A few years ago, taking an electric car on a long trip might have felt like a game of strategic pit stops. But, with electric car technology developing rapidly, and manufacturers building their EV lineup, competing with others on range and battery size - how much have electric cars changed? To find out, we’ve decided to race electric cars around the UK, something we first did in 2020, and compare this year's most popular EVs to popular EVs in 2020.
The EV road race measures how long it takes some of the UK’s most popular electric vehicles to travel from John o’ Groats in Scotland to Land’s End in Cornwall - a journey of 837 miles. Along the way, we also take a look at charging times and overall costs.
We’ve looked at a mix of models from the Tesla Model Y to the Volkswagen ID.4. These cars vary in range, efficiency, and charging speed - but which one can complete the trip fastest? And which offers the cheapest ride? Let’s find out.
Tesla Model 3 leads the pack as the fastest car
Speed isn’t just about top speeds - it’s about how efficiently an EV covers long distances, including time spent charging. So, which popular EVs are the fastest from Land’s End to John o’ Groats?
Tesla Model 3 remains the king of long-haul travel. With a range of 340 miles and access to Tesla’s ultra-fast supercharger network, it’s no surprise the Model 3 takes the crown, completing the trip in just 15 hours and 12 minutes.
Following in at a close second is the Tesla Model Y. This model offers 280 miles of range but, with slightly longer charging times, makes the journey six minutes longer at 15 hours and 18 minutes.
In last position is the Hyundai Kona
The Hyundai Kona fails to hit the podium, falling into last place in this range race. The Hyundai Kona has a range of 240 miles, but charging times and stops needed means it would take 16 hours and 17 minutes to complete this road trip.
The Mercedes-Benz EQA would also finish at 16 hours and 17 minutes, but due to its higher range at 260 miles, and higher recharge miles gained at 180 miles, the model ranks slightly higher.
Which popular EVs are the cheapest to charge?
Not only are the Tesla Model 3 and the Tesla Model Y the fastest cars to complete this road trip, they’re also the cheapest to charge. Both cars will take a total charge cost of £55.14.
Although the Audi Q4 E-Tron came in 7th place in the race, the car makes up for it by having the second cheapest charge, along with the VW ID.4, at £56.58.
The BMW i4 comes out as the most expensive charge, raking up £75.44 which is a massive £13.72 costlier than the average of its race-day competitors.
Today’s EVs are 2 hours and 12 minutes faster than five years ago
Looking back at when we raced the most popular EVs of 2020, the average time taken for cars to complete the route was 17 hours and 52 minutes. Today’s best-selling electric cars finish the race at a timely 15 hours and 40 minutes. That’s 2 hours and 12 minutes quicker than five years ago, proving just how much electric cars have advanced in recent years.
Let’s take a closer look at how the popular models of 2020 compare to 2024.
Tesla Model 3 is 1 hour faster than its 2020 counterpart
In 2020, Tesla was already leading the EV range race, with the Model S offering an impressive 325 miles on a single charge. Four years later, the 2024 Tesla Model 3 took the top spot with 340 miles. The Model 3’s recharge times are 1.36 times faster than the Tesla Model S, with the Model 3 taking 25 minutes.
This top range and recharge times means the Tesla Model 3 is nearly an hour quicker in the EV range race than the Model S.
The Hyundai Kona is the slowest EV, but manages to beat 2020 counterpart by 4 hours
Meanwhile, on the slower end of the spectrum, the Hyundai Kona is this year’s equivalent of the 2020 VW e-Golf - meaning it’s not winning any awards for speed. With charge times stretching beyond 30 minutes per stop, these models require extra patience on long journeys. However, although the Hyundai Kona was the slowest EV in 2024, it’s still miles ahead of the VW E-Golf, taking 4 hours less.
The VW E-Golf requires a whopping 10 stops to charge, whereas the Kona just needs 4, highlighting how much EVs have improved. For drivers this means less time at service stations and more time on the road. But what about the cost?
Today’s cheapest EV costs just £1.53 more to charge than five years ago
When it comes to charging costs, this year's models are slightly more expensive to charge for this particular journey, due to inflation and rising energy costs. However, the cheapest charging for this route in 2024 only costs £1.53 more than the cheapest EV from 2020.
In 2020, the Renault Zoe came out on top to be the least expensive to charge, with charging costs totalling just £53.61. In 2024, the Tesla Model 3 takes the crown as the cheapest to charge, with a journey cost of £55.14.
While we’re comparing these two as the cheapest charging EVs of their respective years, it’s worth nothing that they’re quite different vehicles. The Renault Zoe has a much smaller battery and shorter range, requiring more frequent charging stops over long distances. On the other hand, the Tesla Model 3 can travel much farther on a single charge, making it a more efficient choice for long-distance trips, even though the total cost is slightly higher.
The most expensive EV to charge: 2024 vs 2020
Interestingly, despite rising electricity costs the most expensive EV to charge in 2024 is actually £14 cheaper than in 2020.
Back in 2020, the VW E-Golf was the priciest EV for this journey, with a total charging cost of £89.01. This was largely due to its limited range, which meant it required 10 charging stops along the way.
In 2024, the BMW i4 now holds the title for the most expensive EV to charge, but with a lower total cost of £75.44. Thanks to its improved battery capacity and range, it only requires four stops to complete the journey - less than half the number of stops needed for the E-Golf.
Even though these cars are the most expensive to charge, they’re still marginally cheaper to run than a petrol or diesel car. This same journey from John o’Groats to Land’s end in a petrol car with an MPG of 35 would cost £151.04.
What about EVs not included in the range race?
Although the Mercedes EQS isn’t one of the most popular electric cars in 2024, so it wasn’t used in our analysis, it’s worth noting that this EV has the longest range on the market. The EQS boasts a whopping 481 miles per charge, making it the new king of long distance EV travel. Close behind is the Audi A6 e-tron, offering 463 miles on a single charge.
Comparing this to 2020, when the longest-range EVs available were the Tesla Model S Long Range Plus, offering 345 miles, and the Tesla Model 3, offering 290 miles, it’s clear that premium EVs are making significant strides in extending range. In fact, the Mercedes EQS has 39% more range than the Tesla Model S Long Range Plus.
These newer models can cover most of the UK without needing to stop, a huge leap forward for range anxiety concerns.
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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.
