We review the top 10 electric cars
IS THE new world of electric cars for you?
If you do predictable journeys of 50 miles or less a day and preferably have a garage where you can recharge the car’s batteries over night the answer could be yes.
Electric cars drive are remarkably quiet and smooth.
They are also very cheap to run and in stop-start town motoring, thanks to energy recapturing braking systems, you can increase the car’s range with ‘free miles’ if you get it right.
An overnight charge costing £3.50 will take you a lot further than £3.50 worth of petrol or diesel will.
Some people charge using their own solar power for no energy cost motoring.
Electric cars currently (no pun intended) attract exemption from the London Congestion Charge.
You need to register with power suppliers though or your chosen charging point will not deliver the juice.
Stupidly, there is not a common agreement on the type of plug-in so that can be a problem too.
Here we list the Sun Motors Top 10 Electric Cars. We've included our expert's ratings and reader ratings. We also want to know which of these you think is the best. So get voting, and we'll print the results in Sun Motors in the coming weeks.
Tesla Model S
Sun rating: 4.5/5
THE GOOD
- Good range and doesn’t look bonkers
- Lots of great features like touch and drag to open sunroof
- Not unrealistic pricing
THE NOT SO GOOD
- Long, 15 hour charge times
An incredible achievement from an American company whose only car experience was producing electric versions of the British Lotus Elise sports car.
The Model S took the establishment completely by surprise and in some wealthy areas of the world outsells the big cars of Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar etc all put together!
BMW’s i3 manages 70 to 100 miles before it becomes roadside furniture, but the Tesla’s range is 260 to 320 miles thanks to a battery pack with 85kWh of energy.
That’s about three times the range of an i3 for about twice the price.
With 416bhp it’s properly quick with 0-60mph in 4.3 seconds and 0-100mph in nine seconds.
The Tesla’s motor is about the size of a Rugby ball, leaving space for two extra rear seats in the boot area if wished.
Volkswagen e-Golf
Sun rating: 4.5/5
THE GOOD
- It’s a Golf and just as accomplished
- Very well equipped
THE NOT SO GOOD
- Range, price
Only LED daytime running lights, blue tinged badges and reshaped bumpers distinguish the electrically powered Volkswagen Golf from a petrol or diesel model.
The instruments though include a charging/energy usage meter. It’s dead easy to drive, but to get the most out of the car there are five selectable drive modes including Eco and Eco+ which reduce power of the motor and the air conditioning.
Ease off the power in D2, D3 or B modes produces strong deceleration, without touching the brake pedal. At times you can drive it as a one pedal car.
Recharging from a three-pin socket takes 13 hours and gives a range of about 118 miles.
Nissan Leaf
Sun rating: 4/5
THE GOOD
- Very cheap to run
- Excellent reliability
THE NOT SO GOOD
- Expensive to buy
- Realistic range around 80 miles
The 107bhp Nissan Leaf was the first electric car sold in the UK back in 2010.
Under its gawky styling is a Vauxhall Astra size family car.
Because there is no range extending engine, there is no local pollution.
It is mega cheap to run. Charging at home a year’s motoring of 8,000 miles could cost as little as £250.
You can buy a new Leaf outright or buy the car and rent the battery pack (around £70 a month). This reduces the price of the car by £5,000.
Bluetooth and keyless entry and go are standard.
Range-topping Tekna version has BOSE stereo, a heated steering wheel and heated seats.
Real life range 75 to 80 miles. Depending on the heating system, on cold days this could drop to 50 to 70 miles.
Look out for: Some paintwork problems.
Renault Zoe
Sun rating: 4/5
THE GOOD
- Well priced for the technology
- No real rival
THE NOT SO GOOD
- Usual must suit your life style qualification
- Long journeys need planning
Batteries not included is the story of the Renault Zoe, the French company’s best electric car so far.
The Clio-sized Zoe would suit more drivers simply because of its low entry price of £14,000, after the £5,000 Government grant. To this you add £70 a month to lease the battery pack.
Range is about 90 miles unless you really know how to drive electric and get closer to the ‘official’ 130 mile range.
You can’t charge a Zoe from a domestic three-pin plug but you do get a free home charger that takes four hours to deliver maximum range.
The dashboard is real concept car stuff but works well and the cabin is comfy.
Vauxhall Ampera
Sun rating:
SunRating
4/5
THE GOOD
- Swish, futuristic looks
- Very quiet and comfortable
- Battery pack has eight year/100,000 mile warranty
THE NOT SO GOOD
- Poor fuel consumption with petrol generator running
A small petrol generator means drivers of the Vauxhall Ampera needn’t worry about range anxiety - unless they forget to put petrol in.
Range on electricity of about 40 miles increases to 300 miles with the range extender running.
Fuel efficiency though drops from around 130mpg to 44mpg.
Some high mileage users reckon they are saving £500 a month on fuel.
In America, 60% of users of the Ampera’s Chevrolet Volt sister car are estimated never to put petrol in them.
The generator is programmed to start-up periodically to avoid it seizing up.
The Ampera’s striking styling is matched by a high tech cabin. Some of the touch sensitive icons do not work well.
BMW i3
Sun rating: 4/5
THE GOOD
- Looks and feels a quality product
- Really lively performance
THE NOT SO GOOD
- Price, driving range
- Weird looks
BMW’s i3 looks and feels expensive and comes with optional, dramatic, two-colour bodywork and an airy cabins that feel like Swedish lofts.
It is available as a pure electric car or with a noisy, 650cc two-cylinder motorcycle engine to extend driving range.
Electric range is 80 to 100 miles depending on driver, traffic and road conditions. Using the bike engine pushes this to nearer 180 miles.
With a 168bhp electric motor the i3 is lively to drive thanks to its lightweight carbon fibre body. Zero to 60mph takes just 7.6 seconds.
Road holding is good but the ride lumpy and the car feels twitchy in motorway crosswinds on its tall, narrow tyres.
Volkswagen e-Up
Sun rating: 4/5
THE GOOD
- A quality car in a compact size
- Low, low running costs
THE NOT SO GOOD
- It’s expensive even after that £5k govt grant
Volkswagen claims the e-Up is the most efficient electric car on sale and that means you have a good chance of getting more than 100 mile range for under £3 worth of electricity.
VW says the battery pack is resistant to heat and cold so that no power hungry and heavy cooling or heating is required to keep them in the best operating zone.
The car is light and fun to drive.
Charging at home using a normal socket takes about nine hours compared to half an hour on an industrial supply ‘super’ charger.
Buyers can sign up for Ecotricity’s 100% green tariff for their home and vehicle energy supplies.
Smart ForTwo Electric Drive
Sun rating: 3/5
THE GOOD
- Brisk performance
- Easy to park
- Smart’s charm not affected
THE NOT SO GOOD
- Only a two seater
- Expensive compared to a Renault Zoe
Conceived as the ultimate city car 16 years ago, the Smart ForTwo only gained clean, electric power in 2013 and in the process became the best Smart there is to drive.
Performance is electric (sorry) so that few cars beat you away from the traffic lights and there is none of that irritating gearbox/driveline shunt you get with petrol or diesel versions.
The ride is still pitchy, there is a wooden feel to the brakes though and the driving position could be better.
You can fully charge the batteries in about seven hours from a standard home supply which gives a theoretical range of 90 miles.
Mitsubishi iMiEV
Sun rating: 3/5
THE GOOD
- Ideal for city streets yet carries four
- Children think it’s cuddly
THE NOT SO GOOD
- Motor whines
- Cabin feels cheap
Get past its motorised egg looks and you will find a Japanese kei class car powered by a 63bhp electric motor rather than a petrol engine.
Designed for narrow Japanese city streets the iMiEV is totally at home round town and can carry four adults and some luggage.
It’s very quiet, the range is 60 to 90 miles and it will recharge overnight for a couple of quid.
Downsides are the steering is not very good and the narrow tyres tend to follow lorry grooves in the road.
In the UK the iMiEV is also available badged up as the Peugeot iOn and the Citroen C-Zero.
Renault Fluence ZE
Sun rating: 2.5/5
THE GOOD
- Spacious and value for money
- Servicing and insurance costs less than a ‘normal’ car
THE NOT SO GOOD
- Range
- Odd looks
Rather plain looks means there are some very cheap/good value Renault Fluences out there if you can find them.
The styling is challenging because Renault had to stretch the car to fit the battery pack which delivers 94bhp and pushes this quite big car to 60mph in 13 seconds in near total silence.
Handling can come as a shock to people reared on front wheel drive cars. The Fluence has enough power, certainly on a damp road, to kick out the back if you are too keen with the accelerator pedal.
Expect a range of 60 to 100 miles.
There are various warranties to cover the battery pack you can check out.