Best electric cars for families

Families come in all shapes and sizes, but you’ve got to have enough room for a row about who’s turn it is to play music/sit in the front/be blamed for whatever it is you left at home.

Here’s our pick of electric cars for parents with babies, young children, teenagers or just a gaggle of passing strangers (otherwise known as teenagers’ mates they randomly met on Snapchat).

Kia EV3

Competence is an underrated virtue. Stand back: the EV3 is competence king. Great value, great range for a car this size and you can give it a rapid charge on a powerful line if you find one. Best of all, it doesn’t carry small-car vibes: it feels chunky, heavy and solid.

Get all the info and find your Kia EV3 here. 

Volvo EX60

The electric SUV that all the fuss is about (well, this one and its core competitor, the BMW iX3). Why? Because it boasts over 500 miles of driving on one charge. And yet it still feels like a Volvo, with Scandi interior-design vibes and focus on sustainability. Best of all for those of us who are very annoyed about the bings and bongs of safety warning systems, the EX60 boasts a super-clever system that is far more intuitive and unobtrusive. And, being a Volvo, safety for occupants remains paramount.

Get all the info and find your Volvo EX60 here.

Polestar 3

This is one of two super-luxe, super expensive family cars on our list. It has new batteries, motors and tech which provide more power with a longer range and faster charging speeds. Now with an official range of almost 400 miles and a turn of pace to put a smile on your face. Its trump card, however, is its sustainability cred: Polestar is unparalleled in reducing the carbon footprint of its cars, so if you’re after a greener drive and have the bucks, this should be on your list. Also: quiet, super smooth, incredible sound system and a general-knowledge quiz on the planets via the touch screen, so your kids will know all there is to know about Neptune by the time you reach school.

Get all the info and find your Polestar 3 here.

Range Rover Sport Electric

And this is the other super-expensive electric family car on my list (bucket list, more like). It has a sticker price of over £100,000 but my oh my, is this a thing of beauty. Supreme luxury, comfort and peace are matched with the best off-roading skills yet because you traverse swathes of countryside in silence and without the need for a low-ratio transfer box as the torque of the motors does it all for you. This car really is queen of the road, especially with the two-tone black and white leather interior, in my humble opinion.

Get all the info and find your Ranger Rover Sport Electric here. 

Tesla Model Y

If you can bear to buy anything from Elon Musk, make it a Model Y. The spotlight has shifted away from Tesla recently to the new Chinese brands, but a used Model Y is now a bargain and you get access to the best part of EV ownership: the Tesla supercharger network of public chargers. Despite the constant roll-out of more charging points, this still remains a highlight. The Model Y has the boot, with space and easy access, and the little fun features on board like the fart indicators still elicit a laugh from the kids.

Get all the info and find your Tesla Model Y here.

BMW i5 Touring

The first of our estates on the list. An estate is a better family car than an SUV IMHO. You have just as much usable boot space, and it’s more easily accessible as it sits lower to the ground, but the car handles much better than an SUV as the centre of gravity is lower. Plus, the streamlined shape of estates is so elegant. The i5 Touring is not cheap, and do not go for the lowest profile tyre as you’ll get punctures, but apart from that it’s a might handsome and prestigious beast, with a shedload of rear leg space.

Get all the info and find your BMW i5 Touring here.

Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer

It’s smooth to drive, packed with safety tech and has a sizeable range of nearly 400 miles, perfect for long journeys. Choose the larger battery which in the real world should be able to go as far as Birmingham to Edinburgh on a single charge. Pro Match Plus and Pro S Match Plus versions are both rear-wheel drive and get ample power for gliding around town, getting up to motorway speeds, and safely overtaking.

Get all the info and find your Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer here.

Renault 4

The retro styling and nostalgia oozing from this French bucket of joy makes it a highly tempting car for smaller families. Especially those living in town centres, where parking space comes at a premium. It’s all about the design of this car, with its flashes of colour amid beautifully stitched grey fabrics, attention to detail in the little logos and so on, but it still has a deep boot. Also: less obvious than a Renault 5.

Get all the info and find your Renault 4 here. 

Skoda Elroq

Why go for the bigger Enya when the Elroq gives you everything you need for a decent family electric SUV? Plenty of room for teenagers in the rear and a good boot for a weekend away. Skoda has rock-solid dependability and all those clever little extras like an ice scraper or umbrella, plus Volkswagen underpinnings and touchscreen.

Get all the info and find your Skoda Elroq here.

BYD Sealion 7

Build Your Dream electric SUV we say. You cannot beat BYD for value for money: the Sealion is a lot of car. My colleagues gave it three stars but I’d give it one more: it looks great with comfort built in. The rear-wheel drive car version has an official range of just under 300 miles. This increases slightly for the all-wheel drive models with a bigger battery. You get BYD’s rotating central infotainment screen and Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) capability allowing you to charge up other devices from the battery and a heat pump to improve battery efficiency in colder weather as standard.

Get all the info and find your BYD Sealion 7 here.

Cupra Tavascan

I have put this safety of this family coupe-SUV firmly to the test: a large deer ran into the road right in front of me as I drove along at 60mph with the kids in the car. Let’s just say the crumple zone was called to prove its worth, and did. My boys barely looked up from their phones, despite the fact that the front half of the car as full of deer. The cabin was unaffected: the bonnet, bumper and headlights were smashed and sticky with hair. This car is sporty, as we accidentally proved, dynamic, with a futuristic cabin and aggressive styling that will please teens. A beautiful drive with sublime suspension, too.

Get all the info and find your Cupra Tavascan here.