It is easy to get dragged into a range arms race when comparing electric cars. One has 250 miles, another has 310, another claims more than 400. Bigger starts to look automatically better.

That is not always how it works in real life.

A useful EV range is the range that comfortably covers the journeys you actually make, with enough spare capacity that you are not constantly planning around the battery.

Start with your longest normal journey

Do not start with the biggest number on a brochure. Think about the journeys you make repeatedly.

If most of your driving is local and you can charge at home, a modest-range EV can be extremely easy to live with. If you regularly do long motorway journeys in winter, the same car might involve more charging stops than you want.

The important word is regularly. Buying a much larger, more expensive battery for one exceptional trip each year may not be worthwhile if that trip is easy to cover with a rapid-charge stop.

Official range is only the starting point

The official range is measured using the WLTP test. It is useful because cars are tested on a common basis, but it is not a guarantee of what you will see on every road and in every season.

Speed, temperature, wind, rain, heating, wheels and driving style all affect the distance a car can cover.

That is why MyEVRange shows the official figure alongside other published data and, as the database grows, results from drivers themselves.

Browse electric cars and their range figures.

Leave yourself a sensible reserve

Very few people plan every journey around arriving with exactly zero percent battery.

If your regular round trip is 180 miles, a car that can just about manage 180 miles in ideal conditions is unlikely to feel relaxed. Cold weather, a diversion or a stronger headwind could turn an easy journey into a charging stop.

A useful comparison is therefore not simply whether the car can complete the journey, but how much margin it leaves in the conditions you care about.

Motorway drivers need to look beyond the headline

Motorway driving is one of the situations where an EV can look quite different from its official figure. Sustained higher speed means more energy is needed to push through the air.

If long-distance motorway use matters to you, look for owner motorway data rather than relying only on the brochure range.

Bigger batteries have trade-offs too

A larger battery can mean more range, but it can also mean more weight and a higher purchase price. Two cars with similar range can use very different amounts of energy to achieve it.

Efficiency matters as well as battery size.

The best range figure is personal

For one driver, 180 genuine miles could be plenty. Another may find 300 miles restrictive because of the journeys they make for work.

The useful question is not “What is a good EV range?”

It is:

“What range do I need for the journeys I actually make, in the conditions I actually drive in?”

That is the question MyEVRange is designed to make easier to answer.