We drove 300 miles in a Tesla Model 3 to prove range anxiety is dead

tesla model 3 at a supercharger
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

These days it’s possible to get hundreds of miles of range out of an electric car, to the point where many people in the know have declared that the concept of ‘range anxiety’ is dead. 

But that whole idea hinges on EVs actually being able to hit the range targets they advertise, something I have first-hand experience with. So we decided to do a little test, taking a Long Range Tesla Model 3 from the center of London all the way down to Land’s End at the edge of Cornwall. 

Read next: Tesla just unveiled a new weapon in the war against range anxiety

The trip we took was roughly 313 miles, in a car that Tesla claims can go for a full 360 miles. In theory the trip should have been an absolute cinch, getting us there with plenty of range to spare. But how would it work in practice? Watch the video below to find out:

Read our full Tesla Model 3 review here

As it turns out, Tesla’s advertised range was pretty much spot on. Not only did we start the trip without a full battery, we were able to make the 300+ mile trip without having to plug the car in.

Of course we were getting pretty anxious towards the end, because any number of things could have gone wrong as the range counter got closer and closer to zero miles. But, as we showed in the video, it’s not like we couldn’t have recharged if we wanted to. And in reality we likely would have done, and alleviated all the later feelings of dread as we drew ever closer to our goal.

But it wouldn’t have been a very good range test if we’d done that!

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Tom Pritchard
UK Phones Editor

Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.

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