The “cheap electric car” turns out to be a contradiction. In fact, the word “cheap new car” can sometimes seem like a contradiction. But even if electric motorization doesn’t become widespread overnight, efforts are being made to lower electric car prices.
At the moment, a full electric vehicle with a range of 320 kilometres is still not reached for less than £20,000, but the rear end of the market looks much healthier than it did a few years ago, with plenty of really attractive features between £20,000 and £40,000.
You may have seen our list of the most affordable electric cars for sale, which is really just that. You can buy a Citroën Ami for less than £10,000, but you don’t have to. Read on to discover our favorite budget electric cars. which we propose if you have up to £40,000 to spend.
While it’s a Volkswagen ID 3 Sport, the Cupra edition of the Golf-sized electric sedan has slowly become a favorite of Autocar. He won the 12-car EV mega-test we held in March, and all the judges unanimously praised him for his engaging combination of practicality, driving excitement, and EV credentials.
It takes advantage of its rear-wheel-drive platform in a way that the ID 3 doesn’t, providing nimble, intuitive and subtly adjustable handling with the throttle. But what makes the Born special is that it doesn’t sacrifice ride comfort, sound insulation or power. Power to be sporty. In fact, he’s also very smart at all those other things.
It deserves to go through a mechanical overhaul soon that will bring a more resistant and efficient engine, as well as a new multimedia system. The latter is one of the few weak points of the Cupra Born, so it would possibly be worth waiting for it to go up. Updated model. On the other hand, there are some wonderful financing deals going on right now as Cupra tries to replace its inventory of pre-updated cars. Whichever you choose, get a complete electric vehicle.
Price £34,125 (58 kWh) Range 263 miles
Read our Cupra Born review
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Cupra’s first vehicle looks more like a Volkswagen ID 3. Is the difference in the driving?
Hyundai’s smallest electric vehicle finished second in the same EV mega-test that the Cupra won. If trunk area ranks higher on your priority list than driver engagement, you could be the winner. Because it is the smallest electric vehicle in Korea. The automobile manufacturer has grown significantly compared to its predecessor, offering a very generous space for rear passengers and luggage.
Its casual character is also seductive: it drives slowly and has comfortable seats, while its dashboard with numerous silver buttons is a welcome welcome in the cool warmth of a DVD player from the early 2000s. Less screen-dependent than most of its competitors, it’s straightforward. to use. With a giant battery and intelligent efficiency, its official diversity also reaches three hundred miles.
Price £34,995 (standard range), £38,595 (long range) Range 234 miles (standard range), 282 miles (long range)
Read our about the Hyundai Kona electric
Are the possible options of the past not affordable enough?Try this. The MG Four EV is a vital moment in MG Motor’s progression as a serious automaker. Since the relaunch of the British logo under the ownership of the Chinese giant SAIC, it has played the budgetary role of the market. With the MG Four Although this is still the case, this is a really impressive car in itself.
Being a physically smaller car than the previous two, it is not as spacious, but not as spacious either. Its rear-wheel-drive setup allows it to offer a genuine driving feel, while its sleek yet controlled ride makes it suitable for rough terrain. British roads. It also has a diversity and very competitive freight figures, all for £26,995 for the SE style or £29,495 for the Long Range SE. There’s prolonged diversity and super-fast XPower styling of 429 hp, but we wouldn’t think of that. .
You can see some of the savings in shoddy interior fabrics and cluttered infotainment and driver-assistance features, but none of that is egregious enough to detract from the cash price presented through the MG 4.
Price £26,995 (Standard), £29,495 (Long Range), £36,495 (Extended Range, XPower) Range 218 miles (Standard), 281 miles (Long Range), 323 miles (Extended Range), 239 miles (XPower)
Read our MG EV review
But wait, you get even cheaper without ending up in a passlf cart. The Citroën ë-C3 costs just £21,990 and doesn’t even come from China. Well, not everything, at least. In fact, there will be a sub-£20,000 version, although its official diversity of 124 miles is limited.
Your £21,990 allows you to buy a small car that is proudly built at a cost, but with the aim of not being compromised or feeling cheap. The 201-mile diversity of its LFP battery is very usable and the interior has a lot of charm and softness.
The team as a whole has yet to give its full verdict in the UK on Citroën’s new budget electric vehicle, but impressions on the overseas launch have been very positive.
Price “Under £20,000” (standard), £21,990 (44 kWh) Range 124 miles (standard), 203 miles (44 kWh)
Read our review of the Citroën ë-C3
A recent facelift brought a bigger battery, more punch and greater diversity to the electric edition of Vauxhall’s long-running supermini. But it’s not the edition we’re presenting here, as it’s tied to expensive trim levels. Instead, Vauxhall makes some very attractive deals on the base Corsa Electric with a smaller battery.
A total of 221 miles with a price tag is still pretty impressive for a supermini that costs £26,895. The basic You edition is pretty straightforward, but that might be all you need. The Vauxhall Corsa Electric is the most spacious in its class, neither the ultimate in fun, nor the ultimate in luxury, but it’s simple to drive, robust and, most importantly, devoid of quirks.
Price £26,895 (136hp), £38,585 (156hp) Range 221 miles (136hp), 246K (156hp)
Read our article on the electric Vauxhall Corsa
Do you like the Hyundai Kona Electric that tops this list, but wish it looked less weird and more like a hatchback?Kia is here for you. Mechanically, the Kia Niro EV is very similar to the Kona, so it offers very similar important statistics. They roll a little more firmly and deal with touch more directly, but there’s not much to it. We placed the user interface on a slightly more confusing basis than on the Hyundai, and Kia’s financing offers tend to be a bit more expensive, but Kia’s EVs are still great options.
You can also get a Kia Soul. The Soul drives better and has less confusing controls and a clearer but more basic-looking gauge cluster. The driving position is more like that of an SUV, but the cabin is not as spacious. Compared to some of the other features on offer here, Kias are a bit undeniable and also expensive, but they are still highly recommended.
Price £32,975 (Soul Urban), £39,075 (Soul Explore), £37,325 (Niro) Range 171 miles (Soul Urban), 280 miles (Soul Explore), 285 miles (Niro)
Read our Kia Niro EV information
If you’re looking for something spacious and family-friendly, you can skip this one. Like all Mini hatchbacks, the Cooper E is still relatively small in size, but you fall in love with it because of its taste and commitment to driving power.
While the original Mini Electric was based on the petrol version, but with a small built-in battery, this new one evolved from the start as an electric vehicle and has no mechanics, as is usual in the petrol version. This allows for a larger battery, with 36. 6 kWh in the Cooper E and 49. 2 kWh in the Cooper SE. The latter is rated at a very decent 249 miles. More than that, it’s a treat and one of the most entertaining electric cars on the market.
Price £30,000 (Cooper E), £34,400 (Cooper SE) Range Miles (Cooper E), 234 Miles (Cooper SE)
Read our Mini Cooper E
The Renault Mégane is another stylish electric sedan that stands out from the crowd, but it has a larger length than the Mini. However, it is still a little smaller and less practical than the Cupra Born or Hyundai Kona.
Because of that, it turns out to be a step above some of the other features here when it comes to interior quality and ambience. Its Google-based multimedia formula is also a major advantage due to its ease of use. Renault also sticks to physical controls for weather conditions. While the Renault is far from the sportiest option here, it’s quiet at high speeds and drives well. Price and diversity revisions since its launch have also made the Mégane one of the most affordable sedans in its family. Due to its size, it may be more practical, it is not the most effective and its nervous guide is not to everyone’s taste.
Price £33,995 Range 285 miles
Read our review of the Renault Mégane E-Tech Electric
The electric Fiat 500 has very little to do with its ancestor, the icon of the 1950s who brought the car to the Italian masses. Considering its size, it’s not even that cheap. Still, £28,195 is affordable for an electric car. and the £31,195 version with 37kWh offers a claimed range of 200 miles, which is pretty smart for a city car.
It looks and drives pretty well too. While the ride is dynamic, the 500e is perfectly capable of highway driving, and it’s a lot of fun to drive on narrow country roads that would force you to slow down in a larger car. Being small and relatively lightweight, it is also efficient, which helps to reduce running costs. We also like its easy-to-use multimedia formula and clever array of physical controls.
Price £28,195 (95hp), £31,195 (118hp) Range 118 miles (95hp), 203K (118hp)
Read our Fiat 500e
The Tesla Model 3 sneaks into this list because it makes a lot of sense on paper. Yes, for £39,990 it’s one of the most expensive possible options here, but it allows you to buy a sedan the size of a BMW 3 Series with very generous prices. interior space.
When it comes to the power of EV drivetrains, no one can match Tesla. A Model 3 can handle 4. 0 mpkWh in real life. If this sounds boring, it sets off a difficult virtuous cycle: Teslas have greater diversity than their rivals. but with a smaller battery. It takes less time to charge than a giant model, and the physical space stored can be spent on passengers and cargo. A small battery weighs less, further enhancing power and contributing to Model 3’s quick handling and speed. yield. There are versions with even more diversity and rhythm, but they are outside the “affordable” realm.
The Tesla doesn’t rank high on this list because it generates a lot of divisions. While some people will find the way Tesla does things correct, others simply can’t live with the incredibly screen-dependent UI and lack of turn signal bars. , ill-tuned power-assist functions, always-on one-pedal driving and the litany of other quirks.
Price £39,990 (rear-wheel drive), £49,990 (long range), £59,990 (performance) Range 318 miles (rear-wheel drive), 390 miles (long range), 328 miles (performance)
Read our information about the Tesla Model 3 RWD
As a member of Autocar’s road team, Illya drives everything from superminis to supercars, writing reviews, comparison tests, as well as news and odd stories.
Much of his time is spent fiddling with the data logger and tape measure to gather knowledge for Autocar’s eight-page road tests, which are the most rigorous in the industry with independent performance, fuel consumption and noise figures.
The overall EV ownership rate is already much lower than that of fossil vehicles, and the acquisition value parity between new and fossil EVs is close. (Why do you think the EU wants to impose import price lists on Chinese electric vehicles?Because those prices will be lower than European car prices and European car brands will be affected. )But buyers want cheaper EVs, and they’ll arrive anyway. If you need to worry about charging something, think about how you’ll lose the charge on all used internal combustion cars once new electric cars are less expensive to buy than new fuel and diesel cars. Oh, and anyway, 80% of the fuel that is poured into a fuel-powered car is wasted energy. It just causes a lot of unnecessary heat.
First of all, $40,000 isn’t considered “cheap” and never has been, but I guess it was the only way to get enough cars on the list to make the item work. And secondly, you wouldn’t need to own or buy a maximum of those electric cars.
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