Where in the world can you travel furthest in an electric vehicle?

As the world of motoring becomes increasingly eco-conscious, the popularity of electric cars is greatly increasing across the globe and it’s estimated that by 2030 there will be a massive 145 million EVs on the road (compared to 11 million today). Further evidence of the boom is that EV sales increased by 43% in 2020 despite the pandemic. Because of the rise in popularity EVs are improving all the time, and it is becoming increasingly easy to refuel, own, and insure them.

Over the years the major criticism levelled against EVs has been the battery range, and therefore going as far as possible on one charge is very important when making the switch to electrical power. Moreover, the fact that EVs take much longer to charge up than refuelling an internal combustion engine, the further the range the more convenient they are.

But where in the world will an electric car battery take you the furthest? We have all experienced battery life in gadgets and appliances being affected by the temperature, and batteries in EVs are no different. By looking at the range of a Tesla Model 3 in the climates of different countries around the world we have been able to determine where an EV will take you the furthest.

Top five cities to run an electric vehicle

1 – Sydney, Australia

Average range: 351 km

Average range (best 10% performers): 450 km

The first of three major cities where the average range is 351km (up to 450 km) is Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The largest city in the country is also where you’ll find the largest EV range, meaning you could make it all the way out to Dubbo with range to spare. The temperatures in Sydney average 18˚C which is slightly below the optimum for batteries. 

1 – Los Angeles, USA

Average range: 351 km

Average range (best 10% performers): 450 km

Los Angeles is the EV capital of the world, with the new style of car being especially popular with LA residents. They have picked a good place to make EVs popular as the Californian city has the joint second-highest average range for electric vehicles with 351 km (up to 450 km) from their average temperatures of 17.6˚C.

1 – Athens, Greece 

Average range: 351 km

Average range (best 10% performers): 450 km

Despite being over 11,000 km away from Los Angeles the Greek capital city of Athens shares an average annual temperature of 17.6˚C and consequently, EVs in the city also have an average range of 351 km (up to 450 km). 

4 – Lisbon, Portugal

Average range: 349 km

Average range (best 10% performers): 447 km

Another european capital city comes in next with Lisbon ranking in fourth place. EVs can travel an average of 349km in this city, rising to 447km for the top 10% of performers. Despite lower average temperatures of almost a whole degree celsius the average range is only 2km less.

5 – Mexico City, Mexico

Average range: 346 km

Average range (best 10% performers): 443 km

Another city from the Americas ranks in fifth place with Mexico City averaging 346km (up to 443 km) in terms of EV range. Mexico City temperatures average 16 degrees celsius which helps them achieve this. 

Five worst cities to run an electric vehicle

1 – Reykjavík and Kópavogur, Iceland

Average range: 296 km

Average range (best 10% performers): 374 km

The worst places to run an electric car are the confluent cities of Kópavogur and Reykjavík in Iceland with an average range of 296 km, although this can be as high as 374 km, which is a massive 81 km less than it would be in Tel Aviv. This poor performance is largely down to the cold temperatures of Iceland, with the cities averaging 4.3˚C. As it is widely accepted that cold has the worst effect on battery efficiency; the poor range here is unsurprising.  

3 – Tartu, Estonia

Average range: 307 km

Average range (best 10% performers): 389 km

Tartu is over 2 degrees hotter than the Icelandic cities, but that still means it has exceptionally low average temperatures of 6.4˚C. The impact of this on EV range is pretty catastrophic as in Tartu you will only be able to travel up to 389km on your battery. 

3 – Helsinki, Finland

Average range: 307 km

Average range (best 10% performers): 389 km

Finland is a car-mad country and has produced more World Rally Champion drivers than anywhere else in the world, with seven in total which is four more than any other country and is remarkable considering that they only have the 116th biggest population in the world. However, the EVs in Finland will not perform as well as their drivers due to an average temperature of 6.1˚C. 

3 – Espoo, Finland

Average range: 307 km

Average range (best 10% performers): 389 km

Similar to Helsinki, Finland’s second-largest city also has an average range of up to 389km for its EVs. Espoo is slightly further north and thus has slightly lower average temperatures of 6˚C.

3 – Oslo, Norway

Average range: 307 km

Average range (best 10% performers): 389 km

The final city sharing the dubious title of the third-worst city in the world to own an EV is the capital city of Norway, Oslo. Oslo has the lowest average temperature of any of these joint cities at 5.9˚C, and the range of up to 389km means you could drive an EV to the 1994 Winter Olympics host city of Lillehammer and back on one charge. 

Methodology 

  • To decide which cities to study we took the two most populated cities from each of the OECD member nations
  • We then looked at the average annual temperatures for each of these cities according to Climate-Data.org
  • Using Geotab’s Temperature Tool for EV Range we were able to determine how far a Tesla Model 3 would be able to travel at the temperature of each city. (Unfortunately the calculator only works in whole degrees so the temperature was rounded). 
  • We’ve shown both the overall average range as well as that of the the top 10% best performing Model 3s.