In partnership with Autotrader
Used test: Mini Electric vs Peugeot e-208 vs Renault Zoe costs
At three years old, these small electric cars will save you around £9000 off their respective new cars prices. To find out which is best, we've pitted them against each other...
Buying and owning
Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security
Though it's become the cheapest car here after three years on the used market, the Renault Zoe began life as the most expensive of our trio. When new, it came in at £32,120, before going to £19,000 as a used buy. The Mini Electric was a £29,900 new buy and is a £21,000 used one, while the Peugeot e-208 has gone from £29,750 to £20,000.
With this in mind, the Zoe looks to be the best deal, seeing as you're getting the biggest discount. This could spell harsher deprecation for the future, though.
The Mini occupies insurance group 22, so it's likely to cost a typical driver around £640 per year. The Zoe, in group 23, will cost around £661 and the e-208, in group 27, will set you back around £741.
For a single service of the Mini, we were quoted £108. You can opt for a three-service plan for the e-208 for £667, and the Zoe will cost you £420 for two services.
All three cars get rear parking sensors, but the Zoe has front ones as well. The Zoe and Mini also come with a rear-view camera; the e-208 doesn’t. Our trio also features climate control, as well as automatic headlights and wipers, as standard from new.
While safety experts Euro NCAP gave the Zoe five-star rating in 2013, the test regime has gotten much tougher since then, and in a 2021 retest, it received zero stars. A key reason why the Zoe performed poorly is the lack of a head airbag, which protects occupants from side impacts.
The Mini Electric is yet to be crash tested, though the petrol/diesel Mini Hatch (of which it shares parts with) was given a four-star rating in 2014. The petrol/diesel 208 was tested in 2019 and was awarded four stars.
In our latest What Car? Reliability Survey, the Zoe ranked 10th out of 14 cars in the electric car class. The Mini Electric and e-208 didn't feature, but the regular Mini Hatch placed ninth out of 24 cars in the small car class. The regular 208 was absent from the survey.
As brands, Mini came third out of 32 manufacturers featured – a very confidence inspiring result – while Peugeot and Renault didn't do so well (by some margin). They placed 28th and 18th respectively.
The Zoe takes quite a bit longer to charge than its rivals at their maximum rates. A 0-100% charge takes three hours, while the Mini Electric and e-208 (measured in 0-80%) have 35 and 30-minute times respectively.
A Rapid Charge version of the Zoe was available for an extra £750 when new, so it could be worth seeking out an example with this – it can reduce the time for 0-80% to 70 minutes, although that’s still longer than its rivals. The e-208 is capable of charging at a rate of up to 100kW; the others take 50kW at best.
All three cars have eight-year/100,000-mile warranties on their batteries.
Best plug-in hybrid cars 2024 – best and worst PHEVs named
Plug-in hybrid cars can reduce fuel consumption to an absolute minimum, but which models are the best all-rounders and which ones should you avoid?
