Best Small Electric Cars 2026: our top picks and one to avoid – Car Magazine
► We list our best small electric cars
► Fun, stylish, and a decent driving range
► City cars, family cars and SUVs covered
Some of the best electric cars on sale happen to be the smallest, and 2026 is a year packed with exciting small EVs (electric vehicles). Here at CAR, we’ve always had a soft spot for city-scythers with more affordable pricing: they democratise EV technology, and electric powertrains are often at their most effective around town. Energy recuperation is easier, and that eager electric torque works wonders when nipping about.
Shop small, and you get all the benefits of an electric car while limiting the drawbacks. You get the same instant acceleration and calm interior as a large EV, but because small EVs are designed to spend most of their time in a city (surrounded by charging points), range anxiety is less of a concern. You’ll also find they’re more efficient – so go further per charge – at lower speeds and in stop-start traffic.
We appreciate that not everyone’s lifestyle will suit a small EV. Families, for example, will probably be better served by one of our best electric SUVs, as most of the cars here offer limited space for people and baggage. But if you’re shopping as a couple trapped inside an ultra-low emissions zone (ULEZ), you might find the cure to your commuter’s headache on this list. Or for a small EV with that extra bit of spark, we’ve got a list of the best electric hot hatches.
We’ve thoroughly tested every car on the list below to give you a roundup of the very best small electric cars. From affordable to premium, hatchback to SUV, there’s a perfect match to be found. If you’re wondering how we separate the great from the good, head over to the how we test page. Keep scrolling for our pick of the best small electric cars on sale right now.
Best small electric car all-rounder – it’s brilliant!
Pros: A style icon, great interior, attractively low pricing
Cons: Limited real-world range, tight on rear-seat space
Perhaps the most important car to arrive in the UK in 2025 was the Renault 5. The French firm has done a remarkable job in reviving an icon. It looks absolutely terrific, turning heads and sparking conversations in a way supercars 10 times the price can’t manage.
It’s everything you’d want from a small car – right-sized for the city, nippy and great fun to drive and has a fantastic interior with a top-class infotainment system with in-built features such as Google Maps and Google Assistant. There’s a choice of 40kWh or 52kWh batteries, offering WLTP driving range of 194 and 255 miles respectively. Most impressive about the new Renault 5 is its price, as starting from £21,495, it’s one of the cheapest new EVs you can buy, and is also very good value to finance as well.
To find out more, read our full Renault 5 E-Tech review
Best small electric car for wallet-friendly motoring
Pros: Great value leasing, good driving range, well-made
Cons: Spongy brakes, slow unless top-spec
The best BYD also happens to be the smallest, the Dolphin Surf. The one we’d choose is the mid-spec Boost with the 43.2Wh battery and 87bhp motor. While it’s not speedy, hitting 0-62mph in a dull 12.1 seconds, crucially it offers up to 200 miles of range. At £21,950, it comes with plenty of tech as standard plus electric front seats, automatic wipers, folding mirrors, a 10.1-inch rotating infotainment screen and vegan leather.
What really stands out is how well-made it feels. It doesn’t feel cheap like it’s tiny £132 per month price tag would have you believe. Plus, there’s plenty of storage for life’s flotsam with big cubbies, roomy door bins, and enough space in the back for two. Around town, it handles nicely, with assuring weight in the steering, and treads lightly over our cratered tarmac.
To find out more, read our full BYD Dolphin Surf review
Best small electric car for comfort
Pros: Spacious and well-packaged, very comfortable, simple motoring
Cons: Roly-poly handling, awkward-shaped boot
Stellantis has repositioned Citroen as a budget brand, with Dacia firmly in its sights. But budget in this case, doesn’t mean the e-C3 has been catapulted back to the last century. Simplicity is the goal here – no grandiose gimmicks such as a glass roof, powered seats or leather upholstery – and you bet there’s still a physical key to start it. What remains is just the stuff you need, but in a charming way. The cabin is bright, modern and it’s brilliantly well-packaged around its 2.54m wheelbase. Four tall adults fit in comfort.
Then, it’s priced from £18,495, undercutting many of its electric supermini rivals, yet still comes with plenty of equipment and tech. The e-C3’s soft and supple ride is ideal for Britain’s cratered roads, though just be mindful that it does result in quite roly-poly handling when driven with enthusiasm – a bit like hustling a Flump. The sub-180-mile real-world driving range we mustered might put off some, but for the money, it’s hard to be upset.
For a more in-depth look read our Citroen e-C3 review
Best small electric car if you want something as spacious as possible in a tiny footprint
Pros: Incredibly spacious for its size, bold design, decent range
Cons: Only four seats, crashy ride
If you want maximum interior space in the smallest package possible, we strongly recommend the Hyundai Inster. It’s one of the best packaged new cars on sale; the passenger seat folds down as a table, clever individual rear seats slide forwards and backwards to trade legroom for luggage, and there’s 351 litres of boot space. The front and rear floors are both flat, too, which helps the cabin feel even more spacious.
Prices start from an attractive £23,775, and there’s the choice of a 42kWh or 49kWh battery, bringing claimed ranges of 203 and 229 miles respectively. Choose the latter model and power comes in at 113bhp and the Inster sprints to 62mph in 10.6 seconds. It may only have four seats, and the design might not be to everyone’s taste, but we think it looks great and is genuinely different to anything else on sale.
For a more in-depth look read our Hyundai Inster review
Best small electric car for driving fun
Pros: Great fun to drive, iconic looks, much-improved range
Cons: Still not very practical, doesn’t feel as premium as previous car
The latest Mini Cooper Electric got quite the overhaul. It gained a new, purpose-built electric platform over the ICE hack-job of the last gen. While inside, soft plastics and chrome were ditched in favour of fabric coverings across the dash and doors. Touchpoints have that bit more solidity –though a keen eye will spot the compromises – and the cabin is certainly more minimalist than Minis of past. Though the big 24cm OLED circular touchscreen is a dead giveaway.
Pricing starts at a £26,905 for the entry-level Cooper E, which packs a 40.7kWh battery that’s good for a 0-62mph time of 7.3 seconds and a 190-mile driving range. We’d opt for the Cooper SE, with the bigger 54.2kWh battery for up to 250 miles, faster charging, and a quicker sprint to 62 mph than an Abarth 500e. And while it’s grown up in tech and polish, it still has the charm and sweet handling the firm is famed for. If it ain’t broke and so on…
To find out more, read our full Mini Cooper Electric review
Best small electric car for city slicking
Pros: Stylish, good to drive, nicely put together
Cons: Cramped, short range with cheaper model
The Fiat 500 Electric is the best powertrain of the 500 clan. The recently resurrected 500 Hybrid left a lot to be desired, although both have the same stylish, modern looks inside and out, the electric version is a hoot to drive. Not only for its still-dinky dimensions and amusing amount of (controlled) body roll, but for its peppy performance around town.
The 500e has bags of charm and is easy to love, but for years its main sticking poin has been the price-to-performance ratio. When we tested it, the smaller 24kWh battery managed a measly 90 miles of real-world driving range, while the larger 42kWh battery pack achieved an underwhelming 150 miles. Now that the price has been slashed from £25,035 to £20,995, it might be a little easier to forgive.
To find out more, read our full Fiat 500 Electric review
Best small electric car for retro charm with practicality
Pros: Practical, neat interior, retro looks
Cons: Cramped foot space in the back, ride is a tad firm
The Renault 4 inherits almost all of the good genes of the Renault 5, and adds a dose of practicality. Perhaps it’s not as handsome as its sibling, being taller and a little softer around the edges, but compensates with a big 420 litre boot, and space for rear passengers (though their feet might argue otherwise). That extra usefulness comes at a £4,200 premium over the 5, but it is the more helpful everyday companion.
The 4 keeps it simple with just one powertrain: a 52kWh battery and a 148bhp motor for a zippy 0-62mph time of 8.2 seconds and a claimed driving range of 247 miles. Handling is neat and balanced, with body control that keeps things tidy through the bends, though makes no pretence of being sporty. Inside, it shares the same top-tier infotainment from the 5, with Google Maps and Assistant, but with a cabin that feels smarter and more mature. It might not turn heads like the 5, but it’s the pragmatists’ pick of the Renaults.
To find out more, read our full Renault 4 review
Best small electric car for refinement
Pros: Quality cabin, lots of space, cool design
Cons: Base trim feels cheap, higher specs get very expensive
Sitting at the larger end of the small electric car scale is the Kia EV3. It’s Kia’s smallest EVx model, slotting under the Kia EV4 in the lineup, yet it manages to offer as much space as a Sportage. The EV3 isn’t the most dynamic drive in our list, but that would be missing the point. It’s designed for comfort, encouraging you to ease off and revel in its refinement. That’s not to say it’s a slouch. It’s brisk enough to take on 0-62mph between 7.5 and 7.7 seconds depending on the battery size, since both have the same motor. Well-judged for a family SUV, we’d say. The smaller 58.3kWh battery claims a range of 270 miles, while the 81.4kWh pack offers 375 miles.
Back to the comfort, much like the rest of the Kia EV range, it’s certainly a nice place to sit. Clever use of colour, materials and space make it feel quality, and with that comes a suitably premium price point compared with the rest in our list. A base-spec Air costs £33,005, but we’d go for the £39,455 GT-Line. Which yes, is considerably more, but gets the big battery and the base Air trim has a lot of of hard plastics, which is tragic for such a nicely designed cabin.
To find out more, read our full Kia EV3 review
Best small electric car for sheer bang for buck
Pros: The cheapest new car you can buy, generous standard kit, comfortable ride
Cons: Disappointing driving range, no crash test data
At the wee end of size and price is the Leapmotor T03, with a 500e-sized footprint, but taller, and incredibly cheap. At £14,495, the T03 thumps everything on this list by quite a margin. But that doesn’t mean it borders on Flintstones-levels of basic. Standard kit is generous, including 10.1-inch infotainment screen, air con, voice control, a panoramic roof, and 10 driver assists. It even feels well-screwed together. Sure, there are hard, scratchy plastics but it’s still mighty impressive for the price tag.
We even had fun driving it, with its featherweight 1175kg mass, taut body control and damping that’s good enough for our battered roads. We happily nipped about town, though the T03 doesn’t much like leaving the urban jungle. Its 93bhp motor and 117lb ft of torque is enough for a 0-62mph 12.7 seconds, so it’s not quick. We managed a 115 mile driving range, and at motorway speeds, the wind noise is grating and possibly worst of all, there is no safety crash data as yet. But all things considered, if it’s just a city runabout you’re after, the T03 is surprisingly convincing.
To find out more, read our full Leapmotor T03 review
Pros: Good visibility, decent-looking interior, light steering
Cons: Flimsy build quality, excessive body roll, 1-star Euro NCAP rating
At £15,990, the Dacia Spring is one of the cheapest new cars you can buy. But that doesn’t necessarily make it good value. Starting with the choice of a measly 44bhp or 64bhp motor, both paired with a tiny 36.8kWh battery, the Spring eventually reaches 62mph in 19.1 seconds or 13.7 seconds, respectively. Since it tops out at 30kW DC charging, a 20-80% charge takes 45 minutes, even with such a small pack. The tiny battery affords you a claimed range of 140 miles, with it easily topping 100 miles if you stick to town driving.
Shut the tinny doors and inside, it isn’t too bad. The cabin mixes bright colours and shapes to make a decent-looking interior, but there’s not much in the way of soft touch materials. Rear passengers won’t have space for legs and the driver won’t be able to adjust their seat for height. To the Spring’s credit, the steering is light, the turning circle is tight and visibility is great. But that about where the praise ends. With its cheap tyres, excessive body roll, flimsy build quality, and alarming one-star Euro NCAP rating, the Dacia Spring is one to firmly avoid.
To find out more, read our full Dacia Spring review
Best small electric car for no-holds-barred design and pricing
Pros: Stylish yet practical, bursting with details, comfortable around town
Cons: Not as roomy in the back as we were hoping, some driving range concerns
First in a whole new family of Panda models, like the Renaults on this list too trades on design heritage. But rather than simply replicating a previous model in EV-guise, here the design team have really been let off the leash. There are clear hallmarks of the 1980 original – including some useful practicality features inside, such as the dashboard shelf – but otherwise this is wild and pure Italian modernism in automotive form.
Just look at those crazy shapes around the cabin, the transparent yellow Perspex, the blue (sustainably sourced) plastics, the exterior detailing. It even has a captive charging cable hiding behind the front grille. Based on the same budget platform as the Citroen e-C3, it’s not super-sharp to drive. And we do have some reservations about the claimed efficiency – we got nowhere near 199 miles WLTP during the initial launch. But with a starting price of just £20,995, it’s a genuine bargain that feels like the right product at the right price. We’ve been waiting for its UK arrival since 2025, but expect deliveries to start in March 2026.
For a more in-depth look read our Fiat Grande Panda review
Small electric cars have three main benefits. They’re easy to park and manoeuvre in tight city streets, they’re amongst the cheapest electric cars on sale, and they allow free passage into emissions-controlled areas. As an added benefit, they’re much quieter than small petrol cars, which should make your commute more relaxing.
Bear in mind that you’ll need to make a couple of sacrifices with a small electric car, though. Because of their size, most only have dinky battery packs with limited maximum driving ranges. This isn’t such a problem if you’re just pottering around town, averaging around 30 miles a day, but it’ll seriously impede your mobility if you regularly need to drive long distances.
Charging can be sore point too. If you rely on public chargers for your small electric car, you could end up paying more in electricity than you would in petrol. The only reliable way of cutting your running costs with an EV is if you have an off-street parking space where you can install your own charging point.
While EV technology is relatively new, there are fewer moving parts involved, and electric vehicles are generally reliable. However, like all electronic devices, things can go wrong, and batteries do hold gradually less charge over time, reducing the distance it will travel. Our experience – and the data – suggests this is very much a problem for many years in the future, though, so if you’re buying new or nearly new, reliability shouldn’t be a major concern.
All of the cars in our list are the same size as conventional superminis or city cars, so compact and city-friendly but not something you’d consider genuinely tiny. For that, you need to look further afield at the quadricycle sector. Historically, this includes EVs such as the G-Wiz and Renault Twizy, while the current market is served by the Citroen Ami.
This is exactly what they’re good for. The torquey response of electric motors make them excellent for nipping about in city traffic, where the stop-start driving experience will help keep the battery pack topped up, too. Typically, small EVs have small batteries, so they also have shorter driving ranges, making them better suited to short trips by default.
That’s not to say you can’t do longer journeys in them, most have more than adequate performance for that. You’ll just need to plan to stop to charge more frequently than in bigger, longer-range EVs.
As with every review on CAR, each of the models has been driven extensively by our exceptionally experienced team of leading motoring journalists and specialist writers. Take a look at how we test to find out more.
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With contributions from
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Amrit Kaur Staff Writer
By Ted Welford, CJ Hubbard and Amrit Kaur
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