The Cheapest & Fastest EVs To Charge In Public

14 December 2021

Key Findings;

• Fiat 500 (Hatch) is the cheapest and fastest EV to charge away from home.

• Hyundai IONIQ Electric has the lowest cost per mile.

• Audi’s e-tron and Tesla’s Model S and X take the longest to charge and are the most expensive.

• Audi e-tron S is the most expensive EV to run.

• 8.3p per mile difference in EV running costs depending on make and model.

• £17.24 difference between charging an Audi e-tron and a Fiat 500 at the services.

Did you know that there is a big difference in the amount of money you’ll spend charging an electric vehicle depending on the make and model? It’s true, and with related search queries up 300% according to Google Trends, here at Leasing Options we thought we’d delve into the topic to help our customers understand how charging prices differ between cars, as well as highlighting the cheapest ones on the market.

Top 20 Cheapest EVs To Charge

As stated above, there is a big difference in cost when charging some electric vehicles compared to others. As a result, we’ve been away and assessed 50 EVs currently on the market and checked them against Zap-Map’s database to find out which EVs are the cheapest on the market to run.

To do this we’ve kept all of the criteria the same. Charge levels start and finish are set between 20%-100% and the charger used is a 50kW rapid charger. The connection fee is at £0 and the cost per kWh is locked at 30p. Zap-Map provided the estimated ranges and specific car specs.

Here’s our list of the top 20 electric vehicles that are the cheapest to charge on the go.

Fiat 500 = Cheapest & Fastest EV To Recharge

As you can see from the data, of which 50 EVs were analysed, Fiat’s ever-popular hot-hatch 500 is currently the cheapest EV to charge at just £5.76 per charge. The 500 has been a go-to for many drivers over the years and it appears Fiat has done what it can to ensure it stays that way going into this new electric era of motoring.

Close behind the 500 comes the MINI electric with another very cheap recharge price of just £7.82 with Honda’s new “e” and the Mazda MX-30 behind in joint third with a price of £8.52.

The MINI is also slightly quicker than the “e” and the MX-30, taking just 6 minutes longer than the 500 at 30 minutes for a recharge, six minutes faster than the others.

Audi Charges High Price

At the other end of the scale, you’ll find the Audi e-tron. The German manufacturer’s flagship EV is a beast on the road, managing 0-60 mph in around 5 seconds, but it’s also a beast at the plug too. Recharging an e-tron from 20%-100% will cost around £23, a difference of £17.24 compared to the Fiat 500, and will also take around 1.5 hours to complete. The 500 takes 24 minutes.

Cost Per Mile

The “S” version of the e-tron is slightly cheaper when it comes to a full recharge, however it sits at the bottom of the leaderboard when we look at the cost per mile. The e-tron S will cost owners around 14.6p per mile. In comparison, the cheapest on the market today is the Hyundai IONIQ Electric, only costing 6.3p per mile. A difference of 8.3p per mile.

Tesla Takes Top Spot For Most Miles Added Per Recharge

Another manufacturer that can be found towards the bottom of the cost per charge list is Tesla. Their Model S and X, while cheaper per mile than Audi’s e-tron, also costs £23 for a recharge from 20% to 100%. The Model 3 performs much better, sitting at around £14.40 and 7.5p per mile, but not as well as their rival’s do. The Polestar 2 can be found within the top 20 with a recharge cost of only £10.98 and a cost per mile of around 8.6p.

However, where Tesla does shine is the number of miles that it can do with one charge. You may pay more at the plug recharging your Model S or X, but you’ll drive away with 297 (S) and 266 (X) additional miles, putting Tesla in 1st and 2nd place on the leaderboard here. At the bottom is the Fiat 500 (Hatch) with only 81 miles added per recharge, which is hardly surprising based on its size and main city-life purpose, but a 216-mile difference nonetheless.

As you can see, the charging cost difference between a car like Audi’s e-tron model and ones such as the Fiat 500 or Hyundai IONIQ is quite significant, so it’s important you factor this in when choosing a new electric car. 

If you’re thinking about leasing an electric car and have any further questions or queries, make sure to check out our electric guide section or feel free to contact us and one of our helpful team members will get back to you in no time.

Methodology

As stated above, the following methodology was used to gather the data for this piece.

• Used Zap-Map’s database to all EV charge times, cost etc.

• Kept all of the criteria the same. Charge levels start and finish were set between 20%-100% and the charger used is a 50kW rapid charger. The connection fee is at £0 and the cost per kWh is locked at 30p. 

• Zap-Map provided the estimated ranges and specific car specs.