With New Zealand’s new electric vehicle fleet increasing, and with more models increasing becoming available, unfortunately they aren’t ‘affordable’ for the average buyer.

The ‘cheapest’ pure electric vehicle currently on our roads is the newly launched Mini electric at $59,900, but MG is taking pre-orders of its ZS EV for a special price of $50,100.

The top five was picked by Auto Car UK, and the vehicles picked are either available in New Zealand now, or expected here in 2021.

The list was compiled considering factors such as range and usability, driving dynamics and value for money. Some are still subject to relatively high prices compared to combustion-engined cars, but their premiums can be offset against lower running costs, according to Auto Car UK.

5. Mini Electric

Mini has taken a while to enter the electric car market, especially when you compare it with parent company, it has certainly brought all of the fun factor you expect of the brand – albeit packaged with a few equally typical usability restrictions.

Based exclusively on the three-door Mini bodyshell, the Mini Electric adopts the powertrain from the BMW i3S. It is powered by a 32.6kWh latest-generation lithium-ion battery, producing a135kW of power with 0-100km/h in 7.3 seconds. 

Capable of a 233-km drive range on a single charge, according to latest WLTP measurement standards, the Mini can be used for city commuting and is able to achieve an 80 per cent charge in 35 minutes when using a 50kW DC public charger. 

Performance is notably stronger than many of the cars you might compare it with in this list, while handling is grippy and darty and agile in the enduring dynamic traditions of the Mini brand.

4. Hyundai Kona electric

The Hyundai Kona Electric is quite a coup for its aspiring Korean maker with its a genuine 449km daily-use range and price of $77,990.

By wielding what must be a sizable competitive advantage on battery buying power, Hyundai has delivered this car to the road with a sizable advantage on onboard electrical storage than plenty of the car’s it’s rivalled by in this list. That’s enough for more than 400km of range at typical motorway speeds.

And, in this car, it comes packaged with much stronger accelerative performance than its nearest rivals. The Kona Electric is quick enough, even, to live with some hot hatchbacks away from the traffic lights.

That the car’s slightly low-rent, restrictive interior doesn’t make it quite the match of a full-sized family hatchback on practicality is a bit of a disappointment. Also, there’s some frustration to be found in the car’s ride and handling, which both feel somewhat compromised by its weight and the low-friction tyres it uses. But if you want outright range for a small outlay, this is probably still where to get it.

3. Peugeot e-208

The all-electric version of the Peugeot 208 hatchback is one of several PSA Group compact EVs coming to market this year. For its mix of usable range, performance, value, practicality, style, perceived quality and driver appeal, it clearly deserves to figure highly if you’re shopping for your first electric car this year.

Unlike more low-rent-feeling EVs, the Peugeot e-208 has materially rich interior distinguishes it just as clearly as the stylish bodywork. Practicality is on a par with the Renault Zoe (not available in New Zealand yet) and better than in a Mini Electric, refinement beats both of those key rivals also, and performance is fairly strong.

The car rides with a suppleness missing from some smaller EVs, which often struggle to contain their body mass on the road. The steer steers with striking directness, although body control deteriorates a little bit if you drive more enthusiastically. Even so, it’s the roundedness of the e-208’s driving experience that really impresses

Real-world range is good for 273km of mixed use, although it may be slightly lower if you spend extended periods of time at motorway speeds.

We’d expect to see the Peugeot e-208 in New Zealand next year.

2. Volkswagen ID 3

As Volkswagen looks to move on from the fallout of Dieselgate, the ID 3 is set to take centre-stage as the marque’s environmentally friendly wunderkind. This Golf-sized hatchback also gets the new ‘ID’ sub-brand off the mark, and aims to do so with the kind of mass-market sophistication and class-leading usability for which Volkswagen is rightly famed.

Built on an entirely fresh rear-engined platform, the ID 3 benefits from a long wheelbase, and boosting cabin space. The basic variant has a usable energy content of 45 kWh and enables an electrically powered range of up to 330 kilometres. Initial impressions of a prototype driven in 2019 suggest it excels in terms of maneuverability and low-speed response, and would seem to hit the company’s high standards for ride sophistication too.

Volkswagen New Zealand is keen to get this vehicle here, and are in talks with head office in German to get in line for the electric hatchback.

1. Kia Niro PHEV

The Kia Niro plug-in electric vehicle (PHEV) redefines how much real-world range and family-friendly usability we should now expecting from an electric vehicle towards the more affordable end of the price spectrum. Priced at $67,990 the car’s 64kWh battery pack enables it to and further still if you stay off the motorway or around town with a 449km range. A few years ago, that would be the sort of range you’d be expecting from something far pricier, and probably with a Tesla badge on its nose.

That genre-challenging relationship between range and affordability isn’t the sole reason why the Niro now crowns this list. Indeed if it was, the Hyundai Kona would be at the top. Where Niro pulls ahead, though, is that it also remains a thoroughly usable, practical, pleasant-to-drive electric vehicle.

It’s roomier than almost every other EV at the price, and it rides and handles with a greater level of sophistication and accomplishment. It may lack some of the accelerative potency of it rivals, but as a well-rounded, truly usable affordable electric vehicle, the Niro is going to take some beating.

Kiwis agree with it being the second best selling EV in New Zealand.