Best 7-seater electric cars in the UK

Best for: sumptuous comfort

The Hyundai Ioniq 9 sort of looks like what Judge Dredd might drive if he were a family man. With its super-cool pixellated headlamps, estate-car-on-stilts silhouette and high-tech interior, it feels really futuristic - yet it’s a bit friendlier on the eye than the monolithic Kia EV9 with which it shares its chassis, battery and motors.

The Ioniq 9 comes in a seven-seat configuration as standard, or you can have an even more luxurious six-seater variant on the top-spec trim which replaces the second-row seats with a pair of captain’s chairs. Whichever layout you select, there’s room for adults, even in the third row where there’s lots of foot space and even decent under-thigh support.

Access to the rear is easy too - especially on the six-seater model, where you can just slip between the individual rear chairs. Even with all seven seats in place, though, the boot isn’t too compromised - you get 338 litres of space, which is about the same as you get in a small hatchback. Just fine for a weekly shop or a few small suitcases, in other words.

There’s just one battery, and it’s massive - which means that the longest-range model can offer an outstanding 385 miles to a charge. Even the more powerful all-wheel drive and Performance versions offer well over 350 miles, and even though the real-world range will be lower, being a Hyundai you can at least expect the range gauge to be accurate.

Not only are the seats all super-comfy, but every aspect of driving the Ioniq is geared around comfort too. It’s serenely quiet, with a commanding view out, meaning that even though it’s massive it’s still easy to thread through tight gaps in town. On the motorway it’s completely at home, ironing out bumps with consummate ease. If ever there was an electric seven-seater to do long journeys in, it’s this one.

Best for: a long-range all-rounder

Kia’s first couple of electric cars were pretty good, but it’s fair to say that the seven-seat EV9 came as a bit of a shock for being quite so accomplished. It’s such an excellent all-rounder that we named it ‘Outstanding EV’ in the 2025 Carwow Car of the Year awards.

The EV9’s superiority starts with what’s under the skin - the ‘electric’ part of ‘electric seven-seater’. A big battery pack provides up to 349 miles between charges in the longest-range, rear-wheel drive model, while super-fast charging can top you up from 10-80% in less than half an hour. This is one seven-seater that’s well equipped for a big family road trip.

As for the seven-seater aspect - it’s fantastic. All three rows of the EV9’s seats comfortably accommodate adults, and if you want a bit of extra luxury then the top-spec model is available as a six-seater with super-comfy captain’s chairs in the middle row.

Up front, the EV9 feels much more premium than you’d expect from a Kia, and well up to its (fairly substantial) price tag. The triple-screen infotainment setup isn’t quite as easy to use as you’d like, but you get a fantastically commanding driving position.

The EV9 isn’t one of those cars that shrinks around you - it’s large and in charge, so it can feel a little unwieldy in town. But it’s easy to drive, whisper-quiet, surprisingly agile on a twisting road and very relaxing on the motorway - just what you want when you’re hoping your six passengers will nod off and leave you alone.

The EV9 isn’t cheap, and many may baulk at the thought of paying more than £65,000 for a car that carries the lowly Kia badge. Indeed, the top-spec EV9 is actually more expensive than an entry-level BMW iX - but it’s bigger, more practical, and feels almost as good inside. It’s a real winner of a family EV.

Best for: retro charm

The Volkswagen ID Buzz wasn’t a seven-seater at launch, even though pretty much everybody thought it ought to be. The good news is that Volkswagen has rectified this now with a new long-wheelbase model and the option of five, six or seven-seater interior layouts, making the ID Buzz as practical as its boxy dimensions suggest.

The Buzz has frankly adorable retro styling inspired by the classic VW Bulli - it looks at its best in one of the optional two-tone paint finishes, which can be paired with a colour-matched interior. Specified thus, you’ll really get the California surf spirit even if you’re stuck in traffic on the Kettering bypass.

Under the skin of the ID Buzz lies the same electric motors and batteries as you’ll find in VW’s more conventional electric cars - they give good performance, sensible driving dynamics designed for comfort over excitement and a maximum range of 293 miles in the best version. Do bear in mind that, as in any vehicle shaped like a literal brick, long motorway runs will muller your battery capacity, and so on a motorway cruise you’ll probably see closer to 200 miles per charge.

With twin sliding doors, the Buzz is super-practical if you’ve got little ones to get out in a tight spot - no panic that they’re going to ding the car next to you with a door flying open - though it does feel like a particular design oversight that you can’t use one of them if the Buzz is plugged in and charging.

The interior, too, is a bit of style over substance in places - it has tons of useful storage spaces, but the lack of physical switches frustrates and the seats aren’t really very clever. The thing is, it looks so good that you’ll really struggle to care…

Best for: looking sharp

The Peugeot 5008 is available as a hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicle if you can’t or don’t want to go for a full EV just yet - but don’t discount the all-electric E-5008, as it’s one of those cars that could easily convert you into a true EVangelist.

Peugeot’s policy is to make its electric cars look pretty well identical to its petrol ones, so the E-5008 is great if you don’t want to shout about your eco-intentions. That doesn’t mean you need to fly under the radar, though - the E-5008 is a seriously good-looking car, considering it’s basically a big box full of seats. The full-width grille, dramatic triple-stripe LED daytime running lights and intricate alloy wheels all look really cool and classy.

There’s a choice of two battery packs. The smaller of the two can still do an impressive 311 miles on a charge, but opt for the larger pack and officially you’ll manage a stonking 414 miles. That’s enough for even the most challenging road trip - with seven passengers on board, someone will definitely run out of bladder capacity long before the car runs out of juice.

The E-5008’s stylish interior hits above its price tag with great-quality materials. The huge touchscreen display is bolstered by a narrow strip below it containing what Peugeot calls ‘i-Toggles’ - a customisable set of shortcuts you can use to streamline things like safety settings or climate controls.

The E-5008’s third row of seats aren’t exactly palatial, and adults would probably prefer to only be back there for short trips. But they’re great for kids, and four ISOFIX points mean that you can carry half a nursery without any complaints.

The 5008 is so good that we awarded it Highly Commended in the Family Values category of the 2025 Carwow Car of the Year awards - high praise indeed.

Best for: safety tech

The big Volvo EX90 is a seriously classy looking car, picking up from where its illustrious forebear, the XC90, leaves off with a tall, square shape book-ended by slim LED lights.

Unlike a BMW iX, it’s not all odd lines and angles, and unlike a Mercedes EQS SUV it’s not a formless blob — it’s just really sharp with its pixellated lights and clean surfaces.

There’s more of the same inside, with a pared-back interior style that still manages to look and feel luxurious, like some kind of motorised Nordic hotel. There’s loads of space — and comfort — in all three rows, although the fact that the third row is really for kids only is a bit of a let-down. Adults can fit in the back of the Kia EV9 or the long-wheelbase VW Buzz.

The boot is also a little underwhelming compared to the Kia, with 310 litres available when all the seats are in use, expanding to a much more useful 655 litres when the third row is folded away.

As with the smaller EX30, the EX90 uses its big touchscreen for pretty much every function which is fine in the sense that the screen is fast-responding with high-quality graphics, but less good in that it means taking your eyes off the road way too often.

Volvo’s claimed range is 375 miles, but you’ll probably struggle to do much better than 260-300 miles, given the weight and the inherent inefficiency of driving around in something this big. The EX90 is smooth like butter to drive, so it’s one of the most relaxing cars to be in.

Best for: luxury

The Mercedes EQS SUV is a rather blobby, bloated-looking thing, but that big body does hide seven seats with a truly luxurious second row and space in the back for adults too.

With a price tag of nearly £130,000, you’d be right to expect luxury and the EQS SUV does deliver - the huge ‘Hyperscreen’ dashboard controls just about every bit of equipment you can imagine including climate-controlled front seats, a glut of ambient lighting, a posh head-up display and Burmester sound system.

A range of up to 400 miles on a charge is impressive, though it’s almost to be expected given the car’s enormous battery pack. You can charge up quickly at a suitably powerful public charger, though once again the huge battery does limit utility there - you’ll need close to 15 hours for a full charge from a standard home wallbox.

Best for: not looking like a seven-seater

The Mercedes EQB is an impressive feat of packaging, squeezing seven seats into an SUV that’s shorter than a Skoda Octavia. On top of that, you get a pretty chunky battery pack good for a maximum range of more than 300 miles - not to mention the allure of that three-pointed star on the bonnet. What’s not to like?

Well, because the EQB is based on the same basic underpinnings as the compact Mercedes A-Class hatchback, there are some compromises to be made. Seats six and seven in the Mercedes EQB are really for occasional use only, as it’s quite hard to clamber back there and once in place adults will find they’re really struggling for both legroom and headroom.

Instead, think of the EQB as a 5+2 seater - the centre row is pretty practical, but the rearmost seats will probably spend most of their time folded into the floor. When you do that, you unlock a pretty capacious 495-litre boot space.

The A-Class underpinnings are most felt up front, where the dashboard just isn’t up to scratch for a car that starts at more than £50,000. While the infotainment screen is slick and full-featured, there are too many cheap-feeling controls, and the whole affair creaks and rattles over bumps - not very premium.

Best for: value

This recommendation could just as easily be applied to the Peugeot E-Rifter, the Vauxhall Combo Life Electric and the Toyota Proace City Verso, as the four vehicles are actually identical under the skin. There are only a few differentiating factors - the Peugeot version has the brand’s signature i-Cockpit dashboard, the Berlingo gets Citroen’s Advanced Comfort seats, the Vauxhall Intellilux Matrix headlights and the Proace City Verso has access to Toyota’s ten-year ‘Relax’ warranty.

We’ll let you decide which of these features is more important to you, or indeed which dealer group you’d rather buy from. What you need to know is that all of these vans have genuine space for seven adults with plenty of legroom and, due to their commercial vehicle underpinnings, spectacular amounts of headroom.

Sliding doors make access easy and there’s plenty of useful storage. As for driving - the Berlingo and its siblings are comfortable, surprisingly quiet and nippier than their diesel van equivalents, but modest motors and small batteries mean they’re not exactly long-distance cruising material. Expect around 130 miles of motorway driving per charge, or closer to 200 miles if you spend more time in town.

Best for: a luxurious shuttle

Another Mercedes electric vehicle with humble underpinnings - but this time it’s rather more commercial. The Mercedes EQV is based on the posh V-Class people-carrier, which in itself is based on the Vito van. It’s a workhorse that’s had new shoes and some Mane And Tail rubbed through, though.

You’ll notice that from the EQV’s dashboard and controls, which have all been poached from Mercedes’ passenger car range and bear little resemblance to the hardworking units you’ll find in the Vito.

There’s just one version of the EQV available - it’s called the Executive, and it comes with seven seats. Huge sliding doors and plenty of space ensure everyone’s comfortable and getting in and out is easy.

Despite the EQV’s large battery pack, its maximum range is a fairly rubbish 222 miles - but for business users doing predictable, repeatable mileage, that’s unlikely to be an issue. If you’re looking for an electric seven-seater to take on long family road trips, this probably won’t be it.