The cheapest electric car
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What's the cheapest electric car? This is a question many people ask themselves because these cars are often quite expensive. This is partly due to the fact that there have been few small and affordable electric vehicles on the market for a long time. However, this is changing rapidly.
Although there are several smaller electric vehicles on the market, the price is still higher than the price of a comparable combustion engine car. The bpm release cannot hide it. However, the difference is slowly but surely decreasing. It is also important: the cost of a kilometer for electric vehicles is much lower than that of their gasoline or diesel equivalent. More on this in the article on the cost of electric vehicles.
The big question is: what are the cheapest electric cars right now? To answer this question, we'll just look at the new price first. Then we look at which electric vehicles are the cheapest if you are renting privately. Finally, we also list which cars are the cheapest in terms of energy consumption. Therefore, we are looking for new electric vehicles. If you are looking to buy a used electric vehicle, you can read about it in our article on used electric vehicles.
New Price: Cheapest EVs
Now we get to the point: listing the cheapest EVs at the time of writing (March 2020).
1. Skoda Citigo E iV / Mii Electric Seat / VW e-Up: € 23.290 / € 23.400 / € 23.475
The cheapest serious cars are Volkswagen Group electric triples. It consists of Skoda Citigo E iV, Seat Mii Electric and Volkswagen e-Up. These cars are available at a good price of 23.000 euros. With a battery capacity of 36,8 kWh, you have a decent range of 260 km.
2. Smart Fortwo / Forfour EQ: € 23.995
In Smart today, you can only open doors for electric vehicles. There is a choice between the two-door Fortwo and the four-door Forfour. Remarkably, the options are equally expensive. Both smartphones have a 17,6 kWh battery. This means that the range of the VAG troika is only half, namely 130 km.
3. MG ZS EV: € 29.990
MG ZS is a surprise in the top five. This crossover is much larger than other electric vehicles in this price range. The range is 44,5 km with a 263 kWh battery.
4. Opel Corsa-e: € 30.499
Although the Corsa-e is smaller than the MG, it has an impressive range of 330 km. Opel is equipped with a 136 hp electric motor, which is powered by a 50 kWh battery.
5. Renault ZOE: € 33.590
Renault ZOE closes the top five. The Frenchman has 109 hp. and a 52 kWh battery. The ZOE has the longest range of any car on this list, at 390 km to be exact. So that's a great deal. The ZOE is also available for 25.390 € 74, but then the battery has to be rented separately for € 124 – XNUMX per month. It can be cheaper depending on the mileage and the number of years of car ownership.
There are many electric vehicles worth around $ 34.000 that do not reach this mark. We do not want to hide this from you. For starters, there is the Mazda MX-30 with a starting price of 33.990 € 34.900. This crossover is slightly larger than the MG. For 208 34.901 euros, you have a Peugeot e-35.330, which is closely related to the Corsa-e. In the B segment there is also the Mini Electric (starting price 34.005 € 3) and the Honda e (starting price 34.149 2020 €). One segment higher is the e-Golf at € XNUMX XNUMX. Since there is now a new generation Golf and ID.XNUMX is on its way, it will not be available for long. Finally, Opel has an electric MPV for that amount in the form of the Ampere-e. It costs XNUMX XNUMX euros. For a full review, read our article on Electric Vehicles of the Year XNUMX.
Bonus: Renault Twizy: € 8.390
If you really want the cheapest new electric car, you will go for the Renault Twizy. It costs little, but you don't get much in return. With a power of 12 kW, a battery capacity of 6,1 kWh, a range of 100 km and a top speed of 80 km / h, this is the ideal car for short city trips. You can do it in a fashionable way.
Private rental: cheapest electric vehicles
If you don't like surprises, renting is an option. More and more people are choosing this, which is why we have also listed the cheapest models. We assumed a duration of 48 months and 10.000 2020 km per year. This is a snapshot as rental rates may change. At the time of writing (March XNUMX), these are the cheapest options:
- Seat Mii Electric / Skoda Citigo E iV: 288 € / 318 € per month
- Smart equalizer Fortwo: 327 € per month
- Citroen C-Zero: 372 € per month
- Nissan Leaf: 379 € per month
- Volkswagen e Up: 396 € per month
The Mii Electric is the only electric car currently available for under $300 a month. This makes it the cheapest privately rented electric vehicle. It is noteworthy that the almost identical Citigo E iV and e-Up in particular are less available.
Another striking feature is the Nissan Leaf. With a starting price of €34.140, the car is not in the top ten cheapest electric vehicles, but it ranks fourth in the ranking of private lessors. The car is slightly larger than other electric cars you can rent for the money. The 270km range isn't particularly impressive for a car of this size, but it's still better than the other top five. With an energy consumption of 20 kWh per 100 km, you pay more for electricity.
Consumption: cheapest electric vehicles
- Skoda Citigo E/Seat Mii Electric/VW e-Up: 12,7 kWh / 100 km
- Volkswagen E-Golf: 13,2 kWh / 100 km
- Hyundai kona electric: 13,6 kWh / 100 km
- Peugeot e-208: 14,0 kWh / 100 km
- Opel Corsa-e: 14,4 kWh / 100 km
Buying is one thing, but you also have to manage it. It was already shown in the previous section that the Nissan Leaf does not perform well in terms of consumption. What is the cheapest electric car? To do this, we sorted the cars by the amount of kWh a car consumes per 100 km (based on WLTP measurements). We have limited ourselves to electric vehicles with a new price of less than 40.000 euros.
Skoda / Seat / Volkswagen triple cars are not only cheap to buy but also cheap to drive. Their big brother, the e-Golf, is also very fuel efficient. In addition, the new B-segment models, such as the Peugeot e-208 and Opel Corsa e, as well as the Mini Electric, do well in this regard. Also nice to note: Twizy only consumes 6,3 kWh per 100 km.
How much you end up paying for electricity depends on how you charge. At a public charging station, this averages around € 0,36 per kWh. At home it can be much cheaper at around € 0,22 per kWh. When using e-Up, Citigo E or Mii Electric, you get 0,05 and 0,03 euros per kilometer, respectively. For petrol variants of the same vehicles, this quickly amounts to € 0,07 per kilometer at a price of € 1,65 per liter. Read more about this in our article on the costs of electric driving. We have not forgotten about the costs of maintenance: they are discussed in the article on the cost of an electric vehicle.
Conclusion
If you're looking for pure electric transportation for short distances (and don't want a microcar), the Renault Twizy is the cheapest option. However, there is a good chance that you have higher requirements for the car. In this case, you quickly get a member of the VAG trio: Citigo E, Seat Mii Electric or Volkswagen e-Up. These cars have a reasonable purchase price, use less power than their counterparts, and have a decent range. While the Peugeot Ion and C-zero are a bit cheaper to buy, they lose out in all areas. A range of 100 km, in particular, kills these models.
