Welcome to Autocar’s guide to the best electric cars on the market.
Every car we’ve chosen stands out for one key attribute, be it driver appeal, value for money, range and much more besides.
Whether you’re looking for the most practical EV or one loaded with enough tech to fill a branch of Currys, we’ve got you covered.
Each car on this list has been selected by a committee of our journalists for its prowess in a specific area. We will explain what makes a good showing in each class and why each EV we’ve picked is deserving of its place.
And if you’re still not convinced by anything on our list, check out our comprehensive guide to all the new cars coming in 2024. It’s a big year for new electric cars.
So without further ado, these are the best electric cars on sale right now.
Cupra Born – best for fun factor
Pros Well set-up chassis with good ride-and-handling balance, rear-drive dynamics, classy interior
Cons Stability control puts a premature stop to slides, poor infotainment, expensive
Commended Abarth 500e, Kia EV6
Autocar has for a couple of years now conducted an annual test of the best-handling, most fun electric cars on sale. Our reigning champion is the Cupra Born, which beat the challenge of cars like the MG 4 XPower and Abarth 500e to impress our judges.
The Born sits at a compelling nexus of size and usability, of weight and power, of real-world range and of price and affordability.
It has enough power to keep you interested but not so much as to seem excessive for the road or to compromise its efficiency in quicker motoring. It has an engaging, balanced, rear-driven chassis and some precision and purpose to its body control, but it doesn’t forget to include four usable seats and a decent boot.
It will cover 220 real-world miles on a charge, which should be enough to get you to and from your favourite road, but it also has the personality and poise to make the trip worthwhile.
There’s a completeness to the Born as a package that makes it the ideal affordable EV for interested drivers to take their first steps into zero-emissions motoring. Perhaps not by chance, it feels more like a Volkswagen Golf GTI for the electric age than anything that Volkswagen itself is making right now.
Read our Cupra Born review
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I sometimes feel that Autocar have just discovered EVs and are still trying to get their heads round them. Meanwhile EV websites and electro-head YouTubers are way ahead. Also, largely ignoring Tesla in this selection is probably just because Autocar don't make any advertising money out of them.
Somehow this list misses out the best all round every day choice, the Tesla model 3 or model Y. Their overall practicality and good design, while providing a fun entertaining drive, plus the enormous increased charging flexibility provided by the Tesla network, means they shouldn't be ignored from any 10 best list.
I tested the MG4: flimsy feel, poor control feel, uncomfortable and poor comparative range, and the Polestar 2: heavy feel, claustrophobic, expensive and poor handling. Thrn I got a good deal on a Tesla 3 and haven't looked back.
It does seem a bit odd to praise the Fiskar Ocean for its range vs. cost, but not even give the model 3 LR a nod as a runner-up.
Model 3/Y remain compelling, especially if you use public charging regularly, but I do think the days where they were way ahead are over, and there don't seem to be any step-changes coming anytime soon. Model 3 refresh was very underwhelming.