Car of the Year Awards 2025: Best family electric SUV for long journeys
If you do long journeys regularly, three words give the Tesla Model Y the edge over other family electric SUVs: 'Tesla Supercharger network’. True, these fast, dependable and plentiful public rapid chargers are increasingly being opened up to non-Tesla owners, but if you don’t drive a Tesla, you pay more to use them.
In addition, the Model Y puts the electricity you fill it with to good use, being nearly as efficient as its Model 3 saloon sibling. Our favourite Long Range AWD (all-wheel-drive) version can officially travel for 331 miles between charges, and it gets closer to matching its official figure in real-world use than most electric cars; we managed 304 miles on a warm day, while a 250kW peak charging rate means stops to ‘refuel’ won’t take long.
But why don’t we recommend the Long Range RWD (rear-wheel-drive) model, which bins one of the electric motors to save weight and has an official range of up to 373 miles? Well, while no Model Y is as quiet or comfortable as a Skoda Elroq, the AWD rides noticeably better than the RWD, with the latter jostling you around in your seat even on roads that appear smooth.
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