Five premium electric saloons, judged on more than price
BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Porsche all want to sell you a luxury saloon that happens to be electric, but each one goes about it differently. Here’s what actually sets them apart, before we even get to the finance offers.
A few years ago, choosing an electric executive car meant accepting you were buying something a little different. Now there’s a proper list of them, all aimed at people who want comfort, presence and a badge that still means something outside the office. The trouble is they’re not all chasing the same thing, so picking between them on price alone misses most of what actually separates them.
BMW i7 interior, ride and price
The i7 is BMW’s statement car, and it drives like one. It’s big, quiet at speed thanks to a heavy focus on sound insulation and air suspension, and the cabin leans hard into occasion, with a huge curved display wrapping the dash and an optional rear entertainment screen that turns the back seats into something closer to business class than an executive car.
That size cuts both ways. It’s a properly imposing thing to arrive in, but it’s not the car you want for threading through central London on a Tuesday, tight streets and multi-storey car parks aren’t where the i7 is happiest. The illuminated grille has also split opinion since launch, worth seeing in person before you commit either way.
The i7 50 xDrive M Sport Pro is currently offered at £1,449 a month, with BMW advertising 3.9% APR on selected finance offers.
BMW i5 M60 performance, interior and price
If the i7 is about arriving in style, the i5 M60 is about the journey there. Dual motors and four-wheel drive give it genuine pace, the kind you’d normally associate with an M car rather than an executive saloon, and the underlying 5 Series bones mean it still handles like BMW wants an executive saloon to handle, rather than just being fast in a straight line.
It shares the i7’s curved dashboard display and general sense of tech-forward luxury, just in a noticeably smaller, more manageable footprint. The trade-off for that performance focus is a firmer ride than some rivals, so if comfort is your priority over pace, it’s worth trying both before deciding.
The current offer is £1,149 a month at 2.9% APR, around £300 a month less than the i7.
Mercedes EQE comfort, design and price
Where the i5 chases driving involvement, the EQE goes all in on comfort. It’s tuned to be smooth and hushed over poor surfaces, with a ride that prioritises isolating you from the road rather than communicating with it, and the cabin follows the same logic, spacious and calm rather than sporty.
The styling is the more divisive part. The EQE’s cab-forward, fastback-influenced shape doesn’t look much like a traditional Mercedes saloon, and while it helps efficiency, it costs a little rear headroom compared with a more conventionally shaped car. Whether that trade-off bothers you probably depends on how much you care about the silhouette versus what’s happening inside it.
The EQE 350+ AMG Line is currently offered at £631 a month with 0% APR and a £6,250 saving, comfortably the most accessible offer of the five on paper.
Audi A6 e-tron range, efficiency and price
The A6 e-tron is the newest platform in this group, built on Audi’s 800-volt PPE architecture, and it shows in the numbers that matter for actually living with an EV: strong efficiency and fast charging when you find the right charger. It’s also the most understated car here to look at, recognisably an Audi executive saloon first and an electric car second, which will suit anyone who doesn’t want their car announcing what’s under the bonnet.
Inside, it trades some of the Mercedes and BMW’s showiness for a calmer, more familiar Audi layout, virtual cockpit included but without quite the same sense of occasion. That’s probably a deliberate choice rather than a shortfall, depending on what you’re after.
The finance figure we’re comparing is £798 a month at 6.45% APR, with an Audi contribution of £5,950, a noticeably higher rate than Mercedes’ 0% or BMW’s sub-4% offers, so it’s worth running the total cost of the credit rather than judging on the monthly figure alone.
Porsche Taycan performance, practicality and price
The Taycan is the odd one out here because it isn’t really trying to be a comfortable executive saloon first. The steering, the braking, the way it changes direction, all of it feels closer to a sports car that happens to have four doors than a luxury saloon that happens to be quick. For buyers who want their electric car to feel special rather than simply efficient, that’s the entire point.
The cost of that focus is practicality. The roofline slopes lower than on any of the other four, which eats into rear headroom, and the interior favours driver-focused controls over lounge-like comfort. It’s also the priciest to finance here by rate, £1,245 a month at 9.9% APR, which makes it a hard sell if you’re approaching the purchase purely as a financial decision rather than an emotional one.
So which one’s actually right for you?
There isn’t a single answer, because these five are solving different problems. If comfort and the lowest monthly cost matter most, that’s the EQE. Prioritise the newest tech and the most efficient car for long distances, and the A6 e-tron pulls ahead. And if you want something that drives like a sports car rather than just an efficient saloon, nothing here touches the Taycan.
If you want the driving involvement of an executive saloon without giving up BMW’s badge and interior tech, the i5 M60 is the one worth your time, and if you want the full flagship treatment with the space and presence to match, that’s the i7. If you’re interested in driving one of the BMWs, tap one of the buttons in this story to book a test drive. A finance offer only tells you so much until you’ve sat in the thing yourself.
Finance offers are representative examples and subject to status, eligibility, deposit, term and availability. Offers can change and should be checked with the manufacturer or supplying retailer before purchase.