Cheapest Electric Cars 2024

It’s hard to believe how rapidly the modern electric car era has progressed since the weird and not-so-wonderful Mitsubishi i-MiEV went on sale in 2009, a year before the first Nissan Leaf. But such quick progress means that EV development costs have been high, which is why electric cars can still look expensive compared to their petrol and diesel equivalents. Prices are levelling out though - and we'll soon see some new EVs that will dramatically change the pricing landscape. In the meantime, loads of great EVs offer genuinely good value, especially considering how cheap they are to run.
Here are the cheapest new electric cars on sale today.

The cheapest new electric car on sale isn’t even a car. It’s a quadricycle, technically. But it looks like a car, right? Okay, maybe not. Still, its weirdness is a big part of the appeal. It’s a quadricycle because any vehicle that weighs less than 450kg and has less than 20 horsepower is one, by definition. The Ami only has eight horsepower, which means it can be driven legally by a 16-year-old with a moped licence. At less than £8,000 it’s cheap for a new ‘car’, but you’ll have to live with its tiny two-seat interior and a 28mph top speed. Hilarious to drive, though. Genuinely.
Priced from: £7,700 Explore the Citroen Ami range on Auto Trader

The MG4 is almost certainly the best value electric car on sale today, picking up the crown from another MG, the ZS EV. It’s a more appealing car than the ZS in most ways: looks sharper, more interesting to drive, very nearly as spacious, just as comfy, and with excellent battery range. There are two battery choices, in fact, but even the smaller of them boasts a 323-mile range – surprisingly close to the 365 miles of the ‘Long Range’ version. A very easy car to recommend.
Priced from: £27,000 Explore the MG4 range on Auto Trader

By fixing everything that was fundamentally below par about the outgoing Fiat 500 – mainly the poor driver ergonomics and patchy interior quality – the latest 500 is already a massive improvement. The fact that it’s electric makes it even better. Two battery choices mean you can opt for a cheaper version if you don’t need big range (the smaller battery will give you about 100 miles), but whichever you choose, the latest 500 is just great. A tall adult can now get comfy in the driver’s seat, and electric power means it’s really refined and feels proper quick.
Priced from: £28,200 Explore the Fiat 500 Electric range on Auto Trader

The car that started it all (sort of) is now in its second generation, and it’s still one of the most appealing EVs on sale. It feels high quality, has plenty of space in the rear seats, and is designed to be comfortable to drive first and foremost. Nissan has a habit of sporadically introducing new trim levels with confusing names, but even a base model (whatever it happens to be called when you read this) will be chock full of safety tech and convenience features. And even the smaller of the two batteries you can choose from (40kWh) should be good for a real-world 150-mile range.
Priced from: £28,500 Explore the Nissan Leaf range on Auto Trader

Okay, so the Zoe feels like it’s been around for years... because it has. The version on sale now is basically the car that first appeared in 2012. That’s two lifetimes. However, a constant schedule of improvements means that today’s Zoe is actually very different from decade-old versions. The battery has grown from 22kWh to 52kWh – now good for a 245-mile range – and the interior has had a total makeover. It feels modern and high quality, and because the Zoe is tall, it has an airy feel that makes it a small car suitable for taller people.
Priced from: £29,300 Explore the Renault Zoe range on Auto Trader

Build Your Dreams (BYD) called this ‘Dolphin’ because it’s part of a series of cars designed using an “ocean aesthetics” brief. Nope, us neither. That aside, it’s actually a very sensible small EV that’s surprisingly spacious and has a lot of kit for the money. The interior is a lot more interesting to look at than the exterior, albeit the driving experience doesn’t have the refinement or sophistication of, say, an MG4. Still, a lot of EV for the money.
Priced from: £30,200 Explore the BYD Dolphin range on Auto Trader

The former king of the high-value EV (until MG knocked itself off the perch with the newer, smarter MG4), the ZS is still a fantastic proposition for families. The ZS was never the cheapest EV on sale, but no other electric car gave owners this much space and equipment for this sort of money. So it’s true that the dashboard isn’t at the cutting edge – it feels a little creaky in places and the infotainment is fiddly to use – but the ZS is comfy to drive and has great range. A recent update bumped the battery to 72kWh, and the official quoted range to 273 miles.
Priced from: £30,500 Explore the MG ZS range on Auto Trader

The MG5 EV started a niche of its own as the first fully electric estate car on sale in the UK. A few followed, like the Vauxhall Astra-e Estate and the BMW i5 Touring, and arguably the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo is an estate too… but we digress. Basically, if you need lots of space but don’t want your EV to be shaped like an SUV and cost a fortune, here you go. Like the ZS EV and the MG4, the MG5 EV is a very good value electric car. It’s very well-equipped, the boot is huge and the battery range is 250 miles. And all for less than the price of a MINI Electric.
Priced from: £31,000 Explore the MG5 EV range on Auto Trader

The Mazda MX-30 was met with a mixed reception when it launched. It’s great to drive – as much fun as you could possibly expect from a small electric SUV – and it’s designed with a sense of fun, including its rear-hinged ‘suicide’ back doors. Its infotainment system is proper intuitive to use too. All good. That said, the battery is on the small side. At 35kWh, it's less than half the capacity of the battery in an MG ZS. Therefore, the 124-mile range (which is closer to 100 in real life) is prohibitively low for many. Shame, because with a bigger battery it would be superb.
Priced from: £31,300 Explore the Mazda MX-30 range on Auto Trader

When Great Wall Motors came to the UK with the Ora Funky Cat at the end of 2022, much attention was focused on its preposterous name. The thing is, it worked, because this retro-modern EV was cool, interesting and, well… funky. The name quickly became part of the charm because the product itself was so good. Kind of like how everyone has forgotten what a terrible band name ‘Foo Fighters’ is. So it’s genuinely saddening that GWM has renamed it the ‘Ora 03’. Still, it’s the same car: a great-value EV with more space than you think and even more personality.
Priced from: £32,000 Explore the Ora 03 on Auto Trader