FIAT’S popular 500 is currently the cheapest EV to charge at just £5.76 per charge according to analysis carried out by Leasing Options.
The survey of 50 models found that coming a close second was Mini electric with a recharge price of £7.82 with Honda’s new “e” and the Mazda MX-30 behind in joint third with a price of £8.52.
The Mini is also slightly quicker than the “e” and the MX-30, taking just 6 minutes longer than the 500 at 30 minutes for a recharge, six minutes faster than the others.
At the other end of the scale, the Audi e-tron. Recharging an e-tron from 20%-100% will cost around £23, a difference of £17.24 compared to the Fiat 500, and will also take around 1.5 hours to complete. The 500 takes 24 minutes.
The “S” version of the e-tron is slightly cheaper when it comes to full recharge, however it sits at the bottom of the leaderboard when we look at the cost per mile. The e-tron S will cost owners around 14.6p per mile. In comparison, the cheapest on the market today is the Hyundai IONIQ Electric, only costing 6.3p per mile. A difference of 8.3p per mile.
Another manufacturer that can be found towards the bottom of the cost per charge list is Tesla. Its Model S and X, while cheaper per mile than Audi’s e-tron, also costs £23 for a recharge from 20% to 100%. The Model 3 performs much better, sitting at around £14.40 and 7.5p per mile, but not as well as their rivals do. The Polestar 2 can be found within the top 20 with a recharge cost of only £10.98 and a cost per mile of around 8.6p.
However, where Tesla does shine is the number of miles that it can do with one charge. You may pay more at the plug recharging a Model S or X, but you’ll drive away with 297 (S) and 266 (X) additional miles, putting Tesla in 1st and 2nd place on the leaderboard.
At the bottom is the Fiat 500 (Hatch) with only 81 miles added per recharge, which is hardly surprising based on its size and main city-life purpose, but a 216-mile difference nonetheless.
| Model | Charge Cost (£) | Cost Per Mile (p) | Miles Added | kWh Added | Real-World Electric Range (miles) | Charge Time (Minutes) | ||
| 1 | Fiat | 500 Hatch | 5.76 | 7.1 | 81 | 19 | 101 | 24 |
| 2 | MINI | Electric | 7.82 | 7.5 | 105 | 26 | 131 | 30 |
| 3 | Honda | e | 8.52 | 8.3 | 103 | 28 | 129 | 36 |
| 4 | Mazda | MX-30 | 8.52 | 9.1 | 94 | 28 | 118 | 36 |
| 5 | SEAT | Mii Electric | 8.83 | 7.2 | 122 | 29 | 153 | 36 |
| 6 | Volkswagen | e-up! | 8.83 | 7.3 | 121 | 29 | 151 | 36 |
| 7 | Hyundai | IONIQ Electric | 9.19 | 6.3 | 147 | 31 | 184 | 36 |
| 8 | Hyundai | KONA Electric | 9.36 | 7.7 | 121 | 31 | 151 | 36 |
| 9 | KIA | e-Niro | 9.36 | 6.8 | 137 | 31 | 171 | 36 |
| 10 | Nissan | LEAF | 9.60 | 7.5 | 128 | 32 | 160 | 36 |
| 11 | Fiat | 500 Cabrio | 10.08 | 7 | 143 | 34 | 179 | 42 |
| 12 | BMW | i3 | 10.13 | 7.1 | 143 | 34 | 179 | 42 |
| 13 | BMW | i3s | 10.13 | 7.6 | 133 | 34 | 166 | 42 |
| 14 | MG Motors UK | ZS EV | 10.68 | 8.6 | 124 | 36 | 155 | 42 |
| 15 | Volkswagen | ID.3 | 10.80 | 7.8 | 139 | 36 | 174 | 42 |
| 16 | Polestar | 2 | 10.98 | 8.6 | 128 | 37 | 214 | 42 |
| 17 | Peugeot | e-208 | 12.00 | 7.5 | 160 | 40 | 200 | 48 |
| 18 | Peugeot | e-2008 | 12.00 | 7.6 | 157 | 40 | 196 | 48 |
| 19 | Citroen | e-C4 | 12.00 | 7.7 | 156 | 40 | 195 | 48 |
| 20 | Vauxhall | Corsa-e | 12.00 | 7.7 | 156 | 40 | 195 | 48 |
Methodology
The following methodology was used to gather the data for this piece.
- Used Zap-Map’s database to all EV charge times, cost etc.
- Kept all of the criteria the same. Charge levels start and finish were set between 20%-100% and the charger used is a 50kW rapid charger. The connection fee is at £0 and the cost per kWh is locked at 30p.
- Zap-Map provided the estimated ranges and specific car specs.
