Electric cars - just how far can you go?

Road trip

If you’re trying to get as far as possible without refuelling, you should consider your car carefully - some models, like a Vauxhall Corsa and the popular Fiat 500 will only get you as far as Nantes in France when travelling from London.

When it comes to electric cars, the distance is even shorter: a Peugeot Ion will only take you 93 miles on a single charge, which could get you from London to Dover. A Volkswagen e-up! will also get you to Dover, while the e-Golf  will get you a little further to Béthune in France.

The top performing hybrid cars on the other hand can take you a fair distance across Europe. Why not try:

1. A Golf can drive as far as 1,094 miles before the tank needs topping up. That’s enough to get you to Madrid, although you might want to stop for a rest before then.
2. An Astra might not get you as far as a Golf, but at 676 miles on a full tank, it could travel all the way to Liechtenstein without needing a trip to a petrol station.
3. The Audi A3’s 11-gallon tank will take you up to 616 miles, the distance between London and Geneva.
4. The Fiesta is a reliable option that gives an average of 64 miles to the gallon. On that and a full tank, you could travel up to 591 miles, or as far as Stuttgart in Germany.
5. A Clio could drive the full distance to Wolfsburg in Germany before the tank ran out. That’s roughly 570 miles.  

Electric holidays

Although electric cars don’t have the same capacity as petrol-driven motors, there are some models that will still allow for a one-charge trip to Europe. The most efficient, a Tesla S 100D, can take you up to 393 miles, as far as Cologne in Germany.

A Renault Zoe R110 ZE 40 will get you to Brussels in Belgium, if you want it to - 250 miles.

Daniel Hutson, Product Owner, Car Insurance at comparethemarket.com said: “When planning a holiday, many factors can mean that using your car as your mode of transport makes a trip away a bit more economical. Equally, the increasing fuel capacity and battery life of some of the cars on our roads mean that it’s getting easier to travel that bit further. You wouldn’t typically expect to be able to get as far as the likes of Germany or Spain, but advancements in the motoring industry have made this possible.”  

If you’re heading off on a long journey, make sure you’re up to date with your car’s service schedule. Check your handbook/manual is in your vehicle, as well as making sure that you carry out checks on your oil, engine coolant and tyres. For trips abroad you should also check your policy to make sure, wherever you’re going, that you’re covered.

For more vehicles and their one tank trips, see the rest of the results here.