Cheapest electric cars on sale 2024
EVs are often dismissed for being too expensive, so we've put together a list of the ten cheapest electric cars money can buy
Thanks to huge developments in the EV market over the last few years, the cheapest electric cars are now within the reach of more drivers than ever before. To help you find the best zero-emission bargains, we’ve rounded up the ten cheapest electric cars on sale in the UK. There’s a lot of shapes and sizes of car on offer here, as well as our 2024 Car of the Year.
Cheapest electric cars to buy
- Dacia Spring - £14,995
- Citroen e-C3 - £21,990
- BYD Dolphin - £26,195
- MG4 - £26,995
- Mazda MX-30 - £27,995
- Fiat 500e - £24,995
- Peugeot E-208 - £28,200
- Nissan Leaf - £28,495
- MINI Cooper - £30,000
- MG ZS EV - £30,495
1. Dacia Spring
- Prices from £14,995
- WLTP combined battery range: up to 140 miles
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The Dacia Sandero sat at the top of the UK’s cheapest new car list for a very long time and now, in the age of the EV, it’s the turn of the Dacia Spring. For a mere £14,995, you can have a brand-new fully-fledged electric car.
In order to keep the price small, pretty much everything else about the Dacia Spring is on the small side, too. This is a compact city car with a 26.8kWh battery and 44bhp on tap if you opt for the cheapest version. The claimed 140-mile range isn’t exactly massive, either, but it should still prove more than enough for most day-to-day needs. One thing that isn’t small, though, is the equipment list, with a seven-inch touchscreen display, parking sensors and air conditioning all thrown in.
2. Citroen e-C3
- Prices from £21,990
- WLTP combined battery range: up to 199 miles
- Best value for money
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With up to 199 miles of range, enough space for four passengers, a generous helping of standard kit and distinctive styling, the Citroen e-C3 already has plenty of appeal. The clincher, though, is that it can be bought brand-new for under £22,000.
Although it looks like a beefy little SUV at first appearance, the Citroen e-C3 is actually more similar in size to the Vauxhall Corsa Electric. To keep costs down, the brand has taken a back-to-basics approach with its electric supermini, with cheaper materials and a lack of any particularly groundbreaking tech. The brand has still included plenty of modern essentials, though, including LED headlights, a 10-inch touchscreen infotainment unit, and a suite of safety and driver assistance systems. The e-C3 is such a great all-round buy that we named it our 2024 Car of the Year.
3. BYD Dolphin
- Prices from £26,195
- WLTP combined battery range: up to 265 miles
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BYD is an enormous brand back home in China, but it’s still gradually emerging in the UK market. After making an impressive debut with the Atto 3 SUV, ‘Build Your Dreams’ has now introduced the Dolphin to our roads. It may be the brand’s cheapest car, but the Dolphin still offers a standard of technology, practicality and build quality that should spark real concern among its better-established rivals.
While we are still a bit sceptical about some of the larger Atto 3’s unusual features, such as the guitar-string door pockets, the Dolphin generally takes a more conventional approach. One eccentricity that has been carried over is the rotating infotainment screen, but while we still believe that this is a bit of a gimmick, there’s no denying the system’s sheer speed and processing power.
4. MG4
- Prices from £26,995
- WLTP combined battery range: up to 323 miles
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Apart from a few questionable areas of fit-and-finish, it’s difficult to see how MG has kept the MG4’s price so low as this family hatchback offers a fantastic blend of practicality, driving dynamics and tech.
There are three batteries available, but even the smallest 51kWh unit should meet the requirements of most drivers. Claimed battery range in the entry-level SE model is respectable at 218 miles, while the single rear-mounted motor provides 168bhp, meaning a 0-60mph sprint of 7.5 seconds. When you do need to top up, 150kW rapid charging will keep waiting times to a minimum.
5. Mazda MX-30
- Prices from £27,995
- WLTP combined battery range: up to 124 miles
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The Mazda MX-30 is a quirky small SUV with unusual rear-hinged doors that you may remember from the RX-8 coupe. This approach helps to create a pillarless cabin which, with the car's sloping roofline, serves up quite a funky design. It's the same inside the cabin, with Mazda utilising unusual eco-friendly materials to generate a stylish, sporty feel.
Power is relatively modest at 143bhp, but a healthy torque figure of 271Nm helps shift this rather heavy 1,750kg crossover from 0-62mph in 9.7 seconds. The standard MX-30 uses a small 35.5kWh lithium-ion battery, which offers a range of just 124 miles. If you want more miles from your Mazda, the brand offers a rather unusual rotary-powered plug-in hybrid version, and this ups the range to over 400 miles. The price remains the same, but opting for the MX-30 R-EV means paying out for petrol as well as emitting CO2.
6. Fiat 500e
- Prices from £24,995
- WLTP combined battery range: up to 199 miles
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Fiat scored a hit when it reinvented the classic 500 back in 2007, and since then it's become one of the best city cars to buy. Time moves on, however, and the tiny Fiat has since evolved into a fully-electric car.
Keenly priced from around £25,000, the 500 line-up starts with a variant that’s capable of driving up to 118 miles on a single charge. There is a longer-range option which offers up to 199 miles but this inevitably costs a bit more to buy. There’s also the option of a folding fabric roof or even the hotter (and far more expensive) Abarth 500e.
7. Peugeot E-208
- Prices from £28,200
- WLTP combined battery range: up to 258 miles
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The Peugeot E-208 is certainly a looker, especially after its midlife facelift, and thankfully its starting price has gradually decreased over time. You can now pick up this Pug for less than its closely-related sibling, the Vauxhall Corsa Electric, but there’s still the same sense of familiarity for anyone who’s moving over from a combustion car.
There is one feature in the E-208 which could be a case of make-or-break for some buyers, though, and that is the i-Cockpit dashboard setup. While the on-board kit is easy enough to understand from a technical standpoint, the tiny steering wheel and positioning of the instrumentation can take some time to get used to.
8. Nissan Leaf
- Prices from £28,495
- WLTP combined battery range: up to 168 miles
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The original Nissan Leaf was a pioneer for the all-electric hatchback, and today the second-generation model still offers an attractive package for drivers looking to break away from combustion-engined family cars. It's easy to drive, comfortable — especially around town — and boasts an impressive amount of tech along with enough space for all the family.
Under the latest WLTP economy tests, Nissan claims a range of 168 miles for the standard Leaf, although cold weather will limit EV range, so you might be looking at around 100 miles from a full charge when it's really chilly.
9. MINI Cooper
- Prices from £30,000
- WLTP combined battery range: up to 249 miles
- Best driving experience
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The original Mini started out as a low-cost car for the masses, and it would seem that MINI is sticking with this ethos with the latest Cooper. The fully-electric variant of this charming retro supermini starts from £30,000, and for your money you’ll get a car that feels pretty upmarket for the class. As with the MINI Coopers of the past, this generation is enjoyable to drive, too.
The lower-cost MINI Cooper E model is powered by a 40.7kWh battery and a single motor, and this powertrain can deliver 190 miles of range on a single charge, according to the official tests. To save the most pennies you’ll want to choose the Classic trim, but the good news is that this still comes with quite a bit of kit including a rear-view camera, cruise control and a selection of ‘Experience’ driving modes.
10. MG ZS EV
- Prices from £30,495
- WLTP combined battery range: up to 273 miles
- Best for families
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The MG ZS EV SUV focuses on function rather than fun, but with such tremendous practicality and low running costs it provides family buyers with a real value-for-money alternative to its fossil-fuelled rivals.
A series of midlife upgrades saw the ZS EV gain a fresh exterior design along with a new lower-priced Standard Range variant with a 51kWh battery. MG claims that this unit can achieve up to 198 miles of range, which should prove more than enough for the daily school run. The ZS EV is practical, too, with 470 litres of boot space on offer with the rear seats in place and 1,100 litres with them folded down.
Should I buy a quadricycle instead?
They aren’t technically classed as cars but quadricycles are an even cheaper way into fully-electric four-wheeled motoring. The difference between electric cars and quadricycles is the amount of power on offer, a legally-required limited top speed of 28mph and their extremely compact size and low weight.
A well-known example of a quadricycle that can currently be bought in the UK is the Citroen Ami. While its starting price of less than £8,000 is certainly eye-catching, the official 46-mile battery range is much less likely to suit driver requirements.
Quadricycles are primarily designed with short-distance urban journeys in mind, and in order to keep costs to a minimum, there’s very little in the way of comfort, technology or safety equipment to be found. Because of this, most buyers will be far better suited to a fully-sized electric car.
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