Whether you often drive on dirt roads or just have a steep driveway, ground clearance can be an important factor when purchasing a vehicle. Electric vehicles are no different in that regard, although there are some additional things to keep in mind.Â
Electric versions of some models have less ground clearance than their equivalent combustion versions. In the worst case I’m aware of, an electric XC40 Recharge (181 mm) loses 30 mm of ground clearance compared to a petrol XC40 (211 mm). This is due to the battery pack being located underneath the chassis between the two axles.
Driving on dirt roads in an electric vehicle is generally safe because manufacturers ensure the battery pack is well shielded with multiple layers of protection. For example, after two fires occurred in Tesla Model S vehicles over ten years ago, Tesla subsequently added more protective layers to their new cars to make them even safer.
Fellow contributor Bryce Gaton answered a reader question on this topic a year ago: Are there any high ground clearance passenger vehicle EVs yet? However, several new electric vehicles have arrived since Bryce’s answer and there are more coming with high ground clearance.
The ground clearance data below has been sourced from the Australian Government’s ROVER list of road vehicle type approvals wherever possible.
I picked the highest ground clearance for a model where it differs between variants, for example sportier variants often have 5-10 mm less than their regular variants due to lowered suspension or different wheels.
There are also two vehicles further down the list that are capable of rising above the Subaru Solterra and Toyota bZ4X. The upcoming Porsche Macan EV has optional air suspension which can raise ground clearance to a maximum height of 225 mm. A second hand Tesla Model X can also use its air suspension to raise itself up to 223 mm on the highest setting.
Here is the full list of passenger electric vehicles available in Australia from our EV Models page, sorted by ground clearance from top to bottom.
- Subaru Solterra – 212mm
- Toyota bZ4X (coming soon) – 212mm
- Mercedes-Benz EQB – 210mm
- Mercedes-Benz EQA – 209mm
- Volvo EX90 (coming soon) – 205mm
- Polestar 3 (coming soon) – 201mm
- Jeep Avenger (coming soon) – 200mm
- Peugeot e-2008 – 196mm
- Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV – 192mm
- LDV eT60 Ute – 187mm
- Skoda Enyaq (coming soon) – 186mm
- Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV – 184mm
- Porsche Macan (coming soon) – 184mm (max 225 mm with air suspension)
- Volvo XC40 Recharge – 181mm
- Audi Q4 e-tron (coming soon) – 180mm
- BMW iX – 180mm
- BMW iX3 – 179mm
- Kia EV9 – 177mm
- Volvo C40 Recharge – 177mm
- Volvo EX30 – 177mm
- Genesis GV70 – 175mm
- Volkswagen ID.4 (coming soon) – 173mm
- Ford Mustang Mach-E – 172mm
- Audi e-tron S – 171mm
- Tesla Model X (second hand) – 171mm (max 223 mm with air suspension)
- BMW iX1 – 170mm
- BMW iX2 – 167mm
- Tesla Model Y – 167mm
- Polestar 4 (coming soon) – 166mm
- Ford Puma BEV (coming soon) – 164mm (figure based on petrol version)
- Volkswagen ID.5 (coming soon) – 163mm
- Peugeot e-308 (coming soon) – 162mm (figure based on PHEV version)
- MG ZS EV – 161mm
- Audi Q8 e-tron – 160mm
- Genesis GV60 – 160mm
- Hyundai Ioniq 5 – 160mm
- Kia EV5 (coming soon) – 160mm (best guess, no official figures)
- Kia EV6 – 160mm
- Volkswagen ID.Buzz (coming soon) – 159mm
- Hyundai Kona Electric – 158mm
- MG MG4 – 158mm (with 18 inch wheels)
- Lexus RZ 450e – 156mm
- Nissan Leaf – 155mm
- Polestar 2 – 151mm
- BYD Atto 3 – 150mm
- Hyundai IONIQ Electric (second hand) – 150mm
- Kia Niro EV – 150mm
- LDV Mifa 9 – 150mm
- Mitsubishi i-MiEV (second hand) – 150mm
- Mini Countryman E – 149mm (figure based on petrol version)
- BMW i5 – 146mm
- Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo – 146mm
- Rolls Royce Spectre (coming soon) – 146mm
- Chery Omada 5 (coming soon) – 145mm (figure based on petrol version)
- GWM Ora – 145mm
- Mercedes-Benz EQC – 145mm
- Jaguar I-Pace – 142mm
- Lexus UX300e – 142mm
- Hyundai Ioniq 6 – 141mm
- BMW i3 (second hand) – 140mm
- Genesis G80 – 140mm
- Mercedes-Benz EQS – 139mm
- Tesla Model 3 – 138mm
- BMW i7 – 136mm
- Mazda MX-30 – 135mm
- Tesla Model S (second hand) – 135mm (max 160 mm with air suspension)
- Peugeot e-208 (coming soon) – 134mm
- Mercedes-Benz EQV – 133mm
- Cupra Born – 131mm
- BYD Dolphin – 130mm
- Fiat 500e – 130mm
- Mercedes-Benz EQE – 130mm
- Mini Cooper SE – 128mm
- Renault Megane E-Tech – 128mm
- Porsche Taycan – 127mm
- BMW i4 – 125mm
- BYD Seal – 120mm
- Renault Zoe (second hand) – 120mm
- Audi e-tron GT – 105mm
Tim has 20 years experience in the IT industry including 14 years as a network engineer and site reliability engineer at Google Australia. He is an EV and renewable energy enthusiast who is most passionate about helping people understand and adopt these technologies.