Best small electric cars for 2025: compact EVs tested and rated

Small cars (including those marketed as city cars) tend to sell well in the UK, and there are plenty of electric models to choose from. A good small car should be nippy in town and have rock-bottom running costs yet still offer enough space for all but the tallest people.

But not all zero-emission models are worthy of consideration, with many falling short on safety. Our independent lab tests go beyond manufacturer claims, conducting real-world cabin space and energy efficiency tests on each car.

Armed with all our test data, we can show you how much it costs to run each car, along with potentially unsafe models that we’ve withheld Best Buys from.

Below, we’ve listed the best small electric car that we’ve tested, along with the best new and used small and city EVs, taking into account practicality, performance and more.

Best electric cars: view the electric models that scored well for performance, practicality and more.

Best small electric cars (new and used)

These are the small electric cars that performed best in our independent lab tests.

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Not found the model you're looking for? Browse all of our city and small electric car reviews.

What to look for when choosing a small electric car

At the moment, there aren’t many small EVs to choose from. But that’s likely to change, as manufacturers such as Ford and Volkswagen look to add entry-level electric cars to their ranges in the coming years.

You might expect that, because they’re electric, all small EVs have strong performance. But that isn’t necessarily the case, with the 45hp Dacia Spring (the UK’s cheapest new electric car at the time of writing) taking 19.1 seconds to travel from 0-62mph. That’s slower than many cars from 30 years ago, and no Spring model can travel faster than 78mph.

It’s also important to check the car’s Euro NCAP score, as many small cars aren’t as good at protecting their occupants in the event of an accident.

All of our reviews take Euro NCAP’s scores into consideration, and we don’t recommend cars that perform poorly in these tests.

Best electric SUVs: see the fully electric small and large SUVs that aced our lab tests

How reliable are small electric cars?

Our annual car survey shows how reliable many of the UK’s most popular cars are. While many small electric cars don’t offer stellar reliability, there are a few models that are proving to be more dependable than their competitors.

Head to our guide to the most reliable car to search for the models that performed well in our latest survey.

How many miles can a small electric car go?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, a small car won’t be able to carry the huge battery packs that we’ve seen on larger EVs such as the BMW i7, so won't be able to travel as far on a single charge.

However, not everyone needs huge range – our latest survey shows that the average driver only travels around 19 miles per day. Our tests also focus on efficiency, and a car that’s more efficient will ultimately be cheaper to run.

Many small electric cars (such as the Fiat 500e and Volkswagen e-Up) are very efficient – our car reviews list shows you the EVs that are cheap to run.

Should I buy an electric car? We explain the pros, the cons and the questions to ask yourself

Should you buy a larger electric car if it’s heavily discounted?

Although small electric cars often have lower list prices than many larger EVs, there can be some significant exceptions.

We’ve seen plenty of new electric cars with significant amounts (as much as 50%) off their list prices advertised on dealer websites. In fact, you may find that a larger EV is cheaper than the small model you were initially interested in.

We’d recommend searching online on websites such as Auto Trader and Carwow to find the cheapest new and used electric cars for your budget. We’ve also presented the best electric cars that cost less than £30,000 below.

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Best electric cars for under £30,000

How we test small electric cars

Our lab tests go the extra mile. As with other types of car, all electric small and city cars go through more than 300 tests, which enables us to provide detailed and comparative information on each model. And because Which? is independent, you can trust our reviews to tell you the truth about every car we test.

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