Best Used EVs For Less Than £10,000

Electric cars are expensive, right? Not if you buy used, they’re not. And can you believe that you can actually get a really good second-hand electric vehicle (EV) for less than £10,000? That’s right – all the goodness of zero-emissions driving, for a four-figure outlay. Bear in mind when we’re talking about older EVs, though, they tended to have smaller battery packs and not as much one-shot driving range. Still, all of the following will have enough battery range to make a great everyday car. Here are five of our favourite super-affordable EVs.

BMW i3

Amazing to think something so futuristic looking, so forward-thinking and so downright brilliant is available for less than ten grand, but the earlier BMW i3 models are falling into that realm now. Early i3s could do around 100 miles to a charge, which is more than enough for most people’s daily commute. And what you get for your money here will typically be a 2014 or 2015 car, with fewer than 100,000 miles on the clock – quite a lot less in most instances. Then you can enjoy a top-notch interior, roomy enough for four adults, plus BMW’s typically brilliant driving characteristics, thanks to the i3’s rear-wheel-drive set-up.
Find your ideal BMW i3 on Auto Trader!

Citroen Ami

OK, so the Ami is less than £10,000 new, but if you fancy having Citroen’s quirky quadricycle, you can still make savings if you look for a lightly used example. They’ve dipped below seven grand, in some instances, but even for that money you can expect your second-hand Ami to have a three-figure mileage on the odometer – that’s right, less than 1,000 miles. This is perfect for urban transportation: its tiny battery and extremely modest electric motor will not get you very far, very fast, but they will make scooting about in cityscapes a huge amount of fun. And the Ami’s cubist body will keep the rain off you, in a way an electric scooter or moped never could.
Find your ideal Citroen Ami on Auto Trader!

Hyundai Ioniq

Hard to believe that such a big, practical, electric car is available for such little cash, but the Hyundai Ioniq is now a four-figure second-hand proposition. You need to search carefully to find the sub-£10k Ioniq, and avoid the mega-milers with 100,000 miles-plus on the clock, but if you can find a good 80,000-miler, you get a car which can go up to 174 miles to a single charge – and which is large enough and accommodating enough to work as your only family car. That the Ioniq is refined and impressive to drive is merely the icing on the EV cake.
Find your ideal Hyundai Ioniq on Auto Trader!

Nissan Leaf

The car which democratised EVs is thick on the ground for less than £10,000 – in fact, more than three-in-five used electrics within our budget will be Nissan Leafs. For this sort of cash, you’re looking at the beaky Mk1 model, rather than the more angular and current Mk2, but it’s still a brilliantly everyday usable EV hatchback regardless. Try and find the 30kWh model, which came out in 2016, rather than the 24kWh if you can, as then you’ll enjoy up to 155 miles on a single charge. However, it doesn’t matter what Nissan Leaf you find on the used market for this cash – what you end up with is a simply fantastic, practical hatchback… which just so happens to be fully electric. Win-win.
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Volkswagen e-up!

All the class of the Volkswagen up! city car, blended with the saintliness of an all-electric drivetrain – what’s not to like? Well, when good Volkswagen e-up! models are available for less than £10,000 these days, we’re really not sure. This is a superb semi-urban commuter, as it has a range of up to 99 miles on a single charge of its battery. That it has all the interior quality and smooth driving manners of any up! is merely a very pleasant bonus. Plus, the same electric drivetrain was employed to create the Skoda e-Citigo and SEAT Mii Electric cars, so search out those if you prefer.
Find your ideal Volkswagen e-up! on Auto Trader!