Five best electric cars to buy in 2024
More choice than ever
Despite the pushback of the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars — moved from 2030 to 2035 by Rishi Sunak in September last year — electric vehicles (EVs) are still considered the long-term future of motoring in the UK, and further afield.
And so, in a year in which new car sales were up to slightly more than 1.9 million vehicles — an increase of 17.9 per cent on 2022’s numbers — 2023 saw the best 12 months of EV sales in the UK yet.
Last year, 314,687 EVs were registered within our shores, up from 267,204 in 2022.
However, EVs’ market share was down 0.1 per cent to 16.5 per cent (16.6 per cent 2022), as manufacturers and retailers expressed concerns about private take-up of EVs “stalling”.
With many zero-emission-vehicle incentives having either already ended or scheduled to be stopped — for instance, free road tax (VED) for EVs is coming to an end from April 1, 2025 —private sales of EVs have slowed.
Various tax incentives makes EVs highly attractive to business users, so there are still strong numbers in the fleet sector, but private buyers continue to have concerns about the second-hand values of EVs, the rising costs of public electric-vehicle charging points and questions over the long-term driving range degradation of EVs.
To that end, various bodies have called on the government to revitalise private EV sales by making them more financially attractive to consumers.
Meanwhile, car manufacturers themselves are doing a fine job of improving the appeal of EVs, bringing out ever-better new models year on year.
With greater one-shot driving range, bigger and more practical interiors, and more adventurous styling, there are some really fantastic EVs of all shapes and sizes available now.
We’ve picked our favourite five for 2024 below, to help you make the right choice when buying a new EV.
Fiat 500 Electric
From £28,195
The Italian city car has been reinvented for this new era of electrification and is a great introduction to electric motoring. Priced from £28,195, the Fiat 500 Electric is one of the cheapest electric cars you can buy right now.
Yes, it’s tiny and no, it’s not the most practical car in the world, but the 500 Electric is fun to drive with a chic cabin that’s reasonably well made, too. What’s more, it’s available as a hatchback or as a cabriolet, making it one of the few electric cars on sale offering open-top driving.
There are two battery options, starting with the 24kWh version for that budget-friendly starting price. The caveat is the range is only good for about 118 miles according to official figures (less in the real world), so that’s strictly for city and suburban use.
The 42kWh version costs a bit more (from £31,395), but offers a lot more driving between charges; up to 190 miles, officially. It’s also got more power for nipping around city streets and keeping up with traffic away from them.
Kia EV9
From £65,025
The Kia EV9 has just won the UK Car of the Year Award for 2024 — and rightly so. This is a serious statement of intent for the revitalised Korean manufacturer, as a premium seven-seat SUV that just so happens to be powered solely by electricity. It’s the kind of thing you might consider instead of the super-swish (and much more expensive) Volvo EX90, due later this year.
All EV9s come with a whopping 99.8kWh battery pack, which means the official driving range is up to almost 350 miles to a charge (though again, expect less in the real world).
Meanwhile, the futuristic exterior styling and a high-quality, high-tech interior, give the Kia plenty of kerb appeal.
Buyers who don’t mind sacrificing ultimate efficiency for extra performance can choose a twin-motor derivative, which is still quoted as doing more than 300 miles at a time (see how much we really got out of it on Scottish roads in our EV9 review) that has almost 380bhp and a 5.3-second 0-62mph time.
Every model of the Kia EV9 can carry seven people as standard, although there’s a six-seat option on the most luxurious GT-Line S specification if you’d prefer more executive-like lounging space in the cabin.
Perhaps the EV9’s greatest trick is that, even with a full complement of people onboard, it still has a 333-litre boot — that’s about the same as found in most Volkswagen Polo-class hatchbacks these days.
Hyundai Ioniq 5
From £43,445
Nothing on the road looks like the Hyundai Ioniq 5, with its retro concept-car styling. For many buyers, this will be one of the Ioniq 5’s biggest draws. Peeling away the skin, though, still leaves a particularly fine car.
The Ioniq 5 is bigger than it looks in pictures, so interior space is plentiful and the 527-litre boot is useful. It’s party piece might be the lounge-like interior and fully-reclining seats, which make taking a rest while recharging a comfortable prospect.
Recharging is especially quick, too. The Ioniq 5 shares its underpinnings with the equally accomplished Kia EV6, meaning ultra-rapid recharging at 880v. There’s also a choice of single and dual motors, and a maximum range in the version with rear-wheel drive and the larger 77kWh battery of up to 315 miles (that caveat again: it’s less in the real world).
And like the Kia EV6 and EV9, this car comes with sockets for three pin plugs and high voltage output that means you can run almost any electric device off the car’s battery. It’ll change your camping experience forever.
BMW i4
From £50,755
The BMW i4 is easily one of the best EVs on the market in terms of driving dynamics, and packages everything keen drivers love about the handling of classic BMW saloons — but with zero emissions.
Based on the 4 Series Gran Coupé, the BMW i4 is a joy to drive, no matter which version you go for. There are three i4s from which to choose, starting with the eDrive35 and eDrive40 with rear-wheel drive. These are both more involving to drive than most EVs, and the latter is the range champ of the line-up with up to 365 miles possible between charges.
For more performance there’s the i4 M50 with 537bhp and twin-motor, all-wheel drive. The i4 M50 will sprint to 62mph from rest in a blistering 3.9 seconds to an enhanced soundtrack by none other than Hans Zimmer, the famous composer.
Renault Scenic E-Tech Electric
From £37,495
Following on from the good work started by the Mégane E-Tech electric hatch, now French firm Renault has changed its family-friendly Scenic model into a pure electric line-up. There’s another big change for the Scenic as well, as it is no longer an MPV but instead a compact crossover, with smart exterior styling courtesy of Gilles Vidal, Renault’s design director, and his vision of how the company’s products should look.
Where the Scenic moves the game on from the Mégane, though, is in terms of range. While the Mégane has a 60kWh battery pack and maximum range of around 280 miles, the Scenic offers a bigger 87kWh unit which pushes the one-shot capabilities of the vehicle to 387 miles. Even Renault’s engineers say you will get 240 miles out of it at motorway speeds, which is a useful distance.
It’s not only on the outside where the Scenic looks good, however, as the interior is excellent as well. The fit and finish are superb, while high-tech twin 12.3in screens powered by Google not only have visual pizzazz but they operate intelligently, too.
Renault also keeps physical climate control switchgear, rather than loading all the functionality into the touchscreen, and in order to preserve the Scenic’s long-held reputation for practicality the company has blessed this crossover with a sizeable 545-litre boot with all seats in use.
Related articles
- If you found five best electric cars to buy in 2024 interesting, you should read our review of the Skoda Enyaq Coupé iV vRS
- Here are all the car makers’ electric car plans
- Read our review of the Renault Mégane E-Tech Electric
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