Do you need a seven-seater full-electric car? I went digging through Auto Trader to find the biggest-range seven-seaters you can buy right now — your minibuses and your electric SUVs — and I’ve ranked them with one eye on boot space with all seven seats up, and the other on range.
Depending on whether you go minibus or SUV, these vehicles suit taxi work, Uber XL, minibus and long-distance airport runs. But it really comes down to your passengers. Seven passengers with seven suitcases? There isn’t much out there that copes with that. Six passengers with a couple of backpacks, heading home from an event, the football, or away for the weekend with only carry-on bags? That’s where the market actually is, because there’s no monster minibus out there carrying a big passenger count, a big luggage count and a massive range all at once. It just doesn’t exist yet.
I’ve ranked five cars here mostly on range rather than space, because a couple of these are brilliant on range but not so brilliant on room.
5. Mercedes EQV
The EQV is a full-electric V-Class. There’s also the sister van, the EQT, with similar range and size, but the EQV is the nicer, more “chauffeur” feeling option of the two. It sits at the bottom of my list.
Officially, Mercedes quotes a WLTP range of around 213 miles for the EQV 300. Realistically, once you’ve loaded up passengers and luggage, it’s winter, and you’re on a motorway run with little regen braking, that figure drops fast — think closer to 150 miles in the worst conditions. I know a driver who bought one, ran it for three months, and lost a fortune getting rid of it for exactly this reason.
The example I found was a 2020 plate with around 100,000 miles on the clock, priced at £27,000 — so it’s not cheap for its age. Inside it’s genuinely lovely: loads of passenger room and a proper deep boot with all seven seats up. It made the list because it’s a proper electric minibus, but the range just isn’t strong enough to be anything but last place.
4. Peugeot e-Traveller / Citroën ë-SpaceTourer
Move up to a newer plate and you’re into the Stellantis van family — the Peugeot e-Traveller, Citroën ë-SpaceTourer, Toyota Proace Verso Electric and Vauxhall Vivaro-e Life. They’re all essentially the same van underneath, just badged and styled differently.
With the larger 75kWh battery, official WLTP range sits at up to 217 miles for the e-Traveller and up to 205 miles for the ë-SpaceTourer. The example I found was a 24-plate with just 12,000 miles on the clock, priced about the same as the EQV — noticeably newer and cleaner for the money.
These full-size minibuses are great for a taxi rank or plodding around a city centre on Uber XL work. But for normal airport runs up and down the country, loaded with passengers and cases, I wouldn’t put either of these forward — the real-world range, once loaded on the motorway, will fall well short of the official figure.
3. Maxus Mifa 9
This one surprised me — a TikTok follower flagged it during a live I did asking taxi drivers for their favourite seven-seater EVs. It only ranks third because the range isn’t quite up with the top two.
Officially, the Mifa 9 has a WLTP combined range of up to 269 miles on the 90kWh battery. Real-world mixed driving tends to average around 230 miles, so even fully loaded in winter you should still be looking at somewhere around 200 miles — a solid figure. The example I found was a 23-plate with 27,000 miles on the clock, priced around £60,000, so it’s not a cheap option, but it feels genuinely nice inside.
Seating is two captain’s chairs in the middle row with a recliner and a big sunroof, then three seats across the back — a 2-2-3 layout for six passengers. The boot with all seats up looks decent for its class: probably a couple of suitcases plus several carry-ons stacked in. Whether that middle row folds fully flat for a bigger load, I honestly can’t confirm — it looks like it runs on rails and could lie flat, but I don’t want to state that as fact without checking it myself.
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2. Tesla Model X
This one’s a bit of a risk, but it ticks a lot of boxes for private hire. You get access to the Tesla Supercharger network and an official WLTP range of up to 348 miles on the Long Range model.
The example I found was a 2020 plate with 40,000 miles, priced at £34,000 — more than the EQV to start with, but you’re getting a lot more range and charging infrastructure for it. On an older Tesla like this you can still have around two years of battery and motor warranty left (up to 120,000 miles), which matters given those are the most expensive parts of the car to replace.
The falcon doors aren’t for everyone, and I’d personally rather have this car without them — I think they’ll cause problems down the line. But the boot is genuinely huge. With all seats in place you can pull the parcel shelf out and fit a suitcase, a carry-on and a couple of backpacks with room to spare. Drop the rear seats and you’re looking at four passengers with somewhere between six and eight large cases — proper long-distance airport capability. Keep all six seats up and it suits event work, arena runs, Uber XL and taxi ranking rather than a big airport job with everyone’s luggage.
1. Hyundai Ioniq 9
My top pick, and it isn’t close on range — but it is expensive, because it’s brand new.
You’ll have seen its smaller sibling, the Kia EV9, which arguably looks better. I’ve gone for the Ioniq 9 because it has the bigger battery and more interior space, particularly in the back and the boot.
This car is genuinely huge — American-SUV huge. Seating is a 2-3-2 layout. For airport work, four passengers with what feels like an almost unlimited amount of luggage is very doable, and you can even fold one seat in the third row to free up extra boot space while still carrying five passengers.
So why does something this size sit top of the list? Range. The Ioniq 9 offers up to 385 miles WLTP on the top single-motor, 110kWh Ultimate spec, with the Long Range AWD version rated at 372 miles. You won’t hit that fully loaded on a winter motorway run, realistically — but Kia and Hyundai (essentially the same company) have a strong reputation for genuinely accurate real-world range figures compared with a lot of other manufacturers. My own Kia Niro has 338,000 miles on the clock and is still returning close to its original 280–300 mile range, which says a lot about how honest their numbers tend to be. Even in a worst-case scenario — winter, brimmed, fully loaded — you should still be looking at somewhere around 300 miles, which covers most long-distance runs with a single charging stop.
If the Ioniq 9 is a bit too rich for your budget, the Kia EV9 is well worth a look instead — official WLTP range runs up to 349 miles on the rear-wheel-drive Air trim, dropping to 313 miles on the all-wheel-drive GT-Line, and it’s generally cheaper simply because it’s been out longer.
A couple of honourable mentions
If you’re private hire, check your local council’s rules before buying — some councils won’t licence a seven-seater for six or seven passengers in the Ioniq 9 depending on the seat layout, so do your homework first.
I also want to flag the Maxus PV5 — it didn’t make the list because it’s a five-seater, not seven. Maxus is bringing out a seven-seat PV7, but it isn’t out yet. The PV5 itself is a big, boxy van with an official range of up to 256 miles, and it’ll carry plenty of passengers and luggage once the seven-seat version lands.
If there are other comparisons you’d like me to put together — cheapest EVs on the market, more estate comparisons, anything car-related — let me know.
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