If you are wincing whenever you fill up with fuel, here is something to think about. Switch to electric and you need never go to a petrol station again, and the savings could mean your car will pay for itself in as little as three years.
How does that add up? A good, reliable modern EV is now available from as little as £5,000. With diesel currently costing an average of £1.75 a litre, a car doing 45 mpg over 10,000 miles will cost £1,768 in fuel. Drive the same distance in an average electric car and charge overnight at 8p/kWh and the annual cost is just £176. After just over three years in the EV you will be in profit.
Invest more – or trade in your old car - and you will be able to afford a thoroughly modern EV which will be much better value than an equivalent petrol model. These are the bargain electric cars we’d recommend – there are five under £5,000 and another six for less than £10,000.
Price from: £1,400
The Leaf was the first of the ‘proper’ EVs when it was launched a 2011 and its age and popularity means there is plenty of choice and they are amazingly cheap. The earliest cars will have a limited range as the battery chemistry and conditioning tech was less sophisticated. In winter it might dip down to 40 miles on a charge, which is still enough for drivers who just need to drive locally and don’t mind plugging in every night. It then offers an incredibly cheap way of getting around.
Leafs are reliable too, and the brakes, suspension and other non-EV bits are shared with Nissan’s big selling petrol cars like the Juke, so parts are cheap. You can watch our buying guide here.
The later versions with 30 and 40kWh batteries give a bit more range and aren’t much more expensive. If you plan to drive further, bear in mind that Leafs use CHAdeMO plugs for rapid charging, which limits the number of places you can top up.
Prices from: £1,500
If you want a smaller EV for zipping around town, the Zoe is good fun to drive and has a surprisingly long range. But there is a big issue which has kept used prices low. When the car was first launched in 2013 Renault insisted that the battery was leased, with a monthly fee, which depended on the mileage you covered. This causes massive complications when you come to sell the car as buyers hate the idea and are scared off.
Later cars were all battery owned and you can pay to buy out the lease, but the damage to values remains.
The earliest Zoes had a tiny 22kW battery which equals a range of less than 100 miles these days. This could be tricky on longer runs, especially as rapid DC charging was an option on some models. If you can charge at an office or workplace with three-phase power it’s ideal though.
Later 52kWh will still be under our budget though and had up to 245 miles of official range and rapid charge capability.
Price from: £3,000
The Kia Soul has love it or loathe it styling which some might suggest has aged like milk, but the tall and boxy design means you get good interior space and easy access.
The oldest and cheapest models have 132 miles of range, which was class-leading at the time. Newer models (from 2019) have a choice batteries with either 172 miles or 280 miles and are remarkably efficient.
The Soul has a bit of a cult following but is still a bargain – however, they are rare, so snap one up if you can.
Price from: £4,000
We’re not really qualified to give investment advice, but reckon the i3 could earn money as well as saving it. That’s because values are rising as they seem to be becoming collectors’ items.
Why? It was always a car which was ahead of its time with futuristic styling, lightweight carbon bodyshell, and remarkable efficiency. The interior has the quality you’d expect from a BMW too, and they are good fun to drive.
For the sub-£5,000 budget you’ll be looking at an early car with around 100,000 miles, but it will still have plenty of life in it.
If you can afford a little more, the i3 improved over time with better performance, technology and range. There is a REX too, with a petrol engine to supplement the smaller battery, but these are sought after, even though they are expensive to maintain.
Price from: £5,000
We were amazed that you can get a car which seems this modern for our budget, but sure enough there are a few early ZS EVs which are within reach. It’s a practical family SUV which is about the same size as a Nissan Qashqai, with a big 470-litre boot.
The battery on the earlier models will be the 44.5kWh pack, which will give a real world range of about 140 miles.
The driving experience won’t bring many thrills either, and the lack of an app means you won’t be able to preheat the car or set charging timers – so get a more sophisticated charge point if you want to make the most of cheaper energy rates.
But on the plus side, a well serviced ZS might still be covered by MG’s amazing seven year warranty.
Under £10,000
Price from: £8,000
Hang on, isn’t the MG4 only a few years old? It can’t possibly be this cheap already? Yep, we were surprised too. But with heavy discounts on brand new and ex-demo cars, the prices of the first MG4s are now comfortably below our £10,000 barrier, even with average miles.
It’s a well-equipped family hatch which is good to drive, and it will have the remainder of MG’s seven year warranty too, as long as the servicing is up to date.
Reliability surveys don't rank it very well, while owners' forums are home to a bevy of complaints, but most of these problems will have been fixed by now – hopefully.
For this budget you will be looking at the entry-level SE, or 'Standard Range' cars with a 51kWh LFP pack, giving a claimed range of 217 miles when new. If you can accept a few more miles on the clock you might find a 64kWh NMC 'Long Range' with a WLTP-tested range of up to 281 miles.
Prices from: £6,000
It might be one of the best-known names in the car market, but the electric version of the Vauxhall Corsa is often overlooked. Which is a shame, because like the similar Peugeot e-208, it is great value, efficient and fun to drive.
It arrived in 2020 with a 46.2kWh battery and a range of just over 200 miles – but don’t trust the readout when it’s on a high battery percentage, as it is notoriously optimistic. It will drop quickly and give a more realistic range expectation as the battery charge falls.
Every Corsa-e gets decent equipment levels, but look for the Elite with its larger 17in alloy wheels, heated seats, a heated steering wheel, a rear-view camera, tinted rear windows and a 10in infotainment system.
They were massively overpriced when new but then heavily discounted, which means an early version with average miles is worth just £6,000.
Prices from: £7,000
Don’t get excited – we are not talking about the IONIQ 5, 6 or 9 here – those are newer and much more expensive, for now at least. But that doesn’t mean you should snub the original Ioniq Electric. Despite having a small 31kWh battery, the efficiency means it is enough to give an official range of 174 miles – although we’d say that’s about 120 miles in reality.
Be aware though that many of the Ioniqs on sale will have been used by companies as pool cars or even taxis – be wary of anything which hasn’t been loved. But the higher miles will mean they are even cheaper – you might even find one in our lower £5,000 budget if you look hard enough.
They do have quite a following though, so join an owners’ group and find one which has been loved.
Prices from: £8,000
The poor e-C4 was never a class leader so was forgotten soon after it was launched, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a bad car. In fact it has many fine qualities, including a comfort-oriented suspension set up which is perfect for Britain’s broken road network. Potholes? What potholes?
It’s halfway between a hatchback and an SUV, which means it has a usefully raised ride height which makes getting in and out easier if you are loading kids or less-mobile adults.
For this budget you will be limited to the earlier powertrain but it is still efficient. And the prices mean it is a viable alternative to a smaller car which would cost the same.
Prices from: £8,000
If you love the look of a MINI but need five doors and a bit more range, the Ora makes a reasonable substitute. The Chinese brand initially brought the car to the UK wearing a ‘Funky Cat’ name, but this proved a turn off for buyers so it is now just known as the 03.
It’s not bad to drive and the quality is fine in most places, backed by a 5-year/unlimited mileage manufacturer warranty. Despite this, the high list price when it was new meant the car was never a success and it was discounted heavily. This means the used values plummeted and it’s a used bargain.
Our only advice is to test drive one and make sure you can cope with the nannying safety systems.
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