Going Green: The long range EV boom has arrived and is in full swing

The short answer is yes, absolutely. The longer answer is that there are developments happening constantly in the electric vehicle (EV) world and recently there’s been news that EV ranges are rivalling petrol cars for how long they can drive.

Some EVs have ranges of over 300 miles – The Mercedes EQE SUV 450+ did 375 miles in testing, the Tesla Model S Plaid, did 365 miles and the Tesla Model X, LR did 331 miles in testing. Obviously, real world driving will be slightly lower but given the average journey is less than 20 miles there’s no longer any reason for range anxiety.

The long range EV boom has arrived and is in full swing and with it, more and more drivers and commuters are switching from their polluting petrol and diesel vehicles to electric versions which are often price comparable to combustion engine cars, far cheaper to run and much better for the planet.

In fact, the used electric vehicle market is incredibly buoyant and continues to grow too. UK used electric car sales surged by over 90 percent in 2023 and magazines like Auto Trader have an entire section now dedicated to the second hand EV market.

There’s an argument from some that EVs are expensive and yes, cars like the new Tesla 3 aren’t cheap but they’re still cheaper than a lot of other petrol or diesel options that are out there.

Taking the Tesla 3 as an example, it can go up to 390 miles on a single charge which is enough to go from London to Edinburgh.

That’s a huge range and one that most EV drivers will welcome.

No, it’s not cheap with a starting retail cost of £39,990 but when you consider the fact a new Land Rover Defender starts at £55,265 and will be way more expensive to run than the Tesla it’s worth doing the sums before you opt for an old technology.

I’ve driven an electric vehicle for years and I won’t ever switch back. The developments and advancements have attracted more drivers to switch too and little by little the misinformation that’s existed around them is being seen as just that and dismissed.

BMW’s Chief Financial Advisor has recently said the sales growth of the entire company is driven predominantly by electric vehicles. That’s a huge admission for the car giant to make and shows just how far we’ve come as consumers with our love affair with EVs.

There are more than a million electric cars on British roads and that figure is rapidly increase and as it does, the infrastructure for them will continue to improve as it has done for years. At the end of February 2024, there were 57,290 electric vehicle charging points across the UK a 47 per cent increase from the year before, according to Zap Map.

Now’s the time to make the switch with a big second hand market and plenty of options available to you, so if you haven’t already, start looking around and book some test drives.