Average Cost of an Electric Car UK 2024
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Electric cars are known for being cheaper to run than combustion engine cars (as we discuss here), but how much does an electric car cost to buy? We've gathered data on dozens of popular UK makes and models to find out.
(And if you're curious about charging costs, also read our article on the cost to charge an electric car.)
Purchase Prices of Electric Cars UK
The average cost to buy an electric car in the UK is around £48,000, with EV prices ranging from £14,995 (Dacia Spring Electric) up to £333,000 (Rolls-Royce Spectre), or even more.
Luxury cars such as Tesla, Porsche, Audi, Jaguar and Mercedes (many of which made our list of fastest electric cars) will set you back £72k on average, while a non-luxury EV costs closer to £32k on average. The cheapest models from the cheapest 10 brands cost around £26,000 on average. Prices have come down for EVs in the UK, with more cheap models entering the market in 2024.
Cheap electric car brands
| 10 Cheapest Electric Car Brands UK | Cheapest Models | Starting Price | Battery (kWh) | Average Real Range (combined driving) in miles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cheapest Dacia EV | Dacia Spring Electric 45 | £14,995 | 25 | 100 |
| 2 | Cheapest Citroen EV | Citroen e-C3 | £21,000 | 44 | 165 |
| 3 | Cheapest Renault EV | Renault 5 E-Tech 40kWh 95hp | £22,000 | 40 | 160 |
| 4 | Cheapest BYD EV | BYD DOLPHIN 44.9 kWh Active | £26,000 | 44.9 | 160 |
| 5 | Cheapest MG EV | MG MG4 EV Standard Range | £26,995 | 50.8 | 185 |
| 6 | Cheapest Fiat EV | Fiat 500e Hatchback 24 kWh | £28,195 | 21.3 | 85 |
| 7 | Cheapest Nissan EV | Nissan Leaf | £28,995 | 39 | 145 |
| 8 | Cheapest Mini EV | Mini Cooper Electric E | £30,000 | 36.8 | 140 |
| 9 | Cheapest Mazda EV | Mazda MX-30 | £31,250 | 30 | 105 |
| 10 | Cheapest Smart EV | Smart #1 Pro | £31,950 | 47 | 155 |
Looking for value for money? The following chart plots these cars by starting OTR price and estimated real range. It looks like the Citroen e-63 and the MG MG4 EV Standard Range offer the best range for the price, depending on your budget and range needs:
Here are some more stats on the cost of electric cars in the UK:
| How much does an electric car cost? | |
|---|---|
| Cheapest electric car (Dacia Spring Electric 45) | £14,995 |
| Average cost of cheapest models from 10 cheapest brands | £26,138 |
| Non-luxury electric cars | £32,000 |
| All UK electric cars | £48,000 |
| Luxury electric cars | £72,000 |
| Most expensive electric car (Rolls-Royce Spectre) | £330,000 |
Insuring an Electric Car
As you've probably heard in the news lately, the cost of EV insurance is more than people might expect, because it is more expensive to insure an electric car than an internal combustion engine (ICE) car. Why? Lots of factors, including a shortage of mechanics qualified to work on EVs and the high cost of battery replacement.
Even the companies we discuss is our page on cheap car insurance might charge more for EVs, although they can generally be a good place to start. Also check out our piece discussing electric car insurance companies.
Methodology
We gathered data from the EV Database on battery capacities, starting OTR prices and ranges to learn more about the cost of EVs in the UK. Here are the cars we used in the study, which we grouped by luxury, cheap and other non-luxury cars (note, to pick the "cheapest" cars we compared the cheapest car from each EV make):
Luxury Electric Vehicles UK
- Porsche Taycan Turbo S
- Porsche Taycan Turbo
- Porsche Taycan 4S Plus
- Porsche Taycan 4S
- Audi Q8 e-tron Sportback 55 quattro
- Audi Q8 e-tron 55 quattro
- Mercedes EQS 450+
- Audi Q8 e-tron 50 quattro
- Jaguar I-Pace EV400
- BMW iX
- BMW i5
- BMW i4 eDrive40
- Tesla Model 3 Performance
- Tesla Model Y Long Range
- Tesla Model 3 Long Range
- Tesla Model 3 Standard Range
Cheapest Electric Vehicles from the 10 Cheapest EV Brands UK
- Dacia Spring Electric 45
- Citroen e-C3
- Renault 5 E-Tech 40kWh 95hp
- BYD DOLPHIN 44.9 kWh Active
- MG MG4 EV Standard Range
- Fiat 500e Hatchback 24 kWh
- Nissan Leaf
- Mini Cooper Electric E
- Mazda MX-30
- Smart #1 Pro
Other Popular Non-Luxury Electric Vehicles UK
- Kia EV6
- Volkswagen ID.7 Pro
- KIA EV9 RWD
- Skoda Enyaq
- Citroen e-C4
- Volvo EX30
- Hyundai Kona Electric
Supporting Data
Note about the data below: To calculate the cost to fully charge a car, we therefore multiplied the usable battery capacity of a car by the unit cost of electricity. We used two different electricity prices for home charging: 1) the current Energy Price Cap of 24.5p/kWh and 2) an Octopus EV tariff through which you can charge an EV at night for 7.5p/kWh. Cars charged at expensive fast-charge public stations can cost multiples of these figures to charge.
| Electric Car Purchase and Charging Costs | Real Range (miles) | Battery (kWh) | Est Cost of Full Charge (EPC) | Est Cost per Mile (EPC) | Est Cost of Full Charge (EV tariff) | Est Cost per Mile (EV tariff) | Starting price (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porsche Taycan Plus | 350 | 97 | £23.8 | £0.068 | £7.3 | £0.021 | £90,954 |
| Kia EV6 | 255 | 74 | £18.1 | £0.071 | £5.6 | £0.022 | £45,245 |
| Mercedes EQS 450+ | 425 | 118 | £28.9 | £0.068 | £8.9 | £0.021 | £112,610 |
| MG 4 EV Standard Range | 185 | 50.8 | £12.4 | £0.067 | £3.8 | £0.021 | £26,995 |
| Tesla Model 3 Performance | 290 | 75 | £18.4 | £0.063 | £5.6 | £0.019 | £59,990 |
| Tesla Model Y Long Range | 260 | 75 | £18.4 | £0.071 | £5.6 | £0.022 | £59,990 |
| Tesla Model 3 Standard Range | 260 | 57.5 | £14.1 | £0.054 | £4.3 | £0.017 | £39,990 |
| Volkswagen ID.7 Pro | 295 | 77 | £18.9 | £0.064 | £5.8 | £0.020 | £55,570 |
| KIA EV9 RWD | 280 | 96 | £23.5 | £0.084 | £7.2 | £0.026 | £64,995 |
| Skoda Enyaq | 210 | 58 | £14.2 | £0.068 | £4.4 | £0.021 | £38,970 |
| BMW iX | 240 | 64.7 | £15.9 | £0.066 | £4.9 | £0.020 | £45,465 |
| Fiat 500 Electric | 85 | 21.3 | £5.2 | £0.061 | £1.6 | £0.019 | £28,195 |
| BMW i5 | 285 | 81.2 | £19.9 | £0.070 | £6.1 | £0.021 | £69,946 |
| Citroen e-C4 | 180 | 46.3 | £11.3 | £0.063 | £3.5 | £0.019 | £31,995 |
| BYD Dolphin 60.4 kWh | 210 | 60.5 | £14.8 | £0.071 | £4.5 | £0.022 | £30,195 |
| BMW i4 eDrive40 | 320 | 81.1 | £19.9 | £0.062 | £6.1 | £0.019 | £58,000 |
| Volvo EX30 | 170 | 49 | £12.0 | £0.071 | £3.7 | £0.022 | £33,795 |
| Hyundai Kona Electric | 180 | 48.4 | £11.9 | £0.066 | £3.6 | £0.020 | £34,995 |
| Dacia Spring Electric 45 | 100 | 25 | £6.1 | £0.061 | £1.9 | £0.019 | £14,995 |
| Citroen e-C3 | 165 | 44 | £10.8 | £0.065 | £3.3 | £0.020 | £21,000 |