Seven EVs now declare to cowl greater than 450 miles on one cost – might 1,000 miles be a actuality?

As more advanced electric cars break into the market, the benchmark for driving ranges is increasing.

Last month, Volvo unveiled its latest EV that promises to exceed 500 miles without needing to stop for electricity.

Its 117kW battery is said to be good for 503 miles.

In theory, that’s enough to cruise from the Channel port of Dover to Dunbarton to the north of Glasgow (490 miles), drive from the affluent streets of London’s ultra-posh Fulham to Germany’s financial hub in Frankfurt (497 miles), or motor from Southend Pier to Strasbourg’s Cathédrale Notre-Dame (502 miles) without pulling over for electricity.

While the bold claims are not necessarily achievable in the real world – far from it when driving in winter conditions with heaters on full blast and window wipers working overtime – it shows the rapid development of EVs from the 109-mile ‘official’ range of the first ‘mass-market’ electric car, the 2010 Nissan Leaf.  

With Volvo’s latest battery-powered SUV is now the new range yardstick, there are other EVs that are hot on its heels.

We take a look at the seven electric cars you can order today that – according to official tests – go for 450 miles or more on a full battery.

And we also take a look at the innovative battery technology just around the corner that promises to make 1,000-mile ranges a reality.

Electric cars have come a long way in the 15 years since the Leaf’s debut as the UK’s first mainstream EV.

The models drivers find in showrooms today use battery packs with double the energy of the 2010 Leaf’s 24kWhs. 

But clever use of materials and packaging – like Volvo’s new battery cell ‘mega casting’ – has only made them more capable of longer distances.

Combined too with the greater use of lightweight constructions, more efficient tyres, and aerodynamically slipperier designs and most EVs entering the market in the last few years typically have official ranges beyond 300 miles.

But these figures – as many of you are aware – always need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Volvo’s 503-mile range – like the other six EVs in our list – is based on the World Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP): the official measurement used for every new car, irrelevant of fuel type, before it goes on sale in Europe and the UK.

Like the miles per gallon figures the test cycle generates for petrol and diesel cars, the ranges quoted from the WLTP cycle are always caveated by a small print footnote starting the figures are ‘for comparative purposes only’ rather than being attainable in the real world.

This is due to the limitations within the repeatable laboratory-based test. 

This includes the controlled lab environment failing to account for variables such as ambient temperature and the use of everyday features like as air-conditioning, heated seats, headlights and window wipers. 

The cycle is also conducted using very gentle acceleration and deceleration, and motorway speeds are only replicated for a short duration of the test.

It’s for these reasons that recent studies have found that real-world ranges can be up to 40 per cent shorter than the official numbers during winter conditions – and nearly halved when driving in extremely hot weather experienced in some parts of the continent.

That means even the longest-legged EVs listed below might only be capable of covering around 300 miles in Britain’s current chilly temperatures. 

Here’s a rundown of the longest quoted ranges for EVs you can order right now:

=6. Tesla Model 3 Long Range RWD – 466 miles

Price: £44,990

There was a time when Tesla was well ahead of the pack in the range race. But that’s not the case at the turn of 2026.

It’s biggest single-charge mileage mule available right now is the Model 3 saloon in Long Range trim. When specced with the 18-inch Photon Wheels, the official WLTP range is 466 miles.

Having recently killed off production of the Model S and Model X, this variant of the Model 3 is likely to be the Tesla benchmark for range for the foreseeable. 

=6. DS No8 FWD Long Range – 466 miles

Price: £54,690

The French spin-off of Citroen hasn’t proved all that popular in the UK, but the hope is a new range of classy models – like the No4 hatchback – will generate some newfound interest from the British motoring fraternity.

The No8 is the top of the range model in the revised line-up. And it should feel pretty plush, too. With the French Citroen DS name synonymous with ride comfort, the No8 aims to continue this connection using road-scanning tech that communicates to the active damper suspension how best to cope with potholes and ruts in the road ahead.

With an official WLTP range of 466 miles, it’s a match for the Tesla on performance – though at a £10,000 premium.

5. Audi A6 Sportback e-tron Performance – 470 miles

Price: £68,860

Audi’s longest-legged EV is its A6 Sportback (also available as the Avant estate) in Performance trim, which comes with a steep asking price.

Starting from just under £69,000 this gets you a 100kWh battery that – according to the German car giant – is capable of slogging away for 470 miles on a full charge.

If you’re on a particularly long journey that saps the battery’s reserves, the car’s 800V system can utilise rapid charging speeds up to 270kW, meaning the charge can be upped from 10 per cent to 80 per cent in just 21 minutes.

4. Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ – 481 miles

Price: £112,620

Mercedes and its EQS saloon for quite some time wore the crown for the longest-range EV on the market.

While even the ‘entry’ EQS 350 offered a range of up to 409 miles from its 96kWh battery, upgrading to the 450+ variant gains a 118kWh unit and a WLTP range of up to 481 miles.

However, we’re now in the realms of spending silly money to access long-distance cruising on a single charge. Even the most affordable EQS 350 starts from £55 shy of three figures, while the 450+ will set you back £112,620. To put that into perspective, that’s the average house price in some parts of Scotland. 

3. Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+ – 483 miles

Price: £45,615

If you want an even longer-range electric Mercedes that’s less than half the price of the EQS executive saloon, the CLA 250+ is your best bet.

It recently picked up the 2026 European Car of the Year award – only the second time in the prize’s 62-year history that a Mercedes has been named the best of the bunch.

The least expensive model – the 250+ Sport – is the longest legged of the lot, with its 85kWh battery good for 483 miles between charges, WLTP tests found. 

The CLA returns more than 5 miles per kWh and can add around 200 miles of range from a 10-minute charge, so not much longer than it takes to fill the tank of a petrol car. 

And more is yet to come from Mercedes. It has already developed an EV with a revolutionary new battery design and powerful ‘axial-flux’ e-motors that has covered 3,405 miles in 24 hours to set a new world record.

2. BMW iX3 50 xDrive – 500 miles

Price: £58,755

The new iX3 has been developed from the ground up as an EV, with the result that it can cover 500 miles of range on a single charge thanks to its 108.7kWh battery. 

While that’s an impressive feat even by today’s standards, it might be a point of frustration for the Bavarian brand that it is a mere three miles short of the outright range best.

That said, the Beemer has other impressive capabilities. Not least its ultra-powerful 800V architecture can add 215 miles of range in 10 minutes.

1. Volvo EX60 P12 AWD – 503 miles 

Price: £64,860 

Volvo’s new EX60 is the first battery car to go on sale in the UK that can exceed 500 miles on a single charge, removing the biggest ‘obstacle’ that has stopped people from switching to electric before now, the company says.

While the entry £56,860 version can go for 385 miles on a full battery, the most expensive P12 All-Wheel-Drive variant is said to be capable of covering 503 miles (810km) without stopping.

Volvo has boldly claimed that it will ‘set a new standard for its segment’ and hailed the EX60 as the model that ‘solves the top customer concerns for buying an electric car’. 

When might we see a 1000-mile EV?

While 500 miles ranges might seem impressive by today’s standards, car makers say we’re very much in the infancy of battery technology – and advances coming in a matter of years could see these distances doubled on a single charge.

Solid-state, lithium-air, and lithium-sulphur batteries represent the potential next steps for vehicles.

Each promises higher energy densities, improved safety, and faster charging over existing lithium-ion battery packs. 

While lighter lithium-sulphur batteries are lauded as the answer for electrified commercial flight, lithium-air promises the highest energy density of all – though sadly is the technology in its earliest phase of development.

For the automotive space, solid state batteries are seen as the next logical step.

According to the world’s biggest car maker, Toyota, these will start appearing in EVs sooner than you might think.

Currently, the Japanese manufacturer is fine tuning a ‘high-performance’ lithium-ion battery that it says can achieve a range of more than 1,000 kilometres – which is 621 miles.

This is thanks to advancements in ‘bipolar structure’, combining lithium-ion chemistry and a high nickel cathode.

Some three years ago, it predicted this tech could be available in its motors by next year. However, it caveated that the 1,000km target would only be achievable if combined with ‘improved aerodynamics and reduced vehicle weight’.

The major breakthrough, though, will come just before the end of the decade – and coincidentally the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030.

This will be thanks to mass availability of solid state batteries. 

The Japanese giant that year entered into an agreement with battery supplier Idemitsu to develop the technology for its vehicles. 

‘Our two companies will unite their strengths to mass-produce solid-state batteries and to realise innovations originating in Japan. We will create the future of mobility together,’ Toyota’s president and CEO Koji Sato said at the time.

‘Solid-state lithium-ion batteries have a solid electrolyte that allows for faster movement of ions and a greater tolerance of high voltages and temperatures,’ the car maker explained.

‘These qualities make the batteries suitable for rapid charging and discharging and delivering power in a smaller form.’

Toyota’s first solid-state battery-powered passenger car is expected to offer up to 621 miles of range and be recharged in less than 10 minutes.

And it claims it already has a ‘higher specification li-ion solid-state battery’ under development, targeting an improvement in cruising range of around 50 per cent to providing more than 1,200km (746 miles) between charges.

In fact, it says the tech – along with other aerodynamic advancements – could keep its EVs running for close to 1,500km, which is 932 miles in total.

Toyota says it is already ‘experimenting’ with aero for mainstream EVs, particularly involving the height of the battery.

‘If the battery’s height can be reduced, then it follows the vehicle’s overall height can be lowered, the drag coefficient can be improved and overall range can be increased,’ it says.

The battery pack in its bZ4X electric SUV is around 150mm high. Toyota plans to reduce battery height to 120mm – and to 100mm in the case of high-performance models.