What’s the best EV for mile-munching?

You could be forgiven for thinking that the size of an electric vehicle’s battery has become something of a compensation for other measurements of varying sizes. We’re in the middle of a war of addition, carmakers wanging in ever increasing amounts of lithium ion in order to boost headline range figures. 

And all to tempt a peculiar sort of combustion driver who will only be dragged from the fuel pump by their fingernails, a person who seems to think that they drive every tank from brimful to empty in one stretch without even stopping, presumably fed snacks and energy drinks via drone through an open sunroof. It’s amazing that these people can even walk, their bodies atrophying through neglect. 

Shouldn’t criticise, though – we all have our different reasons for buying the cars we do. Usually lurking in the back of our minds is the fact we went somewhere far away on holiday in 2013, or had to take a load of stuff to the tip two Easters ago. Perhaps people want some extra space to ferry the kids about, even though they’re all in their late twenties. 

Still, not a bad shout to be thinking about whether your new EV is a decent drive on the motorway – we all have to hit the highway every now and then. And while there are a few cars out there with girthier range figures than Ford’s Mustang Mach-E – and the likes of the Mercedes-Benz EQS and Lucid Air have price figures to match – on balance it’s the one we’d choose for a long jaunt. 

You get an impressive 273 miles of official WLTP range from the Standard Range model and its 70kWh battery, while if you opt for the Extended Range version of the car and its 91kWh of battery the car will be good for an official 379 miles of range. That would be enough to get you from London to Luxembourg on a single tank of electricity with a few watts to spare, as if anyone would want to drive there. 

Of course, at £42k/£730 a month for the entry level standard range model we can’t put the Mach-E forward as a budget model, but who knows – with petrol prices heading the way they are you might soon be a lot better off than you think. 

The Mach-E rides well along the motorway, whipping the family along in comfort. But more importantly, even in the base car you get heated seats and steering wheel, keyless entry, heated windscreen, wireless phone charging and more safety kit than you can shake a car accident at. Admittedly only several those are actually useful on the motorway.

At any rate, go for a Mustang Mach-E and you’ll enjoy typically solid Ford build quality and more than enough power to get by. The more expensive Mach-Es dial up the motor and offer more neck-snapping acceleration than a person could realistically need from day to day. As with many fancy electric cars, far better to go for as low a spec as you can stand and reap the range rewards. Happy travels.

Best electric car for long distances – Ford Mustang Mach-E Extended Range
Price: £47,580
Range: 379 miles
Engine: 290bhp electric motor
Battery: 91kWh
Top speed: 112mph
Similarity to the other Mustang: None