‘Cheap electric car’ still feels like a contradiction. In fact, ‘cheap new car’ can often feel like a contradiction. But while electric motoring isn’t coming to the masses overnight, efforts are being made to bring down the costs of electric cars.
Right now, a full-featured EV with a 200-mile range remains out of reach below £20,000, but the bottom of the market is looking a lot healthier than it was only a few years ago, with plenty of genuinely enticing options between £20,000 and £40,000.
You may have spotted our list of the cheapest EVs on sale, which is literally just that. You can buy a Citroën Ami for under £10,000, but you probably don’t want to. Read on to discover our favourite cheap electric cars we would actually recommend if you have up to £40,000 to spend.
Top 10 cheap electric cars
Despite being effectively a Volkswagen ID 3 Sport, Cupra’s take on the electric Golf-sized hatchback has slowly become a firm Autocar favourite. It dominated at the 12-car EV mega-test we held in March, with all judges unanimously giving it the nod for its enticing blend of practicality, driving fun and EV credentials.
It capitalises on its rear-wheel-drive platform in a way that the ID 3 doesn’t, offering nimble, intuitive and subtly throttle-adjustable handling. But what makes the Born special is that it doesn’t sacrifice ride comfort, noise isolation or energy efficiency in the pursuit of being the sporty one. In fact, it’s very good at all of those other things too.
It’s due for a mechanical revision soon that will bring a more powerful and efficient motor and a new multimedia system. The latter is one of the few weak points of the Cupra Born, so it might be worth waiting for the updated model. On the other hand, there are currently some great finance deals available as Cupra tries to shift its stock of pre-update cars. Whichever you choose, you’ll be getting a very rounded EV.
Price £34,125 (58kWh) Range 263 miles
Read our Cupra Born review
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Total Cost of Ownership of EVs is already way lower than fossil cars and purchase price parity between new EVs and fossil cars is near. (Why do you think the EU wants to put import tarrifs on Chinese EVs? Because they will undercut European cars and European car makers will suffer.) But buyers want cheaper EVs and they will arrive anyway. If you want to worry about the cost of something, think about how all the used internal combustion cars will drop in value once new EVs are cheaper to buy than new petrol and diesel cars. Oh and don't forget that 80% of the petrol you pour into a petrol car is wasted energy anyway. It just causes a lot of pointless heat.
Firstly, 40k is not considered 'cheap' and never has been, but I guess that was the only way you could get enough vehicles on the list to make the article work. And secondly, you really wouldn't want to own or buy most of these EV's.