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Best for: all-round excellence

The BMW i5 is not the prettiest four-door saloon you can buy. The BMW i5 is also not the electric saloon with the best range of them all. But the BMW i5 manages to stitch together all of the various things that an executive car is supposed to do well, and combines them into a seriously satisfying whole.

There are two versions of the i5, and you can have either as a four-door saloon or as a more practical Touring estate. There’s the regular i5 eDrive40 model, which comes with an 81kWh battery and a rear-wheel drive 340hp electric motor, with a potential range of up to 360 miles. Or there’s the M60… this has the same battery, but doubles up on the motors for a massive 601hp (in ‘Boost’ mode; Beast mode more like it) for some seriously rapid performance, and a range of up to 319 miles.

Actually, both i5s have a real-world range of around 250 miles, certainly if you’re spending much time on the motorway, which isn’t terrible, but equally isn’t brilliant. That said, we easily drove one from Munich to Cherbourg in one day, and with 205kW fast charging, you don’t spend much time topping up.

The cabin of the i5 is roomy, exceptionally comfortable, and seriously well-built. The big sweeping touchscreen setup is fairly easy to use, but could do with some more physical buttons, and if the 490-litre boot of the saloon is too small, well there’s always that Touring estate with its 570 litres of luggage space.

The i5’s best trick though is just how good it is to drive. A car that weighs as much as a chunky SUV, and which is wide enough to overhang parking spaces, just shouldn’t feel this good to steer on a tight and twisty road. And yet, the i5 does. It’s a proper BMW, just one with electric power.

Lotus Emeya. Best for: dramatic styling

If you’re going to have an expensive, electric, executive car, then you may as well have something a little different. The Lotus Emeya is certainly a little different. It’s not from the traditional bit of Lotus, the bit that still makes sports cars in Norfolk, but from the ‘other’ Lotus, the bit that’s based in China and makes electric stuff. The Emeya is, in many ways, Lotus’s first saloon car since the astonishing Lotus Carlton of the late 1980s, but this twin-motor EV has such a turn of pace that even the legendary Carlton wouldn’t see which way it went.

In fact, the top-spec Emeya R has up to 905hp from its two electric motors, giving it a 0-62mph time of just 2.8 seconds… Honestly, you’re better off going for the more basic model, which boasts more range, but in truth there’s no Emeya that will get much past 250 miles in one go, unless you’re exceptionally careful, in spite of the claimed 379-mile official range.

What the Emeya does really well, though, is drive. This may be an un-traditional Lotus, which weighs as much as a small planet, but it still has the handling and steering nous to make every journey a laugh-riot, and aside from some slightly soft-feeling brakes, the Emeya feels every inch the proper Lotus to drive. Certainly it’s way more fun than a Mercedes EQS.

Inside, the cabin looks good with its big screens and soft suede surfaces, and there’s almost certainly the best build quality that any Lotus has ever had. There’s plenty of space too. On the outside, instead of a traditional saloon shape, the Emeya gives you a low-slung, curvy look with a sharp shovel-like nose that will have people asking you if it’s some kind of four-door Ferrari at charging stations.

The Emeya hasn’t been a roaring success with the car-buying public, so maybe now is the right time to snap one up before Lotus pulls the plug on its EV saloon experiment.

Best for: easy charging

Updated last year, in the so-called ‘Highland’ upgrade, the Tesla Model 3 now has sharper styling on the outside, and a much-needed boost in cabin quality inside. Thankfully, Tesla also seems to be slowly walking back its earlier decision to take away the Model 3’s column stalks in favour on-screen gear changes. That was just never a good idea.

The best thing about the Model 3, though, is its combination of range and power. Even a basic Model 3 — and prices start at under £40,000 — can go for a claimed 318 miles on one charge, while the bigger-battery, long-range versions can stretch that range out to 436 miles.

Single-motor models get good performance from a 245hp rear-drive setup, while the mighty Model 3 Performance can go Porsche-hunting thanks to 460hp and a 0-62mph time of just 2.9 seconds.

Inside, pretty much everything runs through the single 15.0-inch touchscreen, and while that screen is impressively fast and really slick to use, that’s not always ideal and it would be nice if Tesla were to bring in some actual physical buttons. As it is, the only buttons are the multi-function roller-switches on the steering wheel.

The Model 3 can’t quite manage to steer as sweetly as a BMW, but it’s still a confidence-inspiring car on a twisty road, and you won’t feel too short changed in the dynamic department, even if the suspension can be a bit firm at times.

Passengers get plenty of space in the back and there’s a big 594-litre boot, as well as a handy 88-litre front boot in the nose. Topping off the Tesla experience is the Supercharger fast-charging network, which still manages to show almost all other charging setups the way home.

Best for: affordable brilliance

Can a Skoda truly be an executive car? It sure can be, especially if that executive is one who keeps a sharp eye on the company’s bottom line, and wonders why anyone would pay thousands extra for a car when a Superb does the job… well, superbly.

It’s a rare case of a car living up to its name — under the skin, the Superb may be closely related to a humble VW Passat, but it has a sense of charm and understated style that really is quite surprising. Even the cabin looks and feels good, although it’s not quite the giant-slaying quality-fest that you got in the previous Superb.

Still, it’s hard to argue with the tortoiseshell trim of the high-spec Laurin & Klement model, and the space in the back is fantastic for tall passengers. There are lots of handy storage areas around the cabin too, so you’ll never be short of somewhere to stash that executive wallet or company phone.

The boot is massive (up to 690 litres for the estate) and the plug-in hybrid model manages to combine a potential 75-mile electric range with entirely reasonable fuel economy on longer motorway runs. The Superb isn’t quite as refined as you might hope it to be (lots of tyre noise) but it’s a comfortable, smooth, and thoroughly satisfying car to drive. The company accountant approves.

Best for: in-your-face styling

The BMW 7 Series is… not the prettiest car around. In fact, it might just be the most divisive BMW of them all in terms of looks, and that’s really saying something. Then again, sometimes being distinctive and different is a good thing. You can decide how you feel about that.

Either way, there’s no denying that the 7 Series is beautiful inside, where you’ll find traditional BMW quality allied to cutting edge tech from the big sweeping touchscreens to the light-up bar that runs across the dash and flashes when you change the temperature. There’s oodles of legroom and headroom in the back, as befits a car that’s around the same size as an average aircraft carrier, but the boot is strangely small for one so big.

You can have your 7 Series in fully electric i7 form, but good luck seeing much more than 270 miles out of a charge if you’re cruising up and down the motorway. You’re much better off going for one of the plug-in hybrid models, both of which offer nearly 50 miles of (claimed) electric range on a full charge, and the M760e version has serious high-performance punch to go with that. The 7 is soft and comfy, but still has enough BMW driving talent to entertain.

Best for: quiet conservatism

The Mercedes E-Class might be the most conservative-looking car currently on sale. That’s not necessarily an insult, by the way — the big E is quietly handsome and understated, but anyone looking for a single controversial line, or a sense of avant-garde styling will be left disappointed. To be fair, that’s probably right on the money for most executive car drivers, who prefer to cut a dash, rather than make a scene.

Inside, there’s rather more in the way of eyebrow-raising, especially if you’ve picked the wall-to-wall screen option which basically covers the dashboard in pixels. Mercedes’ software is actually pretty easy to use, but as with so many cars we’d prefer to see some proper buttons included, please and thank you.

The E-Class gets the traditional basics right, though. The front seats are superbly comfy, the back seats sufficiently roomy, and the boot is a good size, unless you’ve gone for one of the ultra-frugal plug-in hybrid models, whose batteries eat into boot space. That’s as good an excuse as any to go for the more practical E-Class estate.

You can still get a trad diesel if you want, but the annoying thing is that the air suspension, which turns the E-Class’s chassis from good to great, is an expensive optional extra. Just one among many expensive options, in fact, so be careful when making your trim choices.

Best for… choice of power

Which Audi A6 do you prefer? Do you fancy the all-electric A6 e-tron, which has a very impressive claimed range of up to 435 miles (and a decent realistic range of around 300 miles)? Or would you prefer the more traditional A6, which comes with a choice of plug-in hybrid power, or even more traditional petrols and diesels? It all comes down to choice, really, as the two cars — although different underneath — are actually pretty hard to tell apart up top. They also share the same cabin, which gets a massive sweep of touchscreen on top of the dash, but thankfully Audi has remembered that one or two real buttons are a good idea.

The electric A6 e-tron is smooth and silent, but it’s surprisingly tight on rear seat and boot space, where the petrol A6 has a bit more space. That is, unless you go for an A6 e-Hybrid, whose boot is annoyingly small because the battery takes up too much space.

The electric A6 e-tron is the best of the two to drive, even if it’s not as much fun as a BMW i5. It’s still swift, safe, and secure though, and the quattro models feel properly weather-proof. The combustion engined A6 isn’t quite as nice to drive, and suffers from being too firm over bumps. Executive cars are supposed to be comfy, you know.

Best for: long legs in the back

You might think that a car with a VW badge doesn’t have the car-park-hierarchy chutzpah to be a true executive car, but the big Volkswagen ID7 proves you wrong, by looking classy and being exceptionally roomy and comfortable inside.

The cabin might be related to that of the lowly ID4 SUV, but the ID7’s sheer sense of space adds a touch of limo-like classiness, and the sheer legroom for those sitting in the back really takes some beating. Sadly, the big touchscreen — although improved a lot compared to early ID models — is still way too fiddly, and has some cheap-looking displays, which isn’t great when you’re trying to convince your executive colleagues that you’ve made the right choice.

Perhaps the range will do the trick. Thanks to its low and sleek body, the ID7 can run for a claimed 436 miles on one charge if you go for the big-battery model, and you should be able to get at least 350 miles out of one in real-world conditions. It’s also silent and refined at motorway speeds, and rides bumps with executive-level comfort.

Best for: Bentley cosplay

Tell the truth — would you like your colleagues in the executive bathroom to think you’ve bought a Bentley, when in fact you’ve kind of bought a really sensible Hyundai? If the answer is yes — and of course it is — then seriously consider a Genesis Electrified G80.

This big executive saloon from Genesis, which is Hyundai’s luxury brand and its answer to Lexus, looks every inch the Bentley part, from that big, deep grille to the slim headlights to the way the rear styling tapers to a neat tail. It’s a really handsome car, and while it’s not the cheapest thing around, it also does the neat trick of looking way more expensive than it is.

The cabin looks brilliant too, and again there’s more than a hint of Bentley cosplay, with buttery-soft real leather, proper wood, and real metal for the switches and trim. It’s all fantastically well-made, too, and hugely comfortable.

Problems? Well, the range — 323 miles — is nothing special, and you’ll get less in real world conditions. The batteries also eat quite a bit into both boot space and cabin space, which is far from ideal, and the G80 can’t match the likes of a BMW i5 when it comes to cornering fun. Still, people will think you’ve bought a Bentley, and that’s what counts.

Best for: being sensible

Lexus is about to — dramatically — re-invent the ES saloon as a hybrid or fully-electric exec saloon, with a striking shovel-nose look and ultra-slim LED lighting. It’s going to be quite the change from the current sensible-looking ES, but the existing four-door Lexus still has some good stuff to offer.

For a start, it has a wonderfully high-quality interior, that might be lacking the cutting-edge of design and technology these days, but which certainly still feels good (even if rear headroom is oddly tight). It’s a fairly practical car too, even if the boot is rather shallow, and it’s even good, or at least good enough, to drive.

The Lexus ES is also hugely refined, and the 2.5-litre hybrid petrol engine is exceptionally economical. Does it matter that all the mechanical parts are shared with the humble Toyota Camry? It probably shouldn’t — the Camry’s a better car than most people give it credit for, which kind of applies to the ES too. Soothingly quiet and relaxing to drive, it also relaxes your anxiety over running costs with the usual Lexus quality and reliability. This is a car you’ll be passing on to your grandkids.

What the ES lacks is any sense of fun. The front-wheel drive chassis prohibits any BMW-like handling and the hybrid engine is very much tuned for economy, not sporty responses.