Best new electric cars for £30k
There are loads of benefits, both financial and environmental, to running an electric car. There are drawbacks, too, of course, and one of the biggest is the price you’ll pay for the car to start with.
So, for those of us who don’t have the wherewithal to drop £100,000 on a Porsche Taycan or even £50,000 on a Tesla Model 3, what are the options? Well, a budget of around £30k gives you a choice of around 10 cars, and in this round-up we’ll run you through some of them, ranking them by their star ratings and naming a winner.
10. Mazda MX-30 Prime-Line
List price £30,050 Target Price £29,600 PCP £369 0-62mph 9.7sec Official range 124 miles Real range (est) 70-115 miles Peak charging rate 37kW Minimum charging time (10-80%) 39min
The MX-30 is a bit like cocaine: part of the experience it gives you is fantastic, but more of it is absolutely terrible. The good bits include a great driving position and a gorgeous interior that puts those of most rivals (with the notable exception of the Mini) to shame. The infotainment system is also a doddle to use, and while acceleration is no better than respectable, Mazda’s only pure electric car is a joy to drive in other respects, thanks to its comfortable ride and well-judged steering.
But in order to experience those attributes, you have to make do with a battery that’s roughly the same size as the one you’d find in an electric toothbrush. Unless the weather is warm and you drive gently, even 100 miles between charges is out of the question. Then you’ll have to wait for around 40 minutes to get another 60 miles or so of juice – even if you hunt out one of the fastest public chargers.
Practicality is also a weak point, partly because you can’t open the rear-hinged rear doors unless the front ones are open first.
What Car? rating 2 stars out of 5
9. Hyundai Kona Electric 39kWh SE Connect
List price £31,325 Target Price £29,928 PCP £448 0-62mph 9.9sec Official range 189 miles Real range (est) 130-170 miles Peak charging rate 44kW Minimum charging time (10-80%) 47min
It’s no exaggeration to say that the Kona Electric changed the electric car landscape when it first arrived in 2018. With a real-world range of 250 miles, it could travel farther between charges than any car that didn’t wear a Tesla badge, and yet you didn’t need to bank with Coutts to be able to afford it.
You can still buy that 64kWh version if your budget stretches to £35,750. However, a Target Price of just under £30k gets you this entry-level model with a 39kWh battery, which gives a real-world range of around 170 miles in warm weather. That isn’t brilliant by today’s standards, but it’s still much farther than a Mazda MX-30 or Mini Electric will go on a charge.
The ride is rather choppy and the boot is small, plus it’ll take you more than 45 minutes to replenish the battery from 10-80% via a public rapid charger. Mind you, the infotainment system is decent and you get a five-year, unlimited-mileage warranty on most components, with the battery covered for eight years (or 100,000 miles).
What Car? rating 3 stars out of 5
8. Renault Zoe R135 EV 50 Techno
List price £29,995 Target Price £28,618 PCP £344 0-62mph 9.5sec Official range 239 miles Real range (est) 170-210 miles Peak charging rate 46kW* Minimum charging time (10-80%) 56min (with optional CCS charger)
Thirteen and a half thousand pounds. That’s how much the Renault Zoe cost when it was launched in 2013. Granted, you had to pay a monthly rental for the battery on top, but that still seems an absolute steal when you consider that Renault’s cheapest electric car now starts at £30k.
For that money, you get a battery that’s more than twice as big (52kWh) as the original car’s, giving a real-world range of around 200 miles in the summer. The interior has been smartened up over the years, too. The Zoe is even fairly practical, with space for four adults inside and a deep boot.
So, why does it finish down in eighth place? Well, it takes an age to charge, for one. And even if you stump up (£1200) for optional CCS ‘rapid’ charging capability, a 10-80% top-up will still take almost an hour. But an even bigger concern is Renault’s decision to debase safety and remove automatic emergency braking from the entire Zoe line-up. That led to a shocking zero-star rating from the experts at Euro NCAP.
What Car? rating 3 stars out of 5
7. Nissan Leaf 39kWh Acenta
List price £28,995 Target Price £26,897 PCP £362 0-62mph 7.9sec Official range 168 miles Real range (est) 110-140 miles Peak charging rate 50kW Minimum charging time (10-80%) 43min
If anything demonstrates how far EVs have come in the past five years, it’s the Nissan Leaf. It won our Electric Car of the Year award back in 2018, dethroning the Renault Zoe in the process, but while it’s far from a terrible choice these days, there are lots of (well, six) better options for the money.
On the plus side, the Leaf rides bumps comfortably, has a big boot and comes with a suite of modern safety aids. It’s also one of the cheapest cars here, so even stepping up to N-Connecta trim (£30,495), which adds automatic climate control, heated seats and all-round parking sensors, will hardly break the bank.
Less impressive by today’s standards is a real-world range of around 140 miles at best. Plus, it has a cheap-feeling interior and is the only car here that doesn’t use a CCS connector for fast charging; its CHAdeMO charging port is less common in public locations across Europe. A 50kW maximum charging rate for a 10-80% top-up in around 45 minutes is nothing to write home about, either.
What Car? rating 3 stars out of 5
6. Peugeot e-208 Active Premium+
List price £30,195 Target Price £28,872 PCP £453 0-62mph 8.1sec Official range 224 miles Real range (est) 145-175 miles Peak charging rate 100kW Minimum charging time (10-80%) 26min
There’s lots to like about the e-208, not least its classy interior and good driving manners. It also has a respectable range between charges (something that has been slightly improved following a recent update) and can accept up to 100kW of charging power. That means the e-208 is a more realistic proposition for longer journeys than many cars on this list; if you plug in to a fast enough charger with 10% left in the battery, you’ll be up to 80% again by the time you’ve stretched your legs and bought a coffee.
Unfortunately, even in its cheapest (Active Premium+) trim level, which comes with a relatively small (7.0in) touchscreen infotainment system, the e-208 is one of the priciest cars here. In fact, it’s the most expensive of all if you’re buying on PCP finance, because of the high interest rates Peugeot is currently applying to its finance offers. You’ll pay £74 more per month than you would for a Fiat 500 on exactly the same terms. And, no, that isn’t a misprint.
What Car? rating 3 stars out of 5
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