Electric cars are coming! Here we pick the top 10 best electric cars to buy now
Pressure is growing on UK motorists to ditch their petrol and diesel powered vehicles and switch to pure electric cars but which are the best electric cars available to buy now on the UK market? Here we reveal our top 10 picks of the current EV options and some top tips to help you decide whether an electric car is right for you.
The number of UK electric car sales remains relatively small compared to the fossil fueled alternatives but things are changing. The selection of new electric car options facing consumers is growing fast and will continue to do so as more and more manufacturers get on board with the technology, delivering models with longer ranges, faster charging times and lower prices.
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At the same time the electric car charging infrastructure in the UK is improving, making electric cars more viable for more people. With a greater availability of fast and rapid chargers at homes, places of work and public spaces, the number of people who could swap into an BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), enjoying the running costs savings with relatively little inconvenience, is growing along with the range of models. Even if you can’t manage with a pure EV, today’s plug-in hybrids offer a good halfway house alternative.
Although an electric car still isn’t for everyone, there is a greater selection than ever before. Small cars like the Renault Zoe, Nissan Leaf and BMW i3 have been joined buy the Tesla Model S executive saloon and electric SUVs of various sizes. At one end of the SUV scale is the compact Hyundai Kona EV, at the other you have the likes of Jaguar’s I-Pace, Audi’s e-tron and the Tesla Model X .
Below we deliver our definitive verdict on the top 10 best electric cars on the market based on our exhaustive testing of very electric car on sale. Click the links to read more about each model…
Best electric cars to buy 2018/2019
Scroll down the page for our analysis of the electric car market and our top tips on finding the electric car that’s best for you…
How to choose an electric car: top tips
1. Decide whether an electric car will suit your lifestyle
Electric cars are not for everybody. Although the public charging infrastructure in the UK is improving quickly, regular long trips in an electric car can still prove problematic. The perfect EV usage pattern involves charging at home overnight when electricity tariffs are lower and not needing to top-up the battery again during the day.
You’ll need somewhere to charge at home but you could get around this if there are EV charging points at work or plenty of public charging points nearby. If you do less than 200 or so miles a week, you could get away without having a home or work charger at all – just visit a public one every few days to top up.
If your average daily mileage exceeds the range of your electric car, we’d advise you to think twice but the occasional longer trip should be perfectly manageable. As the technology improves and average electric car ranges extend, more and more people will be finding that they could live quite happily with an electric car.
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2. Don’t be put off by high electric car prices, running costs are the key
The list prices of electric cars can look expensive compared to equivalent petrol or diesel models, even when the Government’s plug-in car grant has been applied, but looks are very likely to be deceiving in this case. Firstly, you’ll need to be aware of exactly what you’re buying because some manufacturers allow you to buy the car and lease the battery separately to keep costs down.
In any case, you’ll need to do the sums for yourself but as a general rule, charging an electric car is far cheaper than fueling a petrol or diesel one – even if you use more expensive public charging points.
Add-in the free VED tax, the company car tax advantages and the lower servicing and maintenance costs that result from an EV’s lack of moving parts and the long-term cost of running an electric should more than make up for the higher upfront price.
3. Don’t worry about electric car practicality
There was a time when the majority of electric cars were conventional models with the internal combustion engine powertrain swapped out for an electric motor and batteries. This led to all sorts of compromises in terms of interior and boot space. Today electric cars tend to run on purpose-designed platforms that are either created purely for electric vehicles or to accommodate various kinds of propulsion system. It means that electric cars deliver boot and passenger space equivalent to petrol and diesel rivals.
With everything from superminis and small SUVs to executive saloons and luxury SUVs to choose from, there should be an electric car to meet the practicality needs of most buyers.
4. Enjoy the electric car driving experience
Electric cars tend to be heavier than petrol and diesel models and they can feel less nimble on twisty roads as a result but there are a whole host of benefits to the way they drive that many people will find preferable.
For a start you get near-silent cruising with next to know sound from the electric motors. In traffic, the car slows itself when you lift off the throttle so it’s possible to drive around town with one pedal, hardly ever using the brake. It all makes for a very relaxed experience and yet the instant torque provided by the electric motor means that even everyday EVs have the potential to leave a hot hatch standing when pulling away from the traffic lights.
In some ways, owning an EV means you have to change the way you think about driving. You automatically adopt a gentler, more relaxed style that maximises your range and often means you reach your destination feeling more refreshed than you would do otherwise.
Buying an electric car: frequently asked questions
Are electric cars environmentally friendly?
Electric cars have zero exhaust emissions so they don’t cause the localised NOx and particulate emissions that have a damaging effect on air quality in urban areas. The overall environmental credentials of an electric car, however, depend greatly on the source of the electricity used to charge it. As the energy mix of the National Grid moves towards renewable sources like solar, wind and tidal power and away from fossil fuels, electric cars get greener.
Which electric cars have the longest range?
The electric cars with the longest range today can travel well over 250 miles on a single charge. The Kia e-Niro has an official range of 282 miles while the Jaguar I-Pace can do 257 miles.
Are electric cars reliable?
Electric cars are still selling in relatively small numbers and we haven’t seen enough of them doing significant mileages to make a firm judgment on reliability. What we do know is that electric cars have fewer moving parts than conventional ones and there’s little evidence from hybrid or electric cars that battery performance degrades substantially with use, although you are likely to see a gradual reduction in capacity.
How much to electric cars cost to tax? The only cars that now qualify for free road tax are EVs that cost less than £40,000. All other cars, including plug-in hybrids, pay at least £130 in road tax. EVs over £40,000 still have to pay a £310 premium for the first five years, but they are exempt after that, which should help prop-up the used market for EVs. And if you do buy an expensive new EV, at least this is still cheaper than the £450 a year you pay to drive a conventional car costing £40,000 or more.
The UK electric car market: history and future
Electric cars have been around for well over a century but it’s only recently that they’ve started to gain a market foothold. In the early noughties, the Reva G-Wiz led the electric car craze, although that model was hardly a car at all, as it was classed as a quadricycle. It used basic lead-acid batteries, similar to the electric milk floats that once frequented British streets in the early hours, and was slow, cramped and not very safe. It wasn’t until the original Nissan Leaf came along that the process of electric car development went into overdrive.
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As a five-door, five-seat hatchback, the Leaf offered the usability of a conventional family car, and became the best-selling EV on sale, albeit with sales levels significantly lower its petrol and diesel counterparts. Initially the Leaf’s range was 80 miles at best, but constant development and improvement has seen that range increase, while the arrival of the Leaf Mk2 in 2018 saw the car gain a range closer to a conventional petrol car.
Seeing the success of the Leaf, rival car makers got in on the act and introduced their own EVs. Hyundai, Kia, Peugeot, Citroen, Renault, Ford and Volkswagen have all joined the electric revolution, while BMW has created its own ‘i’ EV sub-brand. US firm Tesla has its own huge following with its range of all-electric cars, while prestige makers Audi and Jaguar are producing their own luxury EVs, and companies such as Rimac and Nio also build all-electric hypercars. Looking into the future, you can only see the electric car market expanding, and fast. With comprehensive manufacturer buy-in fueled by tightening emissions regulations from governments, electric car technology is improving fast – along with the infrastructure that makes running one easier. You might not be considering an electric car now but it’s a safe bet that you will be in the future.
Click the links on the top left of this page to find out more about our top 10 best electric cars on sale and get the latest specialist electric car news, reviews and analysis on our sister site DrivingElectric.com
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