Longest Range Electric Cars 2023: The Complete Guide For The UK

Overview

If there has been one constant in the narrative of electric driving since the launch of the first-generation modern electric cars, it has been, electric range or the lack of e-range, more commonly known as ‘range anxiety’. There has been good reason for range anxiety, given the size of the onboard EV battery in the earlier battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). As an example, the first-generation all-electric Nissan Leaf incorporated a 24 kWh EV battery with an electric range up to 73 miles.

Move forward a decade, and the landscape of electric range could not be more different. Range anxiety has firmly lost its centre stage position in the narrative of electric driving, as the most recent generation of electric cars offer an electric range well over 150 miles, and in many cases over 300 miles on a full charge. Indeed, such has been the ‘leap’ in EV range, that for an EV to be considered class-leading, the benchmark is north of 300 miles.

The average EV battery size for electric cars is now closer to 60 kWh. However, it is not uncommon for electric cars with an onboard EV battery over 100 kWh. We can expect the trend on increased EV battery size and electric range to continue, as EV battery production and management continues to develop further. It is worth noting that not all EV manufacturers are keen on offering electric cars with large EV batteries and longer range.

Compact electric cars, like the all-electric Honda e, have been developed and designed to cater for the urban environment. The all-electric Honda e incorporates a 35.5 kWh onboard EV battery with a range up to 137 miles (WLTP). Given the needs of city driving, a smaller EV battery is most appropriate!

Along with the increase in EV range, we are also witnessing an improvement in EV charging capability and electric car charging infrastructure. Most pure electric cars are now capable of DC charging, and some offer DC ultra-rapid charging up to 270 kW DC. However, more common is a 100 kW DC charging capability. In any case, a 100 kW rapid DC charging will allow an EV battery to be charged up to 80% in 30 minutes. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) do not usually incorporate DC charging capability, given the smaller size of the onboard EV battery in a PHEV. However, there are some exceptions, primarily, premium PHEVs with a larger onboard EV, that offer DC charging capability.

The UK has seen a surge in rapid and ultra-rapid DC charging infrastructure. According to zap-map, as of end November 2022, the UK has 6,712 rapid charging devices across 3,916 locations. The Tesla Supercharger ultra-rapid charging network continues to remain the largest contributor. Of course, public charging stations also include AC charging. In total, there are 36,752 EV charging devices across 21,906 locations (November 2022).

Though public EV charging has received much publicity, it is worth noting that more than 80% of electric car charging is done at home, and usually overnight. The residential EV charging infrastructure has also witnessed a significant evolution over the recent years, as we have moved from ‘dumb’ charging to smart EV charging. The next generation of EV chargers offer sophisticated features like vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capability.

The convergence of: improvements in battery size, battery performance, public EV charging and smart residential EV chargers will continue to enable longer distance electric car journeys! We at e-zoomed offer a fantastic range of high quality smart EV chargers for homes and businesses, to include installation.

Electric Cars: The Basics

For those of you new to zero-emission electric driving, we would recommend a read of the following articles: