Sub-£20,000 electric cars: five new models on sale or due by 2027

Hyundai has opened UK orders for the Ioniq 3 at £18,495 once the £3,750 Electric Car Grant is applied, electrive reported on 5 October. It joins the Honda Super-N, open for orders since June at £18,995, as a new EV with a confirmed UK price below £20,000, and Renault, Dacia and Nissan have promised three more by 2027. For UK drivers, a new EV at under £20,000 no longer means only the Dacia Spring, but range and price certainty vary widely between these cars.

More small cars are on the way. The Paris Motor Show has a press day on 12 October and opens to the public on 13 October, where Smart will show the production #2 city car (Autocar), and Citroen will reveal its 2CV concept on 11 October (Autocar). Below is every new model priced, promised or expected below £20,000 on sale or due by 2027, and which of those prices are confirmed.

Which new electric cars cost under £20,000?

Five new models are priced, promised or firmly expected under £20,000 by 2027. Only two have confirmed UK prices.

Model	UK price	Grant status	Battery	WLTP range	Status
Hyundai Ioniq 3 Advance 42kWh	£18,495	After £3,750 grant (£22,245 before)	42kWh	213 miles	Orders open
Honda Super-N	£18,995	Not eligible	29.6kWh	128 miles (199 city)	Orders open since June 2026
Renault Twingo E-Tech	Under £20,000 (promised)	Price list not yet published	27.5kWh	163 miles	Order books due later in 2026; deliveries expected towards the end of 2026
Dacia Spring (new generation)	Under £18,000 (promised)	Before any grant	27.5kWh	155 miles	Due in 2027
Nissan Pixo	Under £20,000 (Autocar estimate)	UK prices due in December	27.5kWh	161 miles	Deliveries from early 2027

Sources: Hyundai UK, Honda UK, The Electric Car Scheme, Autocar, WhichEV and electrive.

Hyundai Ioniq 3 or Honda Super-N: which is better value?

The two cars with confirmed prices are £500 apart, but they are not close on range. Every Hyundai Ioniq 3 qualifies for Band 1 of the grant, according to Hyundai UK. The 42kWh Advance is rated at up to 213 miles, and the 61kWh version stretches that to 308 miles for £21,995 after the grant. It also has a 441-litre boot.

The Super-N costs £18,995 and gets no grant: The Electric Car Scheme reports that it is not eligible. Honda’s headline 199 miles is a WLTP city figure. On the WLTP combined cycle, which is the one used for the other cars here, its 29.6kWh battery is good for 128 miles. That is 85 miles less than the cheaper Ioniq 3. In its favour, the Super-N is a genuinely small city car, and its Boost mode raises output from 47kW to 70kW (electrive).

Our view: if one car has to do everything, including motorway trips, the Ioniq 3 is clearly the better value. The Super-N makes sense for someone who wants a characterful second car and rarely leaves town.

Twingo, Spring and Pixo: three city cars, one battery size

The next wave of sub-£20,000 cars all use a 27.5kWh LFP battery, so their ranges are within 8 miles of each other. What separates them is price and timing.

Renault Twingo E-Tech

Renault promises a UK starting price under £20,000 for the Twingo, which has a 60kW motor and up to 163 miles WLTP (Autocar). More than 100 cars went to UK retailers for static display in late July, and a £100 R-Pass gives priority in the order queue (WhichEV). Reports point to order books opening later this year and deliveries towards the end of 2026, while AM Online describes a 2027 UK launch. Our Renault Twingo E-Tech price story has the details.

New Dacia Spring

Dacia says the whole UK range of the new Dacia Spring will cost under £18,000 before any government subsidy, with up to 155 miles WLTP. Final prices and the on-sale date are still to come (WhichEV). The catch is that the current Spring is cheaper: Dacia cut it to £11,990 in July, with up to 140 miles (electrive).

Nissan Pixo

The Nissan Pixo was revealed on 23 September. Renault builds it in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, and it has a 60kW motor, up to 161 miles WLTP and 50kW rapid charging that goes from 15 to 80% in about 28 minutes (electrive). UK prices are due in December, with deliveries from early 2027. Autocar calls it a sub-£20,000 Twingo twin.

Which cheap EVs could land close to £20,000?

Several more small EVs are expected near the £20,000 mark, though none has a confirmed UK price.

Model	Expected UK price	Range	Timing
Smart #2	About £20,000 to £25,000 (estimate); under €22,500 in Europe	About 186 miles	Early 2027
MG2	About £20,000 (estimate)	Not yet published	2027
Leapmotor B03	Low £20,000s (estimate)	Up to 242 miles	First half of 2027
Citroen 2CV	Under £15,000 target	Not yet published	Production from 2028
Ford supermini on Renault platform	Not announced	Not yet published	Early 2028

Sources: electrive, Auto Express, Autocar, What Car? and Autocar.

The Smart #2 is a two-door, two-seat successor to the Fortwo. The MG2 figure is an estimate, not a confirmed price. The 2CV is the most aggressive on price, but it is a 2028 car; Ford has two Renault-platform models planned for early 2028 and has not confirmed the Fiesta name. For more detail, see our MG2 electric supermini report.

What can you buy for under £20,000 today?

Away from the new arrivals, the choice is thin. The current Dacia Spring costs £11,990, and the BYD Dolphin Surf Active costs £18,650 with 137 miles WLTP. The Dolphin Surf Boost has 200 miles but costs £21,950 (The Electric Car Scheme).

Just above the line are the Geely EX2 Pro at £20,990 with 155 miles (electrive), and the Fiat Grande Panda Electric and 500e, both from £20,995 in Fiat’s January price list, which cut the 500e by £4,040 (electrive). The Renault 5 E-Tech starts from £21,495 (electrive).

The grant explains the split. It takes up to £3,750 off eligible EVs with a list price of £37,000 or less, but it scores the carbon intensity of vehicle assembly and battery production, which rules out China-built cars (Which?). The Chinese-built Spring has to get under £20,000 on list price alone, while the Ioniq 3 gets there only with the full grant. Our list of Electric Car Grant eligible models shows which cars get which band.

Should you buy now or wait?

If you need one car that can also do motorway trips, we would not wait. At £18,495 after the grant, the Ioniq 3 is the only new car with a confirmed price under £20,000 and more than 200 miles of WLTP range.

Waiting makes more sense if you mainly drive in town or want a cheap second car. The Twingo’s UK price list should arrive within months, the Pixo is priced in December and the new Spring follows in 2027. All three promise about 155 to 163 miles, so you would be waiting for a lower price rather than a longer range. Until those prices are confirmed, the current Spring at £11,990 remains the cheapest way into a new EV. For a broader look at timing, see our guide to whether to buy an EV now or wait for cheaper models.