Best Electric Cars for a UK Family 2023

While many electric cars tend to be on the small side, there are a number of all-electric, plug-in cars in the UK market that are big enough to accommodate a family and the accompanying school and kit bags. And that don't cost an arm and a leg. We've had a look at the cars available as of January 2023 and ranked them according to factors like boot space, number of seats, range and price. Here's what we found.

Top 7 Best Affordable Electric Large Family Cars

RankTop 10 Best Affordable Electric Family CarsReal range (miles)Cargo volume (litres)Fastcharge Speed (mph)Starting price (£)
1Fisker Ocean Sport235566290£34,990
2Renault Megane E-Tech EV60 220hp205440300£35,995
3 (tie)Kia e-Niro 64 kWh235475240£36,245
3 (tie)Skoda Enyaq iV 60205585270£38,970
5Volkswagen ID.4 Pure175543220£37,290
6Volkswagen ID.4 Pure Performance175543220£38,720
7Mazda MX-30105366130£30,050

To make the top 8 cheap family EV list, these "large family" cars had to meet certain requirements: affordable with enough seats and interior and boot space to carry a few kids and the school bags, sport equipment and shopping that goes along with a household with children. Plus cars need to have at least 100 miles of estimated real range (we took the average combined city/motorway range for this metric).

  • Minimum boot space: 350 litres
  • Minimum Range: 100 miles (combined)
  • Maximum Price: £40,000
  • Minimum Seats: 5

Here's what you need to know about each car to help decide if it's right for you and your family.

1. Fisker Ocean Sport

New to the UK, this California-based company started in 2016 and is the brainchild of Henrik Fisker, the designer behind cars such as the Aston Martin DB9, Aston Martin V8 Vantage and the BMW Z8. This entry-level trim doesn't come with Fisker's incredible SolarSky roof (a solar panel roof for free charging), but there are still a host of cool features like a BigSky roof and loads of safe driving features like collision warning, lane keep assist and blind spot monitoring.

This car also offers the longest range in the group (estimated 235 miles on average), and nearly the largest boot and fastest charge. Plus, a pretty affordable price compared to other options.

  • 0-62 mph: 7.4 seconds
  • Starting price: £34,990
  • Cost per charge: £26
  • Average range: 235 miles

2. Renault Megane E-Tech EV60

The Renault Megane E-Tech EV60 stands out for being a good all rounder for families with a starting price of just over £35,000. The range is also decent, delivering around 205 miles of real range on average across the seasons. It's also a reasonably zippy family car, taking 7.4 seconds to reach 62 mph. And has the fastest estimated charging, which a family that takes road trips might really appreciate.

  • 0-62 mph: 7.4 seconds
  • Starting price: £35,995
  • Cost per charge: £19
  • Average range: 205 miles

3. Kia e-Niro 64 kWh (tie)

With a starting price of £36,245, the Kia e-Niro 64 kWh delivers a solid estimated real range of 235 miles (tied with #1-rated Fisker Ocean Sport). The e-Niro has a decent boot, providing 451 litres to store shopping, bags, sports equipment, dogs or whatever else you carry around. It's also relatively quick, with a 0-62 mph time of 7.8 seconds.

But don't take our word for it—the Kia e-Niro 64 kWh is the 2nd most popular car in the UK behind the more-expensive (by at least £10k) Tesla Model 3.

  • 0-60 mph: 7.8 seconds
  • Starting price: £36,245
  • Cost per charge: £22
  • Average range: 235 miles

3. Skoda Enyaq iV 60 (tie)

Cart around a lot of bags and shopping for your family? The Skoda Enyaq iV 60 has the largest boot space of all the cars listed here, with 585 litres of cargo space. It's pretty fast to charge and delivers over 200 miles of real range on average, so decent for family road trips. Want a large family SUV? The Skoda Enyaq iV may be the answer.

  • 0-60 mph: 8.7 seconds
  • Starting price: £38,970
  • Cost per charge: £20
  • Average range: 205 miles

5. Volkswagen ID.4 Pure

The ID.4 is a essentially a slightly larger, family-oriented crossover-style version of the very popular hatchback ID.3 (the ID.3 is the 3rd most popular electric car model in the UK). It's the slowest car in this list, however, so if you like a zippy start then check out #6 in our list.

  • 0-60 mph: 10.9 seconds
  • Starting price: £37,290
  • Cost per charge: £18
  • Average range: 175 miles

6. Volkswagen ID.4 Pure Performance

Nearly identical to the Volkswagen Pure, above, the Pure Performance model is faster off the line, achieving 0-62mph in 9 seconds flat (versus 10.9 seconds from the Pure model). Still slower than others in our list, but it'll certainly feel better than the Pure if you care about acceleration.

  • 0-60 mph: 9.0 seconds
  • Starting price: £38,720
  • Cost per charge: £18
  • Average range: 175 miles

7. Mazda MX-30

With its estimated real range of just 105 miles, the Mazda MX-30 is more suited to local journeys than long car trips. And it's relatively slow to charge. Does your family take a lot of road trips or car-based family holidays? If so, this may not be the car for you. But for the school run and household errands, this can be an interesting option for a family on a budget, as it has the lowest starting OTR price of all the cars here at just £30,050.

  • 0-60 mph: 9.7 seconds
  • Starting price: £30,050
  • Cost per charge: £10
  • Average range: 105 miles

The Citroen e-C4 would have made our list of larger family cars under £40,000, except that it only has 4 seats. If that's not a problem for you, that's another car worth considering.

Best Luxury Electric Family Cars

Families with a car budget over £40k can move up to a more luxury electric car—you'll typically get a longer range, quicker acceleration, higher-quality feel and other luxury features when you spend over £50k.

Generally speaking, Tesla dominates the list of best luxury family plug-in EVs, standing out for large boot space and long range. And the Tesla Model 3 is the most popular electric car in the UK.

The Audi e-Tron is another good option to consider and also quite popular (the 2nd most popular luxury EV behind the Tesla Model 3).

And for those wanting space for extra kids, the Mercedes EQB 350 4MATIC seats 7 people.

FAQs

The cheapest electric family car in the UK is the Mazda MX-30, which starts from £30,050 and gets around 105 miles on a full charge (estimated combined city/motorway range). The MX-30 has 366 litres of cargo space in the boot making it the 7th best affordable electric family car in the UK.

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