Despite recent advancements in battery technology, range is still the biggest issue when buying an electric car. Latecomers to this game, premium brands have banked on the popular SUV shape to help sell their product. But their numbers aren't as promising as those of a Tesla, while mainstream brands may have found a way to do more with less.
Carwow gathered a lot of serious electric cars together to test their real-world range. This is perhaps the biggest and most entertaining test of this kind, and the Telsa Model 3 is expected to win, having a claimed figure of 348 miles in the UK.
But the results are quite surprising. Three of the contenders are chunky-looking SUVs, and partially due to their heft, their range is significantly less than you would want it to be. On the other hand, no-frills models like the Nissan Leaf and Kia e-Niro performed well, especially considering their price.
What are the final scores on the doors? In the last place, we have the Mercedes EQC which lasted only 194 miles (312 km) before it ran out of juice. The similarly shaped Audi e-tron lasted for 206 miles (331 km). It's actually a heavier crossover, so maybe its energy use is better.
The Nissan Leaf lasted for 208 miles (334 km). This is the e-Plus or e+ model with a 62 kWh battery compared to the 95 kWh of the Audi. So clearly, twin motors and a heavy body are not the way to go green.
The Jaguar I-Pace is also in this test. It too is a twin-motor 400 horsepower crossover, but with 223 miles (359 km) of real-world range, there's not much to complain about here. The Kia e-Niro is the hero of the test, lasting for 255 miles (410 km) before the battery runs out.
That's 90% of the claimed range, compared to just 75% for the EQC. But Tesla remains unbeatable: 270 miles (434 km) on this Model 3 Dual Motor is fantastic, even though it's not as much as officially claimed.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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