- Tesla Model 3 Dominates The Field Taking Home Fastest And Cheapest EV
- VW ID.3 Beats Rivals To The Silver Medal In Both The Speed & Price Tests
- Renault ZOE Finishes Last But Takes Third In Cost Comparison
Compared to a few years ago, the landscape of the 2022 EV market has changed quite drastically, with far more car manufacturers producing at least one EV model within their range. As a result, here at Leasing Options, we decided to take another look at the EV Road Race we first produced back in 2020, to see if much has changed over the last couple of years.
The EV Road Race is a race from John o’ Groats, the most northerly point in the UK, to Land’s End, the most southerly point, to see how long it would take the UK’s most popular EVs to complete the journey and estimate the cost.
The cars we’ve chosen are the UK’s most popular cars. These vary from Tesla’s Model 3 to Renault Zoe’s, Nissan Leaf’s and even an MG ZS. All these cars come in different shapes and sizes and have a variety of different battery lives, so, which of these cars can travel from the tip to the base of the UK the fastest and which can do it the cheapest?
The EV Range Race: John o’ Groats To Land’s End
We’ll be using the same route as we did previously, starting at John o’ Groats at the most northern point in the UK, travelling all the way down to Land’s End, the most southern point.
Google Maps indicates the route is a total of 837 miles, far further than any modern-day EV can travel on one charge, and also estimate the time it would take to do it without stopping - 14 hours, 29 minutes. This is the ideal scenario for the test as all the cars on the most popular EVs list will have to stop to recharge. This is where we could see some cars, that you’d expect to take the longest, make up time on those with larger batteries.
So, who were the winners and losers?
Fastest Times
First, let's take a look at the Electric Vehicles that can do the route in the fastest time.
Tesla Model 3 Take The Gold By Nearly To Two Hours
Tesla continued to dominate the timesheet, taking home the victory with a time of 15h 48m, nearly a whole two hours ahead of the rest. However, unlike the last time we did this race, not all three podium positions are taken by Teslas. In 2022, the Model X and Model Y dropped out of the top 10 most popular EVs in the UK, leaving two positions up for grabs.
Volkswagen ID.3 Leaves Rivals In The Dust
Possibly the most surprising stat to come out of this experiment is to see the VW ID.3 taking home the silver medal with a time of 17h 36m. The ID.3 had stiff competition going into this race. Not only was it up against its older, more powerful sibling in the Audi e-Tron, but also a raft of rivals, including the MINI Electric, Nissan Leaf, Renault ZOE, Hyundai KONA Electric and Vauxhall Corsa-e, all of which were vying for the best of the rest spot.
Not only did the ID.3 come out as the best of the rest, but it also did in style, beating the much bigger KIA E-Niro and the KONA Electric, which came in joint third (18h 36m), by a full hour.
Renault ZOE Takes Home The Wooden Spoon
In last place, we find the Renault ZOE, taking a total of 20h 12m to complete the journey from John o’ Groats to Land’s End. Yes, you could say it’s expected bearing in mind its range isn’t capable of the 200’s, unlike those at the top, but there were others with lower ranges that performed better, such as the MG ZS (135) & MINI Electric (115).
However, it’s not all doom and gloom for the ZOE…
Recharge Costs
So, we’ve discovered which of the UK's most popular EVs can do the 837-mile trip that fastest, but at what price?
Model 3 Takes Its 2nd Gold Of The Day
Tesla’s Model 3 has wiped the floor with the others on the top 10 list by not only finishing the fastest but also doing it for the cheapest price too. The Model 3 topped the leaderboard on the recharge cost list with an expense of the journey totalling £43.20.
ID.3 Snaps Up Another Silver Medal
In another shocking silver place finish comes, once again, the Volkswagen ID.3, costing a total of £48.60, only just slightly most expensive than the Model 3. This could be a real eye-opener for those looking to lease a brand new EV, as the ID.3 is £10,000 cheaper than the Model 3 but pretty much matches it on running costs and isn’t all that far behind either.
ZOE Pinches Third
Like we said earlier, it’s not all doom and gloom for the Renault ZOE. Despite crossing the finishing line in last place the ZOE completed the journey at the cost of £55.14, just under £12 more than the first placed Model 3, and under £7 more than the ID.3, gaining the ZOE a bronze medal for charging costs.
Bad Day At The Office For The Audi e-Tron
Overall it was a bad day at the office for the Audi e-Tron. Despite the EV being the most expensive of the group found on the UK’s most popular EVs list, it wasn’t able to perform when put to the test. In our experiment, the e-Tron not only came 2nd last on the timesheet, it then finished rock bottom in the cost comparisons, with recharging costs totalling a massive £85.50 for the journey. Nearly £20 more than the Nissan Leaf, which came second last with a total recharging cost of £66.96.
Most Popular EVs: 2020 vs 2022
Finally, it’s interesting to take a step back and see the difference between the cars that filled the top 10 EVs list in 2020 compared to this year. The first thing we noticed is that 2020 included all the models in the Tesla range at the time, whereas today, only the Model 3 can be found. Other cars to drop out included the Jaguar I-PACE, VW’s E-Golf and the BMW i3.
Replacing those this year are the Volkwagen ID.3, Kia E-Niro, Hyundai KONA Electric, MINI Electric and Vauxhall’s Corsa-e, which is interesting to see due to their overall smaller stature. However, when you look at the 2020 vs 2022 stats, it’s perhaps easier to see why.
Take the ID.3 as an example. In our test journey from John o’ Groats to Land’s End, while you may have to stop more times than you would in an I-PACE (6 compared to 4), not only will you spend less (around £18) but you’ll arrive quicker too thanks to its recharge speed.
Another example is the KONA Electric. Again, you’ll need to stop more times than say if you were in a Tesla Model X, but you’ll spend about the same amount recharging, and bearing in mind a Model X costs you upwards of £100k (£1,155.99 p/m when leasing), the KONA electric is only around £30-£35k (£364.99 p/m when leasing).
Electric Leasing With Leasing Options
If you’re looking to lease an electric car then Leasing Options has you covered. We’ve got a huge range of electric vehicles (and hybrid if you prefer) subtable for whatever your needs and our amazing team is always on hand to answer any questions you may have to help guide you towards your brand new vehicle.
Methodology
To create this race we took many factors into account. First came the route, which was planned out using The AA’s route planner.
Then it was a case of plotting how far each car could go before needing to recharge, which was simply a case of looking at each car’s real-life range provided by the Electric Vehicle Database.
Once we had those figures we then took the fast charge times and miles from the Electric Vehicle Database and plotted these onto the map to see where each car would need to recharge again, which was repeated until the car crossed the finish line.
We then calculated how much each recharge would have cost with the use of Zap Map’s cost calculator tool.
All times and costs were then totalled up to give the final figures provided above.
It’s important to mention that while these figures have been calculated as accurately as possible, with the help of various online tools, they may differ slightly from actual times and costs.
