Cheapest electric cars in 2025

Forget cheapest electric cars for a second, the Citroen Ami is actually the cheapest new car on sale right now, and by some margin. Even if you head up to the top-spec Citroen Ami Tonic, it'll cost less than £9,000, which is thousands less than the next cheapest model. So what's the catch? 

Well, we're playing very fast and loose with the word 'car' here. Technically, the Citroen Ami is a quadricycle. It means the Ami can be driven without a full driving licence by a 16 year-old, but it also means it's limited in use and doesn't have to pass the same kind of safety tests as a car. 

As such, the Citroen Ami has an electric range of just 47 miles, but that doesn't really matter when the top speed is limited to a measly 28mph. You only get two seats, the only real equipment on offer is a heater and you can only charge it from a domestic plug socket. 

Don't write off the funky little Ami, however. It's great fun to thread through town, costs pennies to run and is certainly more secure and safe than a moped when it comes to city commutes or leisure journeys. The Citroen Ami has its place: just don't expect too much from it.

The Leapmotor T03 is the cheapest new electric car you can buy. And yes, this one's actually a car.

Don't feel bad if you've not heard of Leapmotor before, because not many folk in the UK have yet. Leapmotor is a Chinese car company that is part-owned by the multinational manufacturing powerhouse known as Stellantis (the firm that also owns and operates brands including Citroen, Peugeot, DS, Vauxhall, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Jeep, along with many others), and in 2024, the decision was made to start flogging Leapmotor models in Europe through Stellantis' vast network of existing dealerships.

The Leapmotor T03 is the firm's first UK offering, and it's a teeny electric city car. It has a 95PS electric motor connected to a 37.3kWh battery, which gives the T03 a driving range of 165 miles according to official WLTP figures. Just one trim level is offered, and comes very well equipped for the money you pay. You get alloy wheels, a panoramic sunroof, adaptive cruise control, digital instruments and a 10.1-inch infotainment screen with built-in sat-nav and Bluetooth. However, there's no DAB, Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, which might put some buyers off.

Having been on sale in Europe for a good few years already, the Dacia Spring finally arrived in the UK in 2024, and in facelifted form, too. New prices start at just £14,995, which gets you the Expression trim with a 45PS electric motor, air conditioning and rear parking sensors. If you want a proper infotainment system, you need to upgrade to the £16,995 Extreme trim, which also gives you a punchier 65PS motor.

Range? Around 140 miles on a fully charged battery, which isn't loads, but then this is an avowed city car. If you rarely venture out of town, this should do the job.

The Spring once sat above the Leapmotor T03 in this list, but their positions were reversed when the Leapmotor's price was reduced in response to the Government's Electric Car Grant announcement in mid-2025, and the Dacia's wasn't. The price difference between them is very small, mind.

It may have a ludicrously silly name, but as an ownership prospect, the BYD Dolphin Surf is anything but silly. This small SUV-style EV is one of the cheapest electric cars you can buy, but it's still a very well-rounded offering. All versions are well equipped (all get air-conditioning, a reversing camera and adaptive cruise control), and have a nicely trimmed interior, with reasonably plush-feeling materials and synthetic leather upholstery. There's decent space inside for four people, and the boot is also decent at 308 litres, making it fairly practical for a car with such a tiny footprint.

Granted, the cheapest version does have a fairly limited range of just 137 miles, but there are longer-range options capable of more like 200 miles if you're prepared to spend a bit more. The driving experience is rather average in terms of ride, handling and performance, but it's good enough that it doesn't feel too compromised.

We'd argue that, of the cars competing for the title of being the coolest on this list, the Hyundai Inster has to be right up there. Its quirky and unconventional design gives it a look like nothing else on the road, which is something Hyundai has become rather good at in recent years.

That strangely proportioned body conceals a surprisingly spacious cabin,  although you only get four seats and the boot is a little on the titchy side. The interior is nicely finished, too, and comes packed with big-car features, even in entry-level 01 trim.

The entry-level car gets a 97PS front-mounted electric motor and a 42kWh battery, giving an official WLTP range of 203 miles. If you want/need a little more than that, and you have (quite a lot) more money to spend, the 02 and Cross versions come with a more powerful 115PS electric motor and a 49kWh battery for a range of 229 miles.

The Inster used to feature a lot further down this list because it wasn't all that cheap previously, but Hyundai recently sliced £3,750 off the car's price in response to the Government's Electric Car Grant, which has catapulted the car much further towards the top of our standings.

The Citroen e-C3 is the first of a number of closely related cars on this list. Like all these related cars, it comes from the sprawling Stellantis stable, and it shares the group's new Smart Car Platform (no, not that Smart Car) for small electric and hybrid cars (for the avoidance of all doubt, the Leapmotor T03 we just talked about does not share the same architecture), as well as motors, batteries and a variety of tech. And yet, it's the cheapest of the lot of them.

It has an interior that's cheerful and surprisingly spacious, and it's a comfortable and easy car to drive. Its electric motor develops a healthy 113PS, and it has an official WLTP range of 199 miles, which is very presentable at this end of the EV market. What's more, this is no bargain-basement model, with alloy wheels, LED headlights, nicely padded seats, and a proper infotainment system.

As another new small electric model from a Stellantis-Group brand, it'll come as little surprise that this is one of the models to use the Smart Car Platform that we were just talking about. And like the Citroen e-C3, the Fiat Grande Panda comes with SUV-esque looks, a 133PS motor and a 199-mile range. 

It's a very likeable car in a variety of other ways, too. It has lots of style, with its cool pixel-like lighting signature, its bold colour schemes, and the word 'Panda' embossed in large letters down the sides of the car. And, like its Citroen relative, the Grande Panda has an interior that's both roomy and characterful, and the car delivers a driving experience that's comfortable and easy. It's only a few hundred quid more than the Citroen, so if you prefer its look and character, it won't be much of a stretch financially.

It's certainly not the cheapest EV on our list, but the new Renault 5 might just be the coolest. Or at least, it's a tie between this and the Hyundai Inster mentioned elsewhere on this page. Renault has done an incredible job of reimagining the classic 5 for modern times and given it a suitably up-to-date electric powertrain in the process. Impressively, the production model looks scarcely different from the concept car revealed a few years ago.

Under that neo-retro bodywork is a 40kWh battery pack giving a fairly modest official range of 186 miles, which means you may struggle to get 150 miles on a single charge with mixed driving. The larger 52kWh battery, which provides up to 252 miles of range, isn't available with the base Evolution trim, so you'll need to upgrade to Techno. You also get a more powerful motor to sweeten the deal.

Don't worry, you not having a bout of deja vu here, because the Citroen e-C3 Aircross isn't quite the same as the e-C3 that's already appeared on this list, despite looking incredibly similar. It is, in fact, quite a bit bigger that its sister car - despite being built on the same Smart Car Platform - so it's even roomier inside. So much so that some versions of the C3 Aircross can even be specified with seven seats, although sadly, that possibility only applies to combustion-engined versions, and not the electric ones.

But despite its extra size, the e-C3 Aircross only costs a grand more than its smaller stablemate. The extra size and weight does mean that the range from the car's 44kWh battery takes a small hit, although 188 miles should still be enough for many drivers. The Aircross is also stylish, cheerful, and easy and pleasant to drive.

Yet another model built on Stellantis' Smart Car Platform, the Vauxhall Frontera is currently the priciest of them. You may recognise the name from a rugged off-roader from the early 1990s, but these days, it's worn by a small SUV that's available with an all-electric powertrain.

In fact, beneath its more sensible bodywork, the Frontera is all-but identical to the Citroen C3 Aircross we talked about earlier. Its dimensions are very similar, and it can also be specified with seven seats, although again, not if you choose the electric version: this option is only available with the hybrid variant. Again, the electric powertrain features a 113PS electric motor and a 44kWh battery, but the Vauxhall's official WLTP range is a couple of miles down on the Citroen's at 186 miles.

There's a bit of an oddity where the Frontera's price is concerned, though. The electric one can be had with a further £1,500 off thanks to the Government's Electric Car Grant, but only if you buy it on PCP. That's why the car's list price is still given at this higher level, and that's the figure that its ranking here is based on.

The Ora 03, as its now known, was originally launched in the UK as the Ora Funky Cat, but it would appear that the original name was a bit too out-there for conservative British buyers, hence the rebrand to a name that couldn't be more dull if it tried. It's actually produced by Great Wall – one of China's biggest car manufacturers – and sold in the UK by IM Group (who also import Subaru and Isuzu models).

Once you get over the dull/bizarre name (it's called the Good Cat in China), it's actually a pretty decent electric car. You get quirky looks, a feel-good, high-quality interior and quite a lot of passenger space (although the boot is bizarrely small). For this money, the Ora 03 comes in Pure trim, with a 48kWh battery that provides a range of up to 193 miles. Or, for a bit more cash, you can have the Pro version, which gets a 63kWh battery that gives you up to 260 miles.

Like the Vauxhall Frontera we were just talking about, GWM will slash a large amount - this time a whopping £3,750 - off the 03's price as a response to the Electric Car Grant announcement, but only if you buy on PCP. That means the official list price remains the same, meaning it has to settle for 11th place in our list.

The modern-day Fiat 500 first arrived in 2008 and has been a huge success for the Italian brand. For this third-generation model, Fiat has made the bold decision of making it electric only.

Still one of the smallest cars on the road at just 3.6m long, the Fiat 500 Electric starts at just £25,035 brand new. This gets you a modest 24kWh battery which gives a 118-mile range, but versions with larger batteries are available with a 200-mile combined range. For clarity, it's not built on the same Smart Car Platform that we've mentioned numerous times before, though, because it was designed and developed before the Fiat Group merged with the PSA Group to form Stellantis.

Fiat's freshened up the 500's already stylish looks with some nice little touches, and while entry-level trim is pretty basic, other models get niceties such as a 10.25-inch touchscreen with sat-nav and fancy styling add-ons. 

As the Renault 5 that we mentioned earlier proves, Renault has been looking to its past for inspiration in the design of its new wave of all-electric models. The Renault 4 is another example of this: with that very familiar name comes a correspondingly familiar collection of lines, design cues and visual features. It's a modern interpretation of them, but the car is instantly recognisable as a relation of the original.

The 4 shares most of its mechanical and powertrain bits and pieces with the 5, but it's designed to be a more practical, more family-friendly alternative. With its slightly more SUV-like lines, think of the 4's relationship with the 5 in the same way that you might think about the relationship between the Captur and the Clio.

We haven't had the opportunity to drive the new Renault 4 yet, so we can't tell yet you whether i's worth the extra money over its stablemate, but we'll let you know as soon as we do.

While most of the electric cars on this list are teeny offerings of A-segment (city car) or B-segment (supermini) size, the Citroen e-C4 is a larger C-segment (family hatchback) offering that's similar in proportions to a Volkswagen Golf, and that means it has the beating of most of the other cars here for practicality. The fact that Citroen can offer a car of this size and type for a price that qualifies it for this list is truly impressive.

The C4 has more that just value-for-money in its favour, though. Its individual styling makes it stand out from the crowd, and as well as being roomy, the interior also has plenty of character with some chic and thoughtful design touches. It's a very comfortable car to drive, too, with soft, squishy suspension that's brilliant a mopping up bumps in the road, and that's the perfect compliment to the inherently quiet and easy driving experice of an electric car.

The Vauxhall Corsa Electric is one of the oldest EVs on this list, which should also make it one of those most recognisable. Not that you'd have any trouble recognising it in the first place, mind, because the Corsa supermini has been a mainstay of British motoring for decades.

At this money, you get the lower-powered 136PS front-mounted electric motor for a 0-62mph time of 8.2 seconds and an electric range of 221 miles from the 59kWh battery pack. You also get a car that looks sharp and modern from the outside, smart and conventional on the inside, and that's practical enough to serve the needs of a small family and that's easy and fuss-free to drive.

Like a couple of the other cars in this list, the car can be had for even less than the list price thanks to the Government's Electric Car Grant of £1,500 that applies to the Corsa. However, because this discount is only applied to PCP purchases, the advertised list price remains the same, and so it has to sit a wee bit lower in this list.