The 20 best electric cars for the city

Do you live in a big city? Are you looking to avoid the restrictions and costs of low-emission zones? If so, then our list of the top 20 best electric city cars will help you with your decision.

Over and above their lack of emissions, city cars have to do it all. They must provide you with a good amount of passenger and luggage space, they must be easy to park and manoeuvre, they must be good to drive and, crucially, they must be energy efficient and cost-effective to run.

Here, then, is our list of the top 20 cars that we think deliver on all of these objectives better than their competitors. For reference, this list is in alphabetical order.

BMW i3

While you can no longer buy the i3 as a new car, a used one can be picked up for around £8,000. What you get in return is a four-seater with a 170bhp motor and a claimed 100-mile range, although this is said to be closer to 80 miles in real-world city driving.

You can opt for the range extender to cure range anxiety; this incorporates a small 647cc scooter-derived engine which bumps the range to 186 miles.

BYD Dolphin

BYD has already given us the quirky Atto 3, a competitor for the MG ZS, but is now going after rivals in the supermini class with the Dolphin. Prices start from around £27,000 for the base Active guise while the range-topping Boost comes in at just over £28,000.

Its 204bhp electric motor makes it more than powerful enough for city driving and BYD claims it will manage 265 miles per charge. As standard, it comes with a heat pump and a rear-cross traffic alert. Its compact frame gives it a 4.2m length and 1.7m width.

Citroën Ami

It may only have a 28mph top speed and 8bhp, but the Ami is not designed to replace your car — it’s meant to partner it, a bit like an e-bike. It’s a quadricycle which means navigating around town is a doddle thanks to its 2.4m length and 1.39m in width.

There are various colour and sticker configurations, such as the Cargo, which removes the passenger seat, replacing it with a 140kg load area. There isn’t a boot as such but there is a small area in front of the passenger seat big enough for a backpack.

DS3 E-tense

A crossover it may be, but at 4.1m long and 1.8m wide, the E-tense is city-friendly and there’s no loss in boot space versus the ICE variant, coming in at 350 litres.

There’s only one electric variant available across the entire range: a 248-mile battery and a 155bhp motor. Entry-level cars don’t have a rear-view camera but they do get rear parking sensors.

Dacia Spring

When it arrives next month, the Spring will become the cheapest electric car in Europe, priced from around £15,000. For that, you get a 44bhp electric motor which is fed by a 26.8kWh battery.

This means a quoted range of 143 miles. 1.5m high, it has a dusting of Dacia’s rough terrain ability, and it makes an ideal city car being just 3.7m long. There are 23 litres of storage at the front while the boot offers 300 litres, doubling when the seats are folded flat.

Fiat 500e

The Fiat 500 has been a popular city car for a while now, and the introduction of the electric version makes it an ideal candidate. There are two options available: a 118bhp version and a 95bhp version, with a price difference of around £3,000 between them.

The 24kWh battery is claimed to return 118 miles while the 42kWh extends that to 200 miles. Opt for the larger battery and the 500e can be charged at up to 85kW in comparison to the 24kWh’s 50kW. Inside, it’ll take three passengers and it has a cargo capacity of 185 litres.

GWM Ora 03

New to the British EV scene is the Ora 03, made by Great Wall Motors (or GWM). It hits back at the Volkswagen ID 3 in terms of size and its 193-mile range takes it beyond the city if required.

There are 228 litres in the boot and a 171bhp single motor drives the front wheels. The suspension takes kindly to city road bumps and the steering is light, it also has a single-pedal driving mode making things easier when traffic builds up.

Honda E

Looking to really stand out with your electric city car? The Honda E’s outlandishness covers that — from its camera side mirrors to its boxy styling and lounge-like interior. Before, buyers could choose from a bog-standard E, producing 137bhp, but Honda now offers only the range-topping Advance model. In this guise, power is hiked to 152bhp and Honda claims the E is good for nearly 140 miles.

In the city, Honda’s Parking Pilot and multi-view camera system are sure to come in handy when navigating or parking in tight city streets.

Hyundai Ioniq 5

Another quirky car to join our list is the Ioniq 5. There are five options to choose from: Advance, Premium, N Line, Ultimate and N Line S. Depending on your needs, there are choices of two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive across the range, and 273-mile 63kWh and 354-mile 84kWh batteries.

The standard tech list is impressive, including LED lighting all-round, blind-spot assist, parking distance warning and rear-view monitoring with dynamic parking guidance. Outside, it measures 4.6m in length and just under 1.9m in width, making it one of the largest cars on our list, but don't let this put you off. 

You also get 527 litres of boot space, expanding to 1,587 litres after dropping the rear seats.

Jeep Avenger

It may sport the Jeep name and look large in photographs, but the Avenger sits below the Renegade and comes in at just under 4.1m in length and roughly 1.7m in width. As standard, you get a 248-mile range, a 24min fast charge from 20-80 percent at 100kWh and a 156bhp motor. It comes with rear parking sensors as standard and its boot will manage 355 litres.

Kia Soul EV

Facelifted in 2020, the Kia Soul EV has attention-grabbing aesthetics and it ticks all the boxes of a city car: 4.1m length, 1.8m width and a reversing camera.

There are two trims to choose from: the £32,845 39.2kWh Urban and the £39,045 64.8kWh Explore. The entry-level model gives an overall 171-mile range while the range-topper gives 280 miles, and you get a power hike from 134 to 201bhp. Boot space is decent at 315 litres and both variants will accept up to 100kW in terms of charging.

Mini Cooper E

The new Mini represents quite a bold departure from the old car by way of its design and powertrain options. Complete with a cutsie, pebble-like look, the new Cooper E gets a nickel-manganese-cobalt battery with 36.6kWh of usable capacity, up from 28.9kWh in the old car – and a WLTP combined electric range of 190 miles (up from 140 miles). This means it delivers 36% more usable range, and keeps peak power the same as the old car, so it’s pretty efficient and nippy.

If you want more electric range, however, the Cooper SE uses a 49.2kWh battery with a WLTP range of 249 miles. Power also climbs to 215bhp, making it as fast as many petrol-powered hot hatchbacks.

Mazda MX-30

Its low roof line and 4.4m SUV-like footprint show that the MX-30 doesn’t really know which category it belongs to. However, it rides well over bumpy streets and the 124-mile range is perfectly suited to city driving. 

As standard, all cars get front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera. There are 366 litres of usable boot space which jumps to 1,171 with the seats folded.

Nissan Leaf

The Leaf is a great way to break into electric city car ownership. It measures 4.4m in length and around 1.8m in width, has a generous 435-litre boot and a 148bhp on tap.

The entry-level ‘Shiro’ starts from around £28,000 which gets you a 39kWh battery and a 168-mile range. You’ll also get 50kW fast charging, rear-cross traffic alert, blind spot detection, a rear-view camera, 360-degree camera and moving object detection.

Peugeot e-208

When a manufacturer brings out an EV variant of its ICE car, it often receives smooth body panels and blue accents, but not much has changed visually with the e-208.

Underneath, you get a 134bhp motor that’s energised by a 50kWh battery, giving a range of 225 miles and accepting 100kW charging. It comes as standard with rear parking sensors. It also takes four passengers and boot space is 311 litres — the same as the ICE variant.

If you want more range you can get a slightly bigger 51kWh battery, which can do 248 miles on one charge.

Renault Zoe

While you can no longer buy a Zoe, there’s no denying that it is still one of our favourites, offering 239 miles of range and a second-hand starting price of around £8000. Not only this, but it’s small enough to zoom through cities, measuring in at just 4m long and 1.7m wide, while still seating four passengers.

In its standard form, park assist, active emergency braking, keyless entry, reverse parking camera and lane-keep assist are all included. Boot space is good at 338 litres which expands to 1,225 litres with the seats folded.

Smart #1

While it’s a crossover, the #1 measures in at around 4.2m in length and 1.8m in width, and it’s claimed to have a similar interior size to that of the Mercedes E Class. Under its ultra-modern bodywork, you get a 62kWh battery which is good for 273 miles, and a 264bhp rear-wheel drive electric motor.

There are three variants to choose from: Pro+, Premium and Brabus; all models accept 150kW charging. Boot capacity is 273 litres, sliding the rear seats forward pushes this to 411 litres, and with the seats folded flat, you get 986 litres.

Smart EQ ForTwo

You can no longer buy an EQ ForTwo, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still a great electric city car. 

And nothing says electric city car quite like it. It has all the compact goodness with the benefit of a zero- emission powertrain, and a used one can be picked up for as little as £7000. For that, you get a 17.6kWh battery that’ll return around 60 miles of range. Inside, there’s room for a passenger and there’re 260 litres in the boot.

Although it’s small, it still gets all the useful mod-cons, such as rear parking aids and a reversing camera as standard, and it has an acoustic presence detector which generates a sound outside the vehicle, warning pedestrians of your presence.

Vauxhall Corsa Electric

You can get the Vauxhall Corsa Electric with choice of two powertrains: you can have a 134bhp motor and 51kWh battery which offers up to 222 miles of range, or a 154bhp model which uses the same battery but can do up to 246 miles on a single charge. 

The shorter range model is available in entry-level Design trim or mid-level GS guise. You can get the long range car in GS or Ultimate trim.

Volkswagen ID 3

Volkswagen refreshed the ID 3 this year, giving it a smoother front end and a new bumper, complete with fins on either side. There’s a choice of batteries: the 266-mile 58kWh (Pro) and the 77kWh (Pro S), the latter giving 347 miles of range.

Its light steering helps you to easily navigate cities and it has a fairly small turning circle, there’s plenty of visibility and the 18” or 19” alloy wheels provide better cushioning over speed bumps and rougher roads.