How much does an electric car cost?

How much does an electric car cost? We’ve looked at four popular models, with prices ranging from £23,945 to £51,990.

The Renault 5 sits at the bottom of this price list, with the government's Electric Car Grant applied. 

The Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD sits at the top, at its price when new. But the price tag is only part of it. Running costs, leasing and buying used can all change the sums, so we cover those too.

The short version

• The four electric cars here cost from £23,945 (Renault 5, with the Electric Car Grant applied) to £51,990 (Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD, when new) on the road.
• Charging at home overnight is usually the cheapest way to run an electric car.
• Leasing swaps a big upfront cost for a fixed monthly payment that can include servicing, repairs and road tax.
• Used EVs are in demand. Used EV sales on Motorway more than doubled this summer, up 115% on the year before.
• If your employer offers salary sacrifice, paying from your pre-tax salary can bring the cost down, depending on your tax band.

For the four electric cars in this article, it's between £23,945 and £51,990. Smaller hatchbacks are at the lower end, and the bigger Tesla is at the top. 

The on-the-road price is what you'd pay to drive away. It includes VAT, the first year of road tax, the registration fee, number plates and delivery.

Size and battery are the big two. A larger battery gives you more range, but adds to the price. Brand plays a part too, as does how much tech comes as standard.

Then there's the Electric Car Grant. Band 1 cars get up to £3,750 off and Band 2 cars get up to £1,500 off. The Renault 5 with the 52kWh battery is a Band 1 car. Only new cars priced at £37,000 or less qualify, so the Tesla Model Y misses out. They also need to meet specific environmental standards. 

You do pay road tax on an electric car. It's just £10 in the first year, then £200 a year for most EVs. 

Electric cars registered on or after 1st April 2025 with a list price (the price before extras) above £50,000 also pay an extra £440 a year for five years, from the second year of tax.

Cars registered before April 2025 don't pay that extra charge. So driving a used Tesla Model Y registered before 1st April 2025, you’ll pay the standard rate, even though it cost more than £50,000 new.

The right electric car depends on how you drive and who's coming with you. Here's how our four compare.

Prices from the EV Database and range, battery and charging times from each car's Octopus EV page, all checked September 2026. Prices change, so check the latest before you decide.

The Renault 5 is a small hatchback with a retro look, and it's the cheapest of our four once the grant comes off. At £23,945 with the grant applied, it's a lot of car for a city budget.

It suits town and city drivers, couples, and two-car households after a second car. If you live in a ULEZ area and mostly drive locally, it's a natural fit. It gives you 205 miles of real-world range from a 52kWh battery. Charging from 10 to 80% on a 7kW home charger takes five hours 57 minutes, and it does 0 to 60mph in eight seconds.

Jaecoo is a newer Chinese brand, and the E5 is its compact electric SUV. It costs £27,505 on the road, and you get a lot of space for the money.

It suits young families. There's a 480-litre boot for the buggy, the weekly shop or the dog. You get 200 miles of real-world range from a 61kWh battery, and charging from 10 to 80% at home takes five hours 46 minutes. Inside, there's a 14.8-inch touchscreen and a panoramic sunroof. It does 0 to 60mph in 7.7 seconds.

Our favourite trick is the 540-degree camera. On top of the usual all-round view, its transparent mode shows what's underneath the car, so you can spot the tricycle someone left on the drive.

The MG4 Urban is a compact hatchback with plenty of room inside. There's a vast cabin and a whopping boot that rivals much larger cars, and it comes with a heat pump as standard, which heats the cabin more efficiently in cold weather.

It costs £27,995 on the road in the Premium Long Range trim. That gets you 200 miles of real-world range from a 53kWh battery. Charging from 10 to 80% at home takes five hours 57 minutes, and it does 0 to 60mph in 9.5 seconds.

The MG4 Urban is a good fit for budget-conscious families and first-time EV drivers who want room for the pushchair without paying SUV money.

The Tesla Model Y is a mid-size family SUV and the premium end of our four. When it was on sale new, the Long Range AWD cost £51,990 on the road. We now lease it as an approved used car, between two and four years old and with less than 45,000 miles on the clock.

It's the one to pick for long motorway trips. You get 270 miles of real-world range from a 75kWh battery, the most of the four. Charging from 10 to 80% on a 7kW home charger takes eight hours 24 minutes, and it does 0 to 60mph in five seconds.

Do you really need 270 miles? If you often drive across the country to see family, it helps. It can also work well as the main car in a two-car household.

A car is often a shared decision, so talk these through before you order.

1. Where will it charge? A driveway charger makes life much easier.
2. What has to fit in the boot? Think buggies, dog crates, golf clubs and holiday bags.
3. How many seats do you need on a normal day?
4. How far do you drive in a typical week, and how often do you go further?
5. What monthly budget works once insurance is added?
6. Does anyone have strong feelings about colour or trim?

Charging is the running cost you'll notice most, and where you charge makes a big difference. A full charge at home can cost just £4.32 in a typical EV, compared with £38.74 for the same amount of miles in an equivalent petrol car. Servicing, insurance and road tax make up the rest.

Charging overnight at home is usually the cheapest option. Octopus Energy's Intelligent Octopus Go - EV Saver tariff is exclusive to Octopus EV drivers. On it, you can charge at home for just 2p per mile, compared with 18p per mile for petrol.

Public chargers usually cost more, especially rapid ones. Our guide to public charging costs breaks down the rates. For one card and app across the UK and Europe, try Electroverse, from Octopus.

An electric car has no engine oil to change and no exhaust to replace, so there are fewer parts to service. If you lease with us, servicing and repairs are included in your monthly price.

Insurance isn't included with a personal lease. It's easy to leave until last, but it can tip a budget over the edge. Get a quote on the exact car before you commit, as the price depends on the car, where you live and your driving history.

A home charger makes overnight charging simple. What it costs depends on your home. Some of our leases include a free or discounted charger, and our guide to installing a charger covers the details.

A used electric car costs less than a new one, and the price depends on its age, mileage and battery health. Through our partner car360, used EVs start from just £7,499.

More people are buying them, too. Between 1st July and 8th September 2026, used EV sales on Motorway were up 115% on the same period in 2025.

Used EVs are also holding their value. Over the same period, the average price sellers received for one rose 6%, and dealers placed 29% more bids on used EVs than on the average car. The Tesla Model 3 topped Motorway's list of most in-demand cars.

Many of car360's used electric cars were previously leased by Octopus EV drivers. Every car comes with an independent battery health check and a 7-day money-back guarantee, and delivery can take as little as three days. You can part exchange your old car too. We hold a financial interest in car360.

Our charging offers and Octopus Energy's Intelligent Octopus Go - EV Saver tariff, exclusively discounted for Octopus EV drivers, only come with a lease. They aren't available on cars bought through car360.

Whoever you buy from, check these before you hand over any money:

• The battery health report, showing how much of its original capacity the battery still holds
• How much of the battery warranty is left
• The full service history
• That the charging cable comes with the car

With a personal lease, you pay a fixed monthly amount instead of a big sum upfront, then hand the car back at the end. Before you look at the monthly price, here's what an Octopus EV lease covers: the car, servicing, maintenance, repairs, MOTs and road tax. Insurance and breakdown cover aren't included, so budget for those separately. You can add tyre replacements as an optional extra. 

We lease approved used cars too, so you can drive a premium EV without paying new-car prices.

Depending on the car, you'll get a free or discounted home charger, or public charging credit from Electroverse. You can also switch to Intelligent Octopus Go - EV Saver, Octopus Energy's home charging tariff that's exclusive to Octopus EV drivers. You'll find the monthly price for each car on its page.

Salary sacrifice is an arrangement where you give up part of your pre-tax salary in exchange for a non-cash benefit, in this case an electric car.

Because the payment comes out before Income Tax and National Insurance, the cost to your take-home pay is usually lower than leasing the same car yourself. You do pay a small amount of tax on the car, because it counts as a perk, known as a Benefit-in-Kind (BiK). For electric cars, the BiK rate is set at 4% in the 2026/27 tax year.

Higher-rate taxpayers can save up to 40% on a brand new EV through our salary sacrifice scheme, compared with paying the full pre-tax cost of the car, on a four-year lease at 5,000 miles a year. What you save depends on your salary, your tax band, the car you choose and the tax year.

The monthly payment covers the car, servicing, maintenance, repairs, tyre replacements, breakdown cover and road tax. Unlike a personal lease, it covers insurance too, which is included as standard (eligibility criteria and exclusions apply). You also choose a charging offer to go with it.

Not as quickly as they used to. Between 1st July and 8th September 2026, the average price sellers got for a used electric car on Motorway rose 6% on the year before. Dealers also placed 29% more bids on used EVs than on the average car. That points to strong demand, which helps used EVs hold their value.

For many drivers, yes, especially if you can charge at home. You can charge at home for as little as £157 a year, compared with £1,409 for petrol. Leasing also means servicing and road tax can be built into one monthly payment. Whether it's worth it for you depends on your mileage and where you can charge.

An electric car battery normally lasts between 10 and 20 years. Most EVs are expected to last 12 to 15 years before the battery drops below 70% of its original capacity. Batteries lose capacity slowly rather than failing suddenly, so many drivers will change their car before the battery needs replacing.

Battery warranties often run for eight years, so a five-year-old EV may well still be covered. Tesla covers the Model Y battery for eight years or 100,000 to 120,000 miles, depending on the version. If you own the car, you can keep driving it or sell it. If you lease, you hand it back and choose your next car.

If your employer offers salary sacrifice, it can cut the cost because you pay from your pre-tax salary. Otherwise, leasing spreads the cost into fixed monthly payments, and buying used or leasing an approved used car usually costs less than new. Of the four cars here, the Renault 5 is the cheapest, at £23,945 with the Electric Car Grant applied.