Flo Charger Photo by Flo

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When electric vehicles started to enter the mainstream a few years ago, NRCan wisely looked into its crystal ball and decided it needed to invent a new metric to measure efficiency. The hook of ‘Litres Per 100 Kilometres’ (L/100 km) is easily recognizable to most Canadian drivers, so the boffins set about creating an equivalent for EVs.

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The result, written as Le/100 km and intended to be easily comparable to L/100 km, translates the amount of energy packed into electricity to an equivalent amount of energy in gasoline. Physics teaches us that energy is required in order to move an object, so this makes a dose of sense. For EVs so rated, the number shown is the equivalent amount of gasoline required to produce the same amount of energy the vehicle uses in electricity to travel 100 kilometres.

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Confused? Understandable. Think of it this way: if you and yer buddy are both cycling on a trail, your bikes don’t care if you’re fuelled by tacos and your friend is fuelled by fish & chips. Either way, energy is created by food and that energy is being used to move the bicycle.

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That said, this author is now hungry. Here are the top five most efficient EVs as rated in Le/100 km on the combined driving cycle by NRCan scientists.

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2026 Tesla Model Y ‘Juniper’ Photo by Clayton Seams

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What turns out to be the electric equivalent of a fuel sipper is the Tesla Model Y, a vehicle which sells in great numbers despite no shortage of bluster about the brand and the person at its helm. In fairness, being extremely stingy with electrons while also having a practical form factor and bearing an attractive sticker price which dips into EVAP rebate territory also helps sales. The total range of this vehicle is said to be 463 kilometres.

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Tesla Model 3 Photo by Tesla

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Who’da thunk that a vehicle with largely the same electric powertrain and sharing a wide array of other parts could equal its fraternal brother in efficiency? With a stated all-electric range of 463 kilometres, remarkably equivalent to the Y, the Model 3 sedan explains its popularity with the help of raw numbers. That said, figures from May 2026 suggest the Y may be more popular thanks to its eligibility for federal rebates, something not afforded the Model 3 since most of the ones shipped here are assembled in China.

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Tesla Model 3 Photo by Tesla

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It’s a matter of copy/paste for the third entry on this list. Also from Tesla but packing an additional electric motor to create all-wheel drive and the ability to crank out acceleration times of an estimated 4.4 seconds from rest to 100 km/h. The Tesla Model 3 AWD’s range leaps to 570 kilometres on a full charge, thanks in no small part to the stingy nature of its electric powertrain.

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2026 Toyota C-HR Photo by Andrew McCredie

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After effectively being supplanted by the Corolla Cross on Toyota’s internal combustion side of the ledger, the C-HR nameplate returns to showrooms as an all-electric vehicle. Its efficiency rating of just 1.8 Le/100 km allows the 77.0-kWh lithium ion battery to produce some long legged driving habits; in fact, it is rated for 496 kilometres of range in SE trim with front-wheel drive and 18-inch wheels.

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2026 Toyota BZ Limited AWD Photo by Jil McIntosh

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Efficiency lists like these, usually ones about gassers or hybrids, are often filled with models from Toyota, a brand whose engineers have been successfully fettling with fuel economy for ages. It seems that trend will continue into the age of electric vehicles, as well. The little bZ, which mercifully simplified its model name recently, matches the C-HR listed above in terms of electric efficiency, though a smaller 57.7 kWh battery in the front-drive XLE means range is limited to 380 kilometres.

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Which segues nicely into the next part of this post. Efficiency is one thing — after all, eking the maximum distance out of a single kilowatt is the New Math compared to how far one can get on a litre of gasoline — but total range is also an extremely important metric to most EV shoppers. 

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Not having enough juice to make it to one’s destination was the root of so-called range anxiety back in the day, though advancements in battery tech have largely taken that argument away from EV detractors. Here are five electric vehicles with the longest range as rated by the shirts at NRCan for the 2026 model year.

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Chevrolet Silverado WT Max Range

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It appears one of the benefits of installing a battery that weighs about 500 pounds more than an entire Mazda MX-5 pays off in terms of outright driving range. The entry-level trim of the Chevy Silverado EV, when equipped with the Max Range battery pack, has a massive 205.0-kWh of energy at its disposal.

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Chevrolet Silverado WT Ext Range

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Following up the Max Range is the Extended Range variant of the Silverado EV Work Truck, packing its own 170.0-kWh battery pack to earn an estimated driving range of 682 kilometres on a single charge, per NRCan. Specs vary greatly from trim to trim and battery to battery in these things, but the one listed here is apparently good for up to 645 hp and 765 lb-ft of torque.

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Rivian R1T Photo by Rivian

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Just shy of the Silverado EV is another pickup truck, this time from the Rivian brand. NRCan says both the regular strength and performance grades of an R1T can squeeze 676 kilometres out of their electron holders, no small shakes considering new updated cell chemistry is said to yield a 149.0-kWh battery capacity without adding any extra weight to the vehicle compared to last year. This is the figure when equipped with 22-inch wheels.

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Tesla Model S

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Arguably one of, if not the first, vehicle to start pushing EVs into the mainstream, the recently departed Tesla Model S remains a towering figure in terms of estimated driving range on a full charged battery. NRCan suggests one will get an estimated 660 clicks of driving before the thing goes flat. Act fast if you want a new one: the model was discontinued earlier this year and it may be difficult to find something that remains factory fresh instead of from the used car lot.

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2025 Rivian R1S All-Terrain Tri Max articulation Photo by Elle Alder

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Finding the Rivian R1S on this list is predictable given the presence of its brother, the R1T. Basically identical powertrains wrapped in slightly different form factors, the square and slightly heavier body of an SUV versus that of a pickup truck is responsible for the finishing order of this list. This sum of 660 km (compared to the T’s 676 km) appears when the R1S is equipped with 22-inch wheels, an important distinction when all-electric range can be affected by the physics involved with running very large wheels. The trim shown here is a burlier model but we wanted to use a cool picture.

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GMC Sierra Denali Ext Range

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Examining the gigantic electric pickup trucks from General Motors once again, we find Extended Range variants of the Elevation and Denali trims making the list, though a tad behind the more basic Work Truck in terms of total range. While the 170.0-kWh battery pack is identical, different options affect weight and perhaps aerodynamics depending on wheel style selected.

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Chevrolet Silverado LT Ext Range

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And if one thought it was a matter of copy/paste for the Tesla models described at the top of this article, the notion goes double for the GMC Sierra EV and Chevy Silverado EV. The latter is listed after the GMC despite its identical range because we elected to use a reverse alphabetical system for any tie figures in this article (or because it was the way they were listed on the NRCan data sheets).

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