2020-2022 Toyota Highlander
Pros: The Toyota Highlander is the only three-row represented here that achieves both mostly Excellent value ratings and a Great reliability score, alongside Top Safety Pick+ designation for 2021 and 2022 models that add improved driver assists. Only the Explorer also offers a hybrid, but Toyota’s is way more efficient.
Cons: Floaty, bouncy ride quality saps any driving enjoyment. The hybrid will feel underpowered and unrefined to some, too. The Highlander is a practical pick, but it lacks personality.
2020-2022 Toyota Highlander Specifications
- Approximate Price: From $25,000 (gas); $31,000 (hybrid)
- IntelliChoice Value Rating: Excellent (most trims)
- Safety Ratings: 2020 Top Safety Pick, 2021-2022 IIHS Top Safety Pick+; NHTSA 5 Stars overall
- Fuel Economy: 20-36/28-35 mpg city/highway
- Driving Range: 412-616 miles
- 0-60 mph Acceleration: 7.2 seconds (gas); 8.4 seconds (hybrid)
The best small electric cars at a glance:
- Best all-round small electric car: Renault 5 – find out more
- Best small electric car if you want the most space: Hyundai Inster- find out more
- Best small electric car for driving fun: Mini Cooper Electric – find out more
We appreciate that not everyone’s lifestyle will suit a small electric vehicle. Families, for example, will probably be better served by one of our best electric SUVs, as most of the cars here offer limited space for people and baggage. But if you’re shopping as a couple trapped inside an ultra-low emissions zone, you might find the cure to your commuter’s headache on this list. Scroll down for our pick of the best small electric cars on sale. And if you’re looking for something faster, try our list of the best electric hot hatches.
Best small electric cars to buy in 2025
Renault 5
Best small electric car all-rounder – it’s brilliant!
Pros: A style icon, great interior, attractively low pricing
Cons: Limited real-world range, tight on rear-seat space
Perhaps the most important car to arrive in the UK in 2025 is the Renault 5. The French firm has done a remarkable job in reviving an icon, and we see it potentially doing as well as the reincarnated New Mini and Fiat 500. It looks absolutely terrific and turns heads in a way supercars ten times the price can’t manage.
It’s everything you’d want from a small car – right-sized for the city, nippy and great fun to drive and has a fantastic interior with a top-class infotainment system with inbuilt features such as Google Maps and Google Assistant. There’s a choice of 40kWh or 52kWh batteries, offering WLTP driving range of 194 and 255 miles respectively. Most impressive about the new Renault 5 is its price, as starting from £22,995, it’s one of the cheapest new EVs you can buy, and is also very good value to finance as well.
Best small electric car for no-holds-barred design and practicality and pricing
Pros: stylish yet practical, bursting with details, comfortable around town, cheaper than all rivals
Cons: Not as roomy in the back as we were hoping, some driving range concerns
Hot on the heals of the new Renault 5 is the 2025 Fiat Grande Panda. First in a whole new family of Panda models, it too trades on design heritage. But rather than simply replicating a previous model in EV-guise, here the design team have really been let off the leash. There are clear hallmarks of the 1980 original – including some useful practicality features inside, such as the dashboard shelf – but otherwise this is wild and pure Italian modernism in automotive form.
Just look at those crazy shapes around the cabin, the transparent yellow Perspex, the blue (sustainably sourced) plastics, the exterior detailing. It even has a captive charging cable hiding behind the front grille. Based on the same budget platform as the Citroen e-C3, it’s not super-sharp to drive. And we do have some reservations about the claimed efficiency – we got nowhere near 199 miles WLTP during the initial launch. But with a starting price of just £20,975, it’s a genuine bargain that feels like the right product at the right price.
For a more in-depth look read our Fiat Grande Panda review
Citroen e-C3
Best small electric car for comfort
Pros: Great value, spacious rear seats, very comfortable
Cons: Roly-poly handling, awkward-shape boot
Few small electric cars are able to tick as many boxes as the new Citroen e-C3. It’s a compact EV that still offers plenty of scope for longer trips, with its claimed 199-mile range and speedy 100kW rapid charging speeds. Rear-seat space is also comparable with many cars from the class above.
Priced from £21,990, the e-C3 undercuts many of its electric supermini rivals by several thousand pounds, yet still comes with a smart and modern interior with plenty of on-board equipment and tech. The e-C3’s soft and comfortable ride is ideal for Britain’s potholed roads, though just be mindful that it does result in quite roly-poly handling if you’re driving more enthusiastically.
