BMW i7

The BMW i7 is the electric 7 Series, and a genuine flagship rather than an electric variant of something lesser. Rear-seat comfort and isolation are the point of the car, and it makes an unusually good long-distance chauffeur vehicle: continuous acceleration with no gearbox, no engine noise, and a rear compartment of a piece with a long-wheelbase S-Class rather than a compromise on it.

It accepts high-power DC charging in the region of 200 kW, so on a long cross-border run a stop is fifteen to twenty-five minutes rather than an hour, planned into the schedule before the day. Regional work across the Netherlands and into Belgium and Germany fits a single charge. Corporate clients book it for executive transfers, hourly hire across a day of meetings and journeys where someone has to report the emissions figure.