The best small electric cars - driven, rated and ranked

Other picks here not affordable enough? Try this. The MG 4 EV is an important moment in the development of MG Motor as a serious car maker.

Since the British brand’s relaunch under the ownership of the Chinese giant SAIC, it has always played the budget end of the market. With the MG 4, it still does, but with a car that is genuinely impressive in its own right.

Its rear-drive layout lets it serve up some real handling thrills while its soft but controlled ride means it’s well suited to rough British roads.

It has a very competitive range and charging figures too, and all for £26,995 for the SE model or £29,495 for the Long Range SE. There’s an Extended Range and a bonkers-fast 429bhp XPower model, but we wouldn’t bother.

You can see some of the cost savings in the low-grade interior materials and slightly haphazard infotainment and driver assistance features, but none of it is egregious enough to seriously detract from how much value for money the MG 4 offers.

Could the arrival of the new Citroën ë-C3 represent a watershed moment in the evolution of the electric car?

It's certainly got a lot going for it. Priced from just £21,990, the ë-C3 is primed to become one of the cheapest electric cars on sale in the UK. 

Power comes from a 44kWh battery, which offers a claimed range of 199 miles. It powers a front-mounted 111bhp electric motor that allows the ë-C3 to hit 0-62mph in around 11.0sec and a top speed of 84mph. 

Although all ë-C3s have a 44kW battery at the moment, a smaller-battery variant may be UK-bound next year and it's priced at €19,990 (£17,250) in mainland Europe. 

We've only driven the ë-C3 on overseas Tarmac so far, but we were impressed by its equipment levels and its comfort.

Downsides? There's no denying a range of 199 miles might not be quite enough for some drivers, and while comfortable, it's not the most dynamic car to drive, with numb steering that wants for driver involvement.

Vauxhall's sibling to the Peugeot e-208 doesn't quite have the same style or imaginatively configured interior of its sibling, but because it’s largely the same underneath, it’s still one of the best small electric cars.

Early versions were a little behind the Peugeot on range, but an update that added a taller final drive ratio and a standard heat pump lifted the range from 209 to 222 miles – and now a battery capacity hike and a new electric motor have lifted it again, this time to 246 miles. 

The Corsa Electric's facelift also brought with it a thoroughly revised front end and a new multimedia system. 

The Corsa might be a little plainer than the Peugeot, but to our eyes, it still looks handsome enough, especially in its latest form.

The driving experience combines a genuine 220-mile everyday battery range with keen and competent handling and a comfortable ride, while 100kW DC rapid charging compatibility as standard should be a selling point too.

Vauxhall also has purchase incentives such as free home charger installation and access to a special home energy tariff.

Vauxhall's large UK dealer network and the brand's desire to offer some decent discounts have helped to make this one of the UK's best-selling EVs, converting people who hadn't previously considered electric motoring. Our testers reckon it's certainly good enough to leave the right kind of impression.

Fiat's model range is now slightly confusing because the old car lives on as the Fiat 500 Hybrid (despite being only a mild hybrid). The one you want, however, is the newer electric 500.

It might look familiar, but it's only when you see them side by side that you realise the new electric 500 is completely new.

Fiat has done a marvellous job of retaining the modern-day 500's cute retro looks while making it into a car for the modern age.

Because it was developed as a purely electric car from the outset, it has a fairly sizeable (for a small car) 42kWh battery and a theoretical WLTP lab test range of 199 miles, although we discovered that translates to more like 140 miles in real-world use.

There is a cheaper Fiat 500 Action model with a 24kWh pack, but we don’t think the financial savings are great enough to offset the much shorter range.

The electric Fiat drives substantially better than any other 500 as well, with its 117bhp motor making it surprisingly zippy and fun for a city car. Yes, we found the steering to be quite light, but there's plenty of grip and an absence of body roll - and while it's not exactly at home on the motorway, it copes remarkably well.

The interior is also a massive improvement over that of previous 500s too. It's still quite plasticky, but it looks great, the seats are comfortable and the infotainment is logical and responsive.

There's even a convertible model with a roll-back canvas roof. It's still not great for tall drivers, though, and it goes without saying that you shouldn't plan on carrying adults in the rear very often.

Inflation and the death of the Plug-in Car Grant have not been kind to the electric 500's list price, though. At launch, you could buy one for under £20,000, but now the range starts at around £30,000.

If you want the longer-range version, you’ll need to fork out even more. That's a fair chunk of change for such a tiny tot, but we’re still quite fond of this tiny, fashionable EV that’s surprisingly good to drive when you escape the city.

The Dacia Spring is the UK's cheapest full-size electric car, at £14,995. It also comes close to being the UK's cheapest car overall, with the Dacia Sandero, the Kia Picanto and Fiat Panda the only cars that undercut it. 

Entry-level models are powered by a puny-sounding 44bhp electric motor, which hits 0-62mph in a - let's say... leisurely... - 19.1sec.

The higher-powered 64bhp variant reduces that to 13.7sec. Again, that might not sound all that quick (and it isn't), but it's about as quick as a 1.0-litre Volkswagen Up. 

Both models are equipped with a 26.8kWh battery, which is good for a claimed 137 miles of range overall, or 186 miles with some careful city driving. 

Equipment levels are good too, with a 7.0in touchscreen, electric windows, cruise control and rear parking sensors included as standard.

If you are after value for money, particularly for an EV, the incoming Chinese car manufacturers are a good place to start. The latest company with big plans for Europe is BYD, which is rapidly building a full range of electric cars. Its smallest model, for now, is the Dolphin.

It is by no means the best car on this list, but given the entry-level model costs £25,490, rising to £30,990 for the fully loaded long-range version, some of its flaws can be excused.

The handling is quite woolly and the leatherette is a bit naff, but the main problem of all BYDs is that the infotainment system is infuriating. Even though the screen is huge, it hides important settings in deep sub-menus and doesn’t integrate with phone mirroring very well.

However, you get all the equipment you could possibly wish for, the ride is fairly plush and real-world range of comfortably over 200 miles is not to be sniffed at. The Dolphin is also a tad larger than the other cars on this list, so it offers more interior space as well.

Mazda has never been afraid to do things its own way, and the approach it has taken with its first all-electric car is no different. The MX-30 is therefore not quite what you might expect, but it's an appealing proposition all the same. 

Toy-car looks are wrapped around an unusually small battery pack – just 35.5kWh, giving an official range of 124 miles – because Mazda believes owners simply won't need more (and increasing the size of the battery would mean unnecessary cost and weight).

The car is reasonably spacious inside, has an SUV-lite body that is very much on trend, and is trimmed in interesting materials that give the cabin a singularly cosy and likeable atmosphere.

It also includes distinctive rear-hinged back doors - a nod to the brand's old rotary-powered RX-8 coupé - but we found them slightly impractical in day-to-day use.

Dynamically, the MX-30 also stands out - although only when you're travelling with a bit of pace on an interesting road.

With 143bhp and 199lb ft, the electric motor didn’t blow our socks off in a straight line, but the weighting of the MX-30's steering and the supple manner in which the suspension transfers weight while cornering are genuinely reminiscent of the MX-5 sports car. Around town, however, we found it a little plain.

Rapid charging at up to 50kW is possible so, if the limited range works for you, there is plenty to like about the unusual Mazda MX-30. And if it doesn't, there's always the rotary-engined, range-extended REV version. See? Mazda likes different - so do we.

As a traditional combustion-engined supermini, the Peugeot 208 doesn't do an awful lot to stand out from the crowd.

However, in an all-electric guise, it makes good use of its genuinely usable range, good performance, practicality, style and perceived quality.

This Peugeot's materially rich and distinctive interior distinguishes it just as clearly as the stylish bodywork. Its practicality is on a par with the now-departed Renault Zoe's and better than a Mini Electric's.

Both of those aspects are key considerations for cars like this. Certainly, you get an adequate dose of that electric-motor-enabled zip.

The car also rides with a suppleness missing from some smaller EVs, which often struggle to contain their body mass on the road, while in its higher-speed body movements, it doesn't feel as heavy as its main rivals.

The steering is striking for its directness, although body control deteriorates a little if you drive more enthusiastically. 

All that said, it's largely the same as the Corsa underneath - but significantly more expensive. A style pick over sense, perhaps.