Electric cars have become a normal option at Keflavík, and for a week around Reykjavík and the south coast they make good sense. The interior does not. What decides it is battery size, the season you are travelling in, and how much of your day you are willing to spend at a 50 kW charger. Here is the honest version.
Electric cars are no longer a novelty at Keflavík. Most of the larger rental desks list at least a few, and the models you are most likely to be offered are the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, the Kia Niro EV and EV6, Hyundai Kona Electric and Ioniq 5, the Volkswagen ID.4, MG4 and MG ZS EV, and the Polestar 2. Which of those you actually get depends on the operator, the season and how far ahead you booked.
Two things are worth pinning down before you pay. First, the battery size in kWh, because that number decides every route you can plan. A 40 kWh city car and a 77 kWh crossover are not the same holiday. Second, whether the car is two-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. All-wheel drive is useful in a February side wind on the south coast; it does not make the car legal on an F-road.
Every EV is an automatic, so if you were booking an automatic anyway, the gap in daily rate is often smaller than you expect. Fleets are thin in winter, so if you want a specific model rather than "an electric car or similar", book early and ask the desk to confirm the model in writing.
Iceland's public charging is run by a handful of operators. ON (Orka náttúrunnar), Ísorka and e1 are the names you will meet most often, and there are chargers at some fuel-station forecourts as well. Tesla has Superchargers at a small number of sites; whether a given one is open to non-Tesla cars varies, so check in the Tesla app rather than assuming.
Practical points:
The upside is real: Icelandic electricity comes overwhelmingly from hydro and geothermal, so an EV here is genuinely low-carbon rather than nominally so.
The WLTP figure on the brochure is not the number to plan with. Cold air, cabin heating and Icelandic wind all take a bite, and they take it at the same time.
As a working rule, assume 10 to 20 per cent below the rated range in summer, and 25 to 40 per cent below it from November to March. A car rated at 400 km is closer to a 320 km car in July and a 250 km car in January, less if you are driving into a hard headwind on the south coast with the heater on. Charging is slower too when the battery is cold, so a winter top-up that would take 25 minutes in summer can take 40.
Two habits help. Precondition the battery before a fast-charging stop if the car offers it, which many modern EVs do when you set the charger as a navigation destination. And plug in overnight wherever you sleep, even at 2 kW from a domestic socket, because a car that starts the day warm and full behaves far better than one that has sat outside at minus eight.
The 90 km/h limit on paved rural roads works in your favour. EVs lose range fast above about 110 km/h, and in Iceland you simply never go there.
The first leg is the easy one. Keflavík Airport sits about 50 km from Reykjavík on Route 41, a flat, well-maintained road, so it costs you very little charge even in January.
Comfortable on any EV: Reykjavík and the Reykjanes peninsula, the Golden Circle, the drive from KEF to the Blue Lagoon and back, and day trips along the south coast as far as Vík. These are short hops between well-served charging points, and a single overnight charge covers most of them.
Workable with planning: the full Ring Road, roughly 1,300 km of it, in summer. You build the day around charging stops in towns such as Borgarnes, Akureyri, Egilsstaðir, Höfn and Vík rather than around when you feel like stopping, and you accept an extra 30 to 45 minutes a day. With a 60 kWh or larger battery it is a pleasant trip. With a small battery in shoulder season it becomes the main subject of your holiday.
Not a good idea: the highlands. F-roads need a proper high-clearance 4x4 with the rental company's explicit permission, they open somewhere between mid-June and early July depending on the year, and there is no charging out there at all. River crossings are excluded from every Icelandic rental insurance policy, electric or not. The Westfjords on a small battery in winter is the other one to avoid.
Energy is where the EV wins, and it wins clearly. Rental rates move around by season and operator, so compare the actual quotes.
| Electric | Petrol | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical use | 20-25 kWh per 100 km, higher in winter | 6-8 litres per 100 km |
| Full Ring Road, ~1,300 km | roughly 260-325 kWh | roughly 80-105 litres |
| Indicative energy cost | usually well below the petrol equivalent | higher; check the pump price on the day |
| Stop length | 25-45 minutes per fast charge | a few minutes |
| Weak point | charger queues, winter range | fuel price, nothing else |
Those figures are indicative and move with tariffs, so check the operator's app for the current rate per kWh. Slow AC charging at your accommodation is normally much cheaper than DC fast charging, and is sometimes included in the room rate.
Do the usual walk-round, photographing every panel and the windscreen, and add three EV-specific items to your pickup checks: confirm there is a Type 2 cable in the boot, ask which charging apps or RFID cards the car is set up with, and ask what state of charge the car must be returned at. That last one varies by operator and can carry a fee, so get the answer in writing.
The rest is ordinary Iceland. Drive on the right. Winter tyres are required roughly November to April and will already be fitted to a rental car in that window. Check road.is for conditions and closures before each leg, or call 1777 for the road information service; 112 is the emergency number. Wind is what damages rental cars here: hold the door with both hands when you open it, whatever you are driving.
Yes, in summer, with a battery of about 60 kWh or more and a bit of planning around charging stops in the larger towns. Budget an extra 30 to 45 minutes a day. In deep winter on a tight schedule it is harder, and a petrol or diesel car is the calmer choice.
There are charging points at and around the airport area, but the operator, the number of stalls and their working state all change. Treat them as a convenience, not a plan. Arrive at the airport for your return flight with enough charge to reach a backup site.
Rental EVs normally come with a Type 2 cable, which is what most hotel and guesthouse chargers need. Confirm it is in the boot before you drive off. A domestic Schuko cable is a useful extra if the car has one, but it charges very slowly.
Plan on 25 to 40 per cent below the rated figure between November and March, and more if you are driving into strong wind with the heating on. Charging speed also drops when the battery is cold, so preconditioning before a stop is worth doing.
No. F-roads require a high-clearance 4x4 with the rental company's permission, they only open around mid-June to early July, and there is no charging in the interior. River crossings are excluded from all Icelandic rental insurance regardless of the car.