Ground clearancemm
Ground clearance is the gap between the road and the lowest relevant point of the car. It matters only when it survives real use: people inside, bags in the boot, cables stored somewhere, doors opening wide enough and the loaded car staying within legal weight.
How to compare it
Use it for rough driveways, snow ruts, ferry ramps and rural roads. Compare it with wheel size and approach angles when available.
- Check the number against your garage, child seats, luggage and parking.
- Look for shape and access, not just litres or millimetres.
- Payload can be more important than volume.
What changes it
Practicality changes when the same number meets real objects: child seats, boxes, roof racks, kerbs, charging cables, passengers and payload limits.
- Shape and access can beat a larger raw volume number.
- Payload includes people, luggage and accessories.
- Exterior size affects parking even when cabin space is good.
Common trap
More clearance can reduce efficiency by letting more turbulent air under the car. It can also raise the floor and make the boot lip higher.
- A bigger number can still be awkward if the shape is poor.
- Accessories and passengers count against payload.
Ground clearance: the packaging view
Dimensions become useful only when you connect them to doors, boot shape, payload and your parking reality.
Ground clearance across EVRadar
Based on 449 published cars
Lowest
105 mm
Typical
160.9 mm
Highest
259 mm