Compare the best electric SUV cars

Just like a car running out of petrol, an EV running out of charge will simply come to a stop. You’ll have to call for a recovery vehicle to tow you to an available charging point — it’s not quite as easy as bringing a jerry can along but roadside rescue services such as the AA and RAC are now carrying emergency chargers which can top you up enough to get you a few miles to the nearest charging point. 

Keeping your electric car on charge at home overnight may be wise if you’re using it often and for longer journeys, particularly if you’re unsure when the next available charging point may be. It’s also generally the most cost-effective way to charge.

The UK Government has removed the plug-in car grant, which used to help reduce the cost of electric cars.

There are Benefit-in-Kind incentives for those who have an electric vehicle as a company car, with a rate of just 2% fixed until April 2025, when it will increase 1% per year until 2028. This is much lower than the rate faced by those with petrol, diesel or hybrid cars. Check out our guide on company car tax on electric cars for more information.

The two most common ways of charging an electric vehicle are through a home wallbox or a public charger. The latter will charge the battery more quickly, but the former should cost less.

In each case, a cable will have a connector that can be attached to the car in much the same way as any electrical appliance. You will usually have access to an app from the charger company or car manufacturer to track your state of charge, too.

Our electric car charging guide tells you more.

The cost of charging an electric vehicle depends on the price of electricity and the size of the battery. It’s similar to refuelling a petrol car, where the price of the petrol and size of the tank determines the cost of a refill.

As a guide, though, a typical 60kWh battery pack could cost around £20 to charge at home. However, some energy providers have special EV-specific tarrifs that can reduce this by about 75%. The 77kWh pack in a Skoda Enyaq will cost you £26 to charge from flat to full, if you’re paying the standard 34p per kWh rate, or about £5 on a low-cost tariff. Meanwhile, motorway rapid chargers could cost anywhere from £40 to £70 depending on the provider, so it’s worth checking the tariff as the fastest chargers often cost more.

Some locations, such as supermarkets or train stations, have free chargers available to use, while some councils have free chargers dotted around public car parks. In each of these cases they tend to be slower rates of charge, though.

The Vauxhall Mokka Electric is pretty small for an electric SUV, measuring 4.1 metres long and 1.8 metres wide, while the Fiat 600 is nearly identical in size.

The new Mercedes EQS SUV takes the trophy here, as long as you’re looking only at length. At 5,125mm long, it’s slightly longer than the Tesla Model X (which isn’t officially on sale in the UK anymore anyway) and beats the surprisingly-large Lotus Eletre’s 5,103mm. 

That would be the MG ZS EV, which starts at £30,495 (as of August 2023) - though head over to our MG configurator to see how much you could save.

Indeed there are. The Tesla Model X has seven seats, but it’s only available in left-hand drive in the UK. There are plenty of options – see our list of seven-seat EVs for the rundown. And on top of those, the big, and also expensive, Volvo EX90 electric SUV will arrive in 2024 with seven seats, as will the much-more affordable Kia EV9. Volkswagen is due to launch a long-wheelbase, seven-seat ID.Buzz, but that’s not strictly speaking an SUV.

Most of the electric SUVs in this list would be good for families as they offer a decent amount of cabin and boot space. However, the Kia EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Skoda Enyaq are some of the best value examples.

Top of the luxury EV pile is the Mercedes EQS SUV, followed closely by the BMW iX. Both offer fantastic interiors and ooze badge appeal.