► Our list of the cheapest electric cars on sale
► Options range from dinky quadricycles to SUVs
► Prices start from just £7695
Think electric cars are expensive? Well, 2025 is looking like a turning point, and depending on the model you choose, the price difference between an EV and a petrol car can be negligible. While we can’t endorse the not terribly good Dacia Spring at £15k, you can now get a great deal on electric fun, complete with outstanding design, for little more than £20k. Highlight cars included the new Fiat Grande Panda, Citroen e-C3 and Renault 5 E-Tech. We’re increasingly seeing price cuts on existing models, too.
Every new EV on our list now costs less than £24,000, and that’s the first time that has ever happened. Plus, you can even get an electric SUV suitable for families within that price.
The cheapest electric cars on this list might not have the fancy interior technology and safety equipment you’ll find in something like a Tesla Model 3, and they might not have the glamour of the best electric luxury cars. But you can’t argue with the value and many of them are now piling on the style as well.
The best cheap electric cars at a glance:
Below, we’ve rounded up the cheapest electric cars on sale in the UK today. Our list includes tiny electric quadricycles, family-sized electric hatchbacks and compact electric SUVs. This list has changed a lot in recent months due to the introduction of new models and price cuts to existing EVs. Our prices also now take into account April 2025’s tax changes, which mean that EVs are no longer exempt. We’ve also included links to our dedicated review for each electric car if you need some extra information on how they drive. Keep reading for further inspiration.
The cheapest electric vehicles (EVs) to buy in 2025
Citroen Ami – from £7695
Best for: city-only driving
Pros: minuscule dimensions, great fun, no car will get more attention
Cons: bad ride, you’ve seen the video of one being rolled in Monaco, right?
Citroen had one goal in mind when it was designing the Ami – to build the ultimate small electric car. And it bashed the nail on the head with a 20lb sledgehammer. The Ami is perfectly suited to city life. It’s small, so it can fit down narrow alleys. Its cabin is surrounded by glass, so you can spot kamikaze moped riders long before you could in a conventional car.
However. It has a maximum range of 46 miles and a top speed of just 28mph. It’s achingly slow. Stay within the confines of town, and you’ll be king of all you survey, though. The Ami is more than nimble enough to carve up Civics and Golfs on roundabouts, while its 8bhp motor is sprightly enough to surprise them at the lights. Though this is in part because it’s not really a car at all, and only has to meet quadricycle regs – meaning Citroen could build it out of margarine tubs and not concerns itself too much with crash safety…
To find out more, read our full Citroen Ami review
Dacia Spring – from £14,995
Best for: the cheapest ‘proper’ electric car you can buy. But you shouldn’t
Pros: cheaper than an equivalent petrol city car, decent interior, surprisingly big boot
Cons: terrible safety performance, feels every bit as cheap as it is
Brits have previously been deprived of the value-packed Dacia Spring, one of the most popular electric cars across Europe. But that’s now changed with facelifted Spring now on sale in the UK. It’s a compact city that’s quite a lot smaller than the Sandero, and grabs the headlines with a starting price of just £14,995, making it by far the cheapest proper electric car available. ‘Proper’ is a variable term, though.
You get a 44bhp motor as standard, with a dizzying 64bhp available from higher-spec versions. A 26.8kWh battery allows for a claimed range of up to 140 miles, giving scope for some out-of-town trips but you wouldn’t want to go too far as it’s not very quick to charge with a maximum 30kW DC rapid charging rate. What’s more, while it might be hard to ignore at the price, the Spring is one of the worst cars we tested in 2024, with driving manners, core build quality and crash safety that all manage to make its low price seem too high.
To find out more, read our full Dacia Spring review
Leap Motor T03 – from £15,995
Best for: urban commuters seeking a budget-friendly electric option
Pros: Great value, decent build quality, decent interior space considering its size
Cons: Not much range, feels slow
Chinese car firm Leapmotor has recently arrived in the UK, with its cars being imported and distributed in the UK by Stellantis. The T03 has been developed almost entirely in-house – even the battery is homegrown, aside from a few of the cells – but some of the styling quirks seem familiar. Specs-wise, the T03’s 37.3 kWh battery provides a WLTP-rated range of 165 miles.
A modest 93bhp motor yielding a 0-62 mph time of 12.7 seconds, but that’s enough for city driving and outperforms similar budget EVs like the Dacia Spring, which it feels far more substantial than. The build quality feels solid for a car in this price range, and features include five doors and a spacious cabin with decent headroom. Standard equipment levels are also very impressive, including a 10.1-inch touchscreen, reversing camera and even a panoramic sunroof. Buyers should note its limited 165-mile range and shorter-than-average warranty, though.
To find out more, read our full Leapmotor T03 review
Micro Microlino – from £17,990
Best for: putting the biggest grin on your face
Pros: utterly charming, surprisingly useable, lengthy driving range
Cons: zero safety aids, occasionally ‘interesting’ handling
Thought we were already done with the quadricycles in this list? Well, there is another we reckon you had best be aware of if you’re shopping for a small, interesting EV. The Micro Microlino is a reimagining of the Isetta bubble car for the 21st century – with the added bonus of actually having a reverse gear – and although it comes with unavoidable compromises, it is also hilarious fun.
While the maximum range of 142 miles seems pretty reasonable, the 56mph top speed is a little limiting, as is the somewhat rudimentary handling. There are no active safety aids – not even anti-lock brakes or airbags – it’s awkward to get out of and the cabin is cosy for two. But nothing we’ve driven so far in 2025 has put anything like this size of smile on our face. And yes, it is the same Micro that makes the scooters…
To find out more, read our full Micro Microlino review
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BYD Dolphin Surf – from £18,650
Best for: Good interior quality and a decent electric range
In a very short space of time, Chinese car brand BYD has made a real impression in the UK thanks to cars like the BYD Seal and Dolphin, but now there’s an even smaller and cheaper model to consider – the Dolphin Surf. We think it’s BYD’s best car yet, with excellent space, performance and range for a city car.
It feels more of a quality product than any arguably any other car on this list, and yet is still available from an attractive £18,650 – you’d struggle to buy a decent petrol city car for that. Entry-level versions pack a small 30kWh battery with a claimed 137-mile range, but we’ve been more impressed by the Boost trim, which packs a 43.2kWh battery that unlocks 200 miles of range. That’s a commendable figure for a city car as small as this.
To find out more, read our full BYD Dolphin Surf review
Fiat Grande Panda Electric – from £21,035
Best for: striking and bold design with practicality and comfort
Pros: looks great, comes well equipped, drives nicely, cheaper than direct rivals
Cons: high floor impacts rear-seat comfort, some efficiency concerns
Fiat is taking an aggressive approach to revitalising the Panda name by offering this new Grande Panda electric model for less money than any rival. Starting at £21,035 you get not only a stack of kit – including a captive 7kW charging cable, touchscreen infotainment – but also one of the most interesting new car designs at any price point on the market. Yes, it relies on Fiat’s heritage, but unlike some other retro-tastic challengers at the moment, it avoids being totally derivative (ahem, Renault).
The WLTP 199-mile driving range isn’t mind-blowing – and we’ve struggled to get anywhere near that yet so far, too – and the Grande Panda is underpinned by the new Stellantis budget ‘Smart Car’ platform that’s yet to be crashed-tested, too. But this little Fiat looks great inside and out, drives nicely and costs buttons. We say you should take serious look.
To find out more, read our full Fiat Grande Panda Electric review
Citroen e-C3 – from £22,095
Best for: cheap comfort
Pros: good range, great price, very comfortable
Cons: slow steering, boot is an awkward shape
Citroen already has a fairly expansive line-up of electric models, but now it’s begun seriously hunting the cheaper end of the market with this latest e-C3, which arrives as part of a fourth generation of Citroen’s popular supermini. Getting a chunkier look to appeal to SUV-loving buyers, the e-C3 comes with the firm’s trademark comfy suspension and seats, and it’ll likely prove a great daily driver.
It has a 199-mile range and quick 100kW DC charging. It drives well, is surprisingly spacious and comes with plenty of kit as standard, with an attractive £22,095 starting price considering it’s a much more rounded car than the Spring. We still think we would settle for the £1,000 cheaper Grande Panda, though.
To find out more, read our full Citroen e-C3 review
Renault 5 E-Tech – from £22,995
Best for: cool, quirky, small car brilliance
Pros: terrific price, epic styling, great infotainment
Cons: underwhelming real-world range, irritating stalk arrangement
We already loved the new Renault 5, and when it was announced it was going to start from £22,995, we liked it even more. Perhaps the most successful reinvention of a car icon since the Fiat 500, the Renault 5 is a cool, eye-catching EV that we expect to sell in droves.
It really is brilliant, ticking all of the boxes needed for a compact EV. It’s cheerful, fun to drive, modern and – importantly – desirable. The £22,995 starting price is reserved for the entry-level 40kWh battery model, though Renault still claims 194 miles of range. You still get plenty of standard kit, too, including 18-inch alloy wheels, climate control and Renault’s excellent infotainment system that comes with various Google features built in.
To find out more, read our full Renault 5 E-Tech review
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Citroen e-C3 Aircross – from £23,095
Best for: it’s simply the cheapest electric SUV you can get
Pros: outstanding value for money, comfortable, spacious
Cons: range and performance fall off a bit
Citroen really is gunning for the low-cost electric car crown. For if the regular e-C3 isn’t big enough for you, an extra grand buys the e-C3 Aircross – a fully-specced electric family SUV. No prizes for guessing it’s based on the same platform and technology, but in this instance it’s closer in engineering terms to the Vauxhall Frontera Electric, which is another relation (and one that costs only slightly more; it’s on this page, too).
A couple of hurdles to jump here. You can’t have a seven-seater version, which the non-electric C3 Aircross offers, and the driving range is currently limited to 188 miles WLTP, with an associated drop in performance compared to the smaller car. But the e-C3 Aircross is stonking value, comfy and not bad to drive. Intriguing to this area of the market developing so quickly, and a larger battery pack is being promised for the future.
To find out more, read our full Citroen e-C3 Aircross review
Vauxhall Frontera Electric – from £23,995
Best for: a genuine family SUV available for city car money
Pros: brilliant value, spacious interior, comfortable ride
Cons: not a lot of driving range, interior feels cheap, £1,000 more than the e-C3 Aircross
Vauxhall is at the forefront of trying to make EVs as affordable and accessible as possible. It’s trying to get councils to install more on-street EV chargers so that electric cars aren’t the reserve for those who are to charge on their drive, and has also slashed prices of its electric models. But its biggest statement yet is the new Frontera, which is the first EV that costs the same to buy as the petrol versions.
Priced from £23,995, the Frontera represents outstanding value for money. Or at least it did before the arrival of the VERY similar Citroen e-C3 Aircross, which is available for £1,000 less. But the Frontera is a decent size and ideal for families with its spacious interior and roomy boot. It is also very comfortable, and though its 186-mile range isn’t a lot for a vehicle of this type, it’s perfect for local journeys and school runs.
To find out more, read our full Vauxhall Frontera EV review
Cheap electric car FAQs
What is the cheapest electric car you can buy today?
That depends on your definition of ‘car.’ The cheapest fully enclosed, road-legal, four-wheeled vehicle you can buy is the Citroen Ami, priced from just £7695. However, it isn’t legally recognised as a car – it’s a pure-electric quadricycle. The cheapest proper electric car you can buy is the Dacia Spring, which costs from just £14,995. If that ‘s your budget, we’d recommend a nearly new rival, however, as the Spring isn’t the most convincingly engineered, either.
Are electric cars getting cheaper?
Gradually, with much of that change being driven by Chinese manufacturers. Falling R&D costs, economies of scale, and the presence of smaller, less upmarket electric cars to sit alongside the big electric SUVs and saloons that kickstarted the whole shift towards electrification mean the market’s becoming ever more friendly to those on a budget.
With manufacturers increasingly under pressure to shift more EVs to meet mandatory sales targets, we’re seeing more firms cut the prices of their existing models to boost demand. Cupra, Citroen, Mazda and Vauxhall have all slashed the prices of their electric cars in recent months. This will trend will only likely continue into 2025.
Is it worth buying a used electric car?
Buying any used car always means you’ll take on a certain amount of risk, but EVs are a different kettle of fish. The positives? There are far fewer parts to go wrong, and most are loaded with technology. But the value of an EV hinges on the condition of its battery pack – and if the cells have been thrashed by the car’s previous owner, you could end up with a lemon that won’t do half of its claimed range. On newer EVs, you shouldn’t need to worry.
There are some significant savings on nearly-new electric cars to be had if you’re not bothered about being the first person to have their name on the V5. We’ve compiled a guide to buying a used EV that includes a list of the best cars you might want to consider. Follow the link above to learn more.
Are electric cars cheap to charge?
That depends on where you charge your electric car. Plug in at a motorway rapid charger at peak times, and you could end up spending more on electricity than you would for a tank of fuel in an equivalent petrol car. However, you could save hundreds of pounds if you charge up at home using a wallbox charger and an intelligent charge scheduler that can reap the benefits of an off-peak electricity tariff.