Best electric city cars 2025

Electric city cars may not grab headlines like the latest electric SUVs, but they’re still a smart choice for urban driving. With low purchase prices, minimal running costs, and the same tech you’ll find in much larger models, these compact EVs offer plenty without the unnecessary bulk. Better still, they’re effortless to drive and simple to park, making them perfect for city life. While vehicle manufacturers seem fixated on building bigger and more advanced EVs, electric city cars remain the most efficient way to get around town without breaking the bank.

If you’re regularly navigating busy streets, dodging congestion charges and making the most of low running costs, an electric city car is the ideal solution. The selection isn’t as broad as it once was, but the options that remain are seriously compelling. They deliver enough range for daily commutes, the latest in-car tech and a level of agility that larger EVs simply can’t match. For tight parking spots, narrow roads and stress-free urban driving, nothing does the job better.

We’ve put these cars through their paces in real-world testing, from stop-start traffic to longer journeys, to see how they truly perform. Efficiency, comfort, practicality and tech all play a role in our rankings, and we don’t just rely on official figures – we test them ourselves. So if you’re after the best electric city cars on sale today, we’ve done the hard work to help you find the right one.

Best electric city cars

See below our list of the best electric city cars money can buy. If you need a compact EV but none of these cars quite fit the bill, check out our list of the best small electric cars.

1. Renault 5

8

• Prices from £23,000
• Maximum WLTP combined range: 249 miles

The Renault 5 is back, this time as an electric city car that delivers some of the best value in its class. With a starting price just under £23,000, it pairs retro styling with modern tech, including twin 10-inch screens running a slick, Google-based infotainment system.

Despite its compact size, the Renault 5 is good fun to drive, with plenty of agility in the bends. Its 148bhp motor gets it from 0-62mph in 9.5 seconds, and its small footprint makes the Renault easy to slot into tight city spaces. The larger-battery option has a quoted 249-mile range (WLTP), so longer trips won’t mean constant stops for charging. Boot space is a reasonable 277 litres with the rear seats up, or 326 litres when they’re folded. Taller passengers might find the back seats a bit of a squeeze, but that’s hardly surprising in a car of this size.

Read our full Renault 5 review to find out more

2. MINI Cooper

8

• Prices from £30,000
• Maximum WLTP combined range: 249 miles

Take a look at old footage of the UK’s city streets in the sixties and you’re bound to see classic Minis by the dozen. The original cars dominated the urban landscape back then and now the modern MINI Cooper is doing exactly the same, only this time you can choose pure electric power, too.

It’s obviously a bit bigger than its ancestor, but the MINI Cooper is still compact enough to meander through the tightest of turns and densest of traffic. The cabin is surprisingly upmarket, thanks to some very flash tech and high-quality materials. There’s room for four passengers to sit comfortably, too, even if the 210-litre boot is a bit snug.

Opting for the fully electric Cooper brings a choice between two batteries. The entry-level unit is a 36.6kWh battery that offers up to 189 miles of range on the WLTP combined cycle. Alternatively, you can upgrade to a larger 49.2kWh pack, which claims up to 249 miles between charges. Both of these ranges mean the MINI Cooper is suitable for longer journeys, and you’ll enjoy these because it’s a lot of fun to drive, too.

Read our full MINI Cooper review to find out more

3. Dacia Spring

8

• Prices from £15,000
• Maximum WLTP combined range: 140 miles

No, we haven’t made a mistake, the fully electric Dacia Spring really is on sale from only £15,000. This is the UK’s cheapest full-sized electric car at the time of writing, and it’s also one of the best electric city cars that you can currently buy.

In order to drive the price down, the Spring feels a bit low-rent when it comes to materials, and it’s certainly not about to set the performance-car world on fire, with a maximum of 64bhp on tap. Dacia is happy to call this a budget car, but it still comes with a decent amount of kit. 

There’s a generous amount of standard driver assistance and safety tech, including lane-keeping assist, emergency braking assist, traffic sign recognition, rear parking sensors and hill-start assist.

There are two variants of Dacia Spring to choose from, and both are powered by a 26.8kWh battery that claims up to 140 miles of range. This figure may be small compared with most modern EVs, but it should still prove more than enough for darting around on shorter urban journeys.

Read our full Dacia Spring review to find out more

4. Hyundai Inster

8

• Prices from £23,500
• Maximum WLTP combined range: 229 miles

When considering an electric city car, the Hyundai Inster is probably not a model that comes to mind. But with its compact sub-four-metre length and more than 200 miles of quoted range, it becomes a perfect package for any city commuter. Despite its size, the Inster feels composed on the motorway and doesn’t feel bullied by larger motorists passing at higher speeds in the outside lane. Then when you reach the town or city, it’s able to dart around tight corners and fit into the smallest of spaces with ease.

Charging the Hyundai is as simple as one would hope, too. If you want to take the Inster on longer journeys, you can top-up the battery from 10 to 80 per cent in as little as 30 minutes on a DC-fast charger. Then when you get home and plug it into a 7kW wall box, charging overnight takes as little as seven hours.

Hyundai has made sure that this petite car has plenty of space for the family as well, providing lots of room in the front and rear for adults. The 01 model has a maximum boot capacity of 280 litres with the sliding rear seats up, but this increases to 1,059 litres if you fold them flat. The Inster provides good value for money on the tech front, featuring twin 10.25-inch screens, smartphone connectivity and a host of safety features to give you that extra reassurance.

Read all the information on the Hyundai Inster to find out more

5. Fiat 500e

8

• Prices from £25,000
• Maximum WLTP combined range: 199 miles

Just as with the Mini, the Fiat 500 is another 20th-century people’s car that’s been reimagined for the EV age. The modern Fiat 500e still has plenty of retro charm, but it also features its fair share of up-to-date technology, including a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.

Take one look at the Fiat 500e and you’ll immediately notice its compact size, however, it does offer four seats and a 185-litre boot, so there is just about enough space to sometimes carry passengers. You’ll be able to take them on pretty lengthy trips, too, if you opt for the Fiat’s larger 42kWh battery pack, because this returns up to 199 miles on the WLTP combined cycle. If you’re not too fussed about long-distance driving, the cheaper 24kWh pack claims up to 118 miles.

There are more options than just the battery packs to choose from here, too, because those who enjoy the fresh air can opt for the 500e Convertible, with its retracting fabric roof. Those with a need for speed also have the option of the zesty Abarth 500e.

Read our full Fiat 500 review to find out more

6. Leapmotor T03

8

• Prices from £16,000
• Maximum WLTP combined range: 165 miles

The Dacia Spring may claim the crown of the cheapest electric car on sale in the UK, but not far behind in second place is the Leapmotor T03, which only just misses the title by £1,000. This Chinese supermini offers you something that the basic Dacia doesn’t: plenty of kit to keep you entertained. As standard you get all sorts to play with, from a panoramic sunroof and reversing camera with parking sensors, to a 10-inch touchscreen and adaptive cruise control - making the T03 appear to be excellent value for money. 

The Leapmotor also beats the Dacia for range. While the Spring only has 140 miles available, the T03 offers 165 miles. That might not seem like a massive difference, but those extra miles could be welcome when you're searching for a charger. 

The interior space is also pretty generous. When seated in the front, it feels as if its size should be closer to a supermini rather than a smaller city car. The rear seats could fit a couple of six-foot-plus people as long as they don’t mind spreading their legs to accommodate the front seats. This extra cabin room is created by sacrificing boot space, with the T02 offering just 210 litres with the seats up. It doesn’t help that the load bay’s shape curves around the rear lights, which compromises the limited space you have available.

7. Citroen Ami

8

• Prices from £7,700
• Maximum WLTP combined range: 46 miles

Technically speaking, the Citroen Ami is a quadricycle rather than a fully fledged car, but inner city driving is exactly what this funky little EV is designed for. If you only have a short commute, this could be the perfect low cost and zero-emission option.

Due to its legal designation as a quadricycle, the Citroen Ami is limited to a top speed of 28mph, which means motorways are truly out of the question. There’s very little in the way of creature comforts, either.

However, as a low-cost, no-nonsense option the Ami does make a case for itself. It’s ridiculously easy to park due to its tiny stature, it’ll keep the rain off you when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and it’s incredibly cheap to run.

Read our full Citroen Ami review to find out more

Best electric city cars to buy in 2025

1. Renault 5
2. MINI Cooper
3. Dacia Spring
4. Hyundai Inster
5. Fiat 500e
6. Leapmotor T03
7. Citroen Ami

How we choose the best electric city cars

Electric city cars are a different breed and are required to park in the tightest of spaces and manoeuver round the sharpest of bends without issue, so choosing the best of these cars can present a bit of a daunting task. Our expert road testers are here to take up the challenge, putting every model through real-world evaluations to make sure it makes the grade. 

One of the key things we test is how electric city cars can deal with the most compact of streets and turns. Measuring how well they can deal with this is crucial to determining how great a city car they may be, with any models that are too large or have a turning circle that’s too wide missing the cut.

Another priority for many owners is the realistic battery performance. Manufacturers always provide quoted figures for range and efficiency, but we don’t take that as gospel. Instead we test every figure available in all weather conditions, braving the cold and wet, to give you realistic numbers for daily use. Once we have that data we turn our attention to the charging speeds, judging all the times from rapid chargers to home wallboxes to tell you how long it will take to get back on the go.

With the technical details compiled, we look at how practical these electric city cars are. They need to be adaptable for those dynamic urban lives, so coping with multiple passengers or ramming the boots full of luggage is just part of what these models need to handle. We test how usable the space in these cars really is and see just how much the boots can actually handle. 

After that we evaluate how usable the technology is. With cars constantly evolving and advancing, it’s easy for manufacturers to make these infotainment systems far too confusing for the average person. So we check that they are easy to live with and make using the systems as simple as possible.

The final part, and arguably the most important, is how the running costs stack up. With the cost of living ever on the rise, it's crucial to count the pennies as much as possible. Therefore we look at everything from the cost of insurance and servicing, to considering how much you’ll pay to charge these cars, to make sure they don’t hit you too hard in the wallet. After all our testing we showcase the EVs that have the best combination of all the above factors, and rank them based on only what matters to give you our list of the best electric cars currently available in the UK.