Best electric SUVs 2023

► The finest electric SUVs on sale today
► Boxy 4x4s and sleek coupe-SUVs galore
► Find out which best fits your needs

Almost every car manufacturer now has an electric SUV on their fleet. These crossovers and 4x4s remain popular amongst buyers – and their taller ride heights and larger bodies make them well-suited to electrification, as they have enough spare room in their platforms to put a battery pack and a couple of electric motors without impacting passenger space.

The question is, though, which electric SUV is best? We’ve reviewed them all and pieced together this top 10 list to help you decide which best suits your lifestyle. We haven’t just focused on the fast, expensive stuff, either – our regularly updated round-up includes everything from cut-price family runabouts to budget-busting, warp-speed flag carriers.

Scroll down for our list of the best electric SUV available. Then, if you’re still grappling about whether EV ownership is right for you, click around our website for advice pages covering the cost of charging, what electric cars are like to live with and which electric cars are the cheapest to buy.

Top 10 best electric SUVs UK 2023

Price: from £64,165

The BMW iX3 is an electric version of the conventional X3 – and it does all the basics very well. Its modest 285bhp output means it isn’t face-alteringly fast, but it handles well, there’s loads of room inside and it has an official range of 285 miles. Its brakes are particularly good, too. Other EVs tend to be optimised for maximum regeneration when you step on the brake pedal, which feels a bit mushy and tarnishes the experience. Not so in the iX3. The pedal is solid.

Price: from £30,495

As this list will show, electric cars are quite expensive. Their batteries are packed with pricey rare earth materials – so manufacturers shove them to the top of their line-ups and load them with enough premium kit to allow them to turn a healthy profit. Not MG. The ZS EV is an electric SUV for the average driver. It has a modest amount of equipment, a reasonable range of 273 miles and enough space inside to swallow your family whole. Oh yeah, and prices start from just £30,000.

Price: from £44,990

The Model Y isn’t as revolutionary as some of the brand’s other cars (it’s basically a jacked-up version of the Model 3), but that doesn’t sully its merits. The most basic version has a maximum range of 283 miles, while leggiest Long Range variant can cover up to 331 miles. Every version is fast, every version is spacious – and Tesla has just slashed thousands off its price lists, which means the Model Y is now more accessible than ever.

Price: from £53,905

Genesis is the new kid on the block. The company is to Hyundai what Lexus is to Toyota – and the GV60 is its first go at a dedicated electric car. It’s a good one, too. That swoopy bodywork hides the same platform and powertrains as the excellent Kia EV6, which means you get strong performance across the line-up and a maximum electric range of 321 miles. Thanks to its 800V electrical system, charge speeds are also lightning fast. Find a 350kW charger and it’ll surge from 10–80% in 18 minutes.

Price: from £55,310

Yes, we know it looks a bit dull but hear us out. The EQB is a clever bit of kit. Despite is compact footprint, there’s room inside for seven people. You can only have it with four-wheel drive, but both powertrain options have an official maximum range of 260 miles which is respectable considering both feature a rather small 66.5kWh battery. And, because it’s based on the same platform as the combustion-engined GLB, it retains a lot of that car’s selling points, such as its swanky dashboard and dual-screen infotainment system.

Price: from £90,980

If you can live with the ‘look at me’ Falcon doors, the Tesla Model X is quite a practical car. It’s half SUV, half MPV, offering a commanding driving position, an enormous boot and seating inside for seven. It also has a maximum range of more than 300 miles, a glowing five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP and rapid charge times from Tesla’s brilliant Supercharger network. Opt for the quickest Plaid variant, though, and you’ll pay well over £100,000 to get one on your driveway.

Price: from £69,995

The I-Pace has been around since 2018 – and newcomers like the Skoda Enyaq and Tesla Model Y have since trounced it in the range race. However, we like the I-Pace for its unapologetic focus on the driver. It’s still one of the sharpest electric cars on sale. Its chassis is impressively balanced and its steering feels every bit as responsive as a petrol Jag. It’s quick too, boasting 395bhp and 513lb/ft of torque, which is enough for a 0–62mph time of 4.8 seconds.

Price: from £38,970

The Enyaq isn’t particularly fun to drive, but it’s a great family car. The interior is huge and you get 640 litres of luggage space. A word to wise, though – don’t be sucked in by the promises of the fastest vRS variant. It isn’t any quicker than the middling 80x variant in the real world. The smart choice is to stick with the 201bhp single-motor 80 model and spend your money on the biggest 77kWh battery. That way, you’ll have enough performance and a range of more than 300 miles.

Price: from £119,225

The BMW iX is a technological tour de force. It’s the last bespoke electric vehicle in the company’s range – it features an exotic carbon fibre body, an enormous 111.5kWh battery pack and as much as 611bhp. That means it’s very light and it can drive a long way at speeds normally only experienced in spacecraft. All this clever technology means it’s rather expensive, though. Prices start at around £70,000, but if you want the fastest M60 model, you’ll need to shell out almost £120,000.

Price: from £45,245

The EV6 is the most well-rounded electric SUV on sale today. You want practicality? It has a 490-litre boot and enough space inside for five adults. Need an EV with a long range? Buy an EV6 with a 77.4kWh battery pack and you’ll be able to drive around 300 miles between charging stops. Want something fast? The EV6 GT produces 572bhp and will sprint from 0–62mph in a supercar-baiting 3.5 seconds. It even goes around corners well. If you want the best, here it is.

Why are there so many electric SUVs?

Look at some of the best EVs you can buy in 2023, and you’ll find that a good percentage of them are SUVs or crossovers. This sector marks the sweet spot where practicality, packaging and pricing meet.

Most dedicated electric cars use a ‘skateboard’ construction, like the one below. Basically, it’s a board of batteries with a pair of wheels at either end – and they allow manufacturers to squeeze as many cells into their EVs as possible, while improving space inside for passengers.

SUVs, with their tall bodies, high floors and long wheelbases have more space underneath for batteries, while higher pricing makes it easier to swallow the cost of the EV hardware. The upshot is you (generally) get an EV with a longer range and more equipment if you opt for an SUV than you would if you went for a hatchback.

The figures tell the story. Something like the city-focused Honda E hatchback can only squeeze a claimed 137 miles out of its tiny 35.5kWh battery, whereas the BMW iX can extract a massive 380 miles from its larger 105kWh battery. Bigger cars = bigger batteries. Simple, isn’t it?

Electric cars also tend to have larger interiors than their petrol and diesel counterparts. Electric motors are much smaller than petrol engines, which means heating and ventilation systems can be pushed into the available space. There’s also no need for an exhaust or a propshaft bisecting the cabin, which removes the hump in the middle of the cabin, making it roomier. This means, as a rough rule, electric cars offer the interior space from the class above, which makes them well suited to family life.

The downsides? As this list shows, they’re not cheap. And while detractors will claim an SUV of any kind is inherently less efficient than other automotive form factors, all the examples listed above promise impressive efficiency and remarkably nimble handling.

Future electric SUVs coming soon

There are more and more electric SUVs coming to showrooms near you as we march closer to the looming ICE ban later this decade. Most manufacturers are developing e-SUVs, so look out for these models arriving soon – from mainstream and premium brands alike.

Examples of future electric SUVs include:

• Porsche Macan: The next model will be EV only
• Rivian R1S: A new name for a new type of tough, rough electric outdoors vehicles
• Volvo EX90: The next big SUV from Sweden will have an all-electric option