that Lucid Motors has broken this historic barrier for electric vehicles, it’s only a matter of time before the other big brands follow suit.

What electric cars go 1,000 miles?

Aptera Motors’ solar-powered NeverCharge is the only electric car with a range of 1,000 miles.

This record-breaking vehicle isn’t on the market just yet, but 40,000 people have reportedly paid the Californian company a small fee to reserve one.

Aptera’s current price estimate for the car is £39,000, which would be astonishingly low for such a technologically advanced product.

Other brands are making swift progress too. Last year, Mercedes-Benz reported that its EQXX concept car made it from Stuttgart in Germany to Silverstone in the UK – a 747-mile journey – on a single charge.

The EQXX may be available in 2024, which shows how quickly the industry is moving.

Is electric vehicle ‘range anxiety’ justified?

Electric vehicle range anxiety is understandable, but no longer makes sense when you look at the numbers.

The average model can now travel 220 miles on a full charge, which is more than sufficient for most drivers – and if you’re running low, there are more than 22,000 places in the UK where you can charge up, according to Zap-Map.

And if you’re still worried, there’s a simple solution – because cheap, convenient charging starts at home. An electric vehicle charging point costs £1,000 and allows you to take control of your range anxiety.

How to increase the range of an electric vehicle

There are several ways to easily increase your electric vehicle’s range, and most of them boil down to driving in a calm fashion and treating your car well.

Make sure you drive smoothly when you can, with as little sudden braking as possible, as braking sharply uses more energy.

This emphasis on a smooth drive extends to your surroundings, as hilly areas use more battery. Plan your route in advance to avoid expending energy unnecessarily.

Try to also keep your speed to 50-60 miles per hour on motorways, and generally drive at a more sedate pace. Travelling 10 miles per hour slower than you typically do can cut your energy usage by up to 14%.

Charge your car regularly to ensure the battery stays at its optimal level, which is between 20% and 80%.

If you want to save even more of your battery, turn off additional electric features like air conditioning, heat, and the entertainment system.

Also remove any extraneous physical objects, whether they’re accessories like a bike rack that you don’t need for every journey, or belongings that could be kept somewhere other than your boot.

Take time to maintain your vehicle, too. Keep its tyres inflated to their recommended level – which you can usually do for free – and make sure it’s cleaned every so often to reduce drag.

Is it worth getting an extended range electric vehicle?

It’s not usually worth getting an extended range electric vehicle.

These cars run on a battery like other electric models, but come with a petrol-powered range extender.

When your car’s battery falls below a certain level, this extra unit will turn on and start powering your battery.

It’s a useful boost if you regularly drive long distances, but it typically only adds 20-50 miles per hour to your car’s overall range.

And of course, it runs on a fossil fuel, meaning it’s worse for the environment than a standard electric vehicle.

For both these reasons, it’s difficult to buy an extended range electric vehicle in the UK at the moment.

How to calculate the range of an electric vehicle

You can calculate the range of an electric vehicle by dividing your battery’s size by the vehicle’s efficiency.

For instance, the Lotus Eletre’s battery is 107 kilowatt-hours (kWh), which we can divide by its efficiency – 0.334 kilowatt-hours per mile (kWh/mi) – to find out its range: an impressive 320 miles.

Of course, your electric vehicle’s range will depend on your driving style and the way you use the car, so the best way to calculate its range is to keep track of your own journeys.

Summary

Electric vehicles have reached new heights when it comes to their ranges, and we expect the records to keep tumbling over the next few years.

Hopefully, we’ve also managed to calm any fears you had about electric vehicle range anxiety, as the average driver no longer has anything to worry about.

If you’d like to cut your driving costs while helping the climate, just fill in this short form, and our trusted installers will send you bespoke quotes for a home electric vehicle charging point.