Playing the long game

A new generation of family-friendly electric SUVs with lengthy official ranges and keen pricing has arrived. Let's find out which of them is best prepared to meet your needs in the years ahead

- NEIL WINN

THE TESLA MODEL Y was the best-selling car on the planet last year, and it's not hard to see why. Practical? Tick. Big range? Tick. Packed with enough tech to make Silicon Valley swoon? Absolutely. But here's the rub: even the 'cheap' version will set you back nearly £50,000. And while heavy-hitting rivals such as the Kia EV6 and Skoda Enyaq are available for slightly less, they're still a bit steep for many private buyers.

So, what's the answer? Well, the Kia EV3 and Skoda Elroq are brand-new electric SUVs that promise impressive practicality and continent-crossing range, but at a price point that's a little less eyebrow-raising.

The EV3 is Kia's dinkiest electric model (it's short enough that we classify it as a small electric SUV), slotting in beneath the middleweight EV6 and the hulking seven-seat EV9. And yes, you're right: it does look like a baby EV9. The design borrows heavily from its big brother, sporting the same 'tiger face' front end and use of clean, sharp creases to create a modern, squared-off profile.

You've got two battery choices with the EV3. The Standard Range option has a 55kWh usable capacity and an official range of 267 miles. The Long Range (with a usable capacity of 78kWh) ups the ante, allowing up to 375 miles between top-ups. We've gone for the latter, in midrange GT-Line trim (which is likely to be the most popular).

Then there's the Elroq. You could think of it as the electric equivalent of the combustion-engined Karoq, but in practice it feels more like a downsized Enyaq - and that's no bad thing. It also introduces Skoda's new 'Modern Solid' design language. Up front, that means a shiny black panel in place of a grille, sharp LED headlights, and bold lettering across the bonnet for maximum presence. From the side, though, there's more than a hint of Enyaq about it.