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Electric Car Awards 2026: Best electric value car

With fully electric and plug-in hybrid cars now coming in all shapes and sizes, we’ve named the best new and used buys in every class. Here we look at the best electric value cars

WINNER: Best electric value car

Honda Super-N Advance

Honda Super-N review Honda Super-N deals

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Honda Super-N front driving

Log on to any social media platform and it won’t be long before you stumble across an internet meme claiming that ‘Japan is living in 2050’. The country’s innovation is beyond question, but it has a very simple answer to driving on congested streets: make cars smaller.

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The resulting models (known as ‘kei’ cars) are incredibly popular in Japan, helped by the fact that they’re so darned affordable. And the new-to-the-UK Honda Super-N brings precisely that philosophy to British buyers.

Honda Super-N rear static

To address the elephant in the room, it isn’t the cheapest electric vehicle (EV) around; the Citroën Ami quadricycle, Dacia Spring and Leapmotor T03 all cost less. But the Super-N comes much better equipped, and it’s still a sub-£19k car. A Bose sound system, adaptive cruise control, a heated steering wheel, heated front seats and automatic air-con are all standard, as is funky Boost Violet Pearl paint. That’s also more kit than you get with the entry-level Citroën e-C3, while the control layout is easier to use than a BYD Dolphin Surf’s.

List price

£18,995

Leasing

0-62 mph

14.5 sec

Top speed

84 mph

Range

128 miles

Insurance group

27D

True, the Super-N hasn’t been safety tested by the independent experts at Euro NCAP – and as a low-volume model, it’s unlikely it ever will be. However, it is fitted with an impressive raft of active driver aids.

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To help you in town, for example, there’s Traffic Jam Assist (to make steering easier) and Low Speed Brake System & Throttle Control (which can prevent accidental acceleration, and therefore low-speed bumps). And the Super-N really does excel in this environment, with its narrow waist allowing it to slip through gaps that would be off limits to many other electric cars, and tiny overhangs making parking a doddle. Even the acceleration, while far from fearsome, is perfectly nippy enough for the cut and thrust of rush-hour traffic.

Honda Super-N dashboard

The ride, too, is better than you’d expect from such a small car; the Super-N is less choppy than the Spring and T03. And it’s more fun on a winding road than most small EVs, thanks to naturally weighted steering, a Boost mode and simulated gearshifts.

The narrowness of the Super-N means you might occasionally clash elbows with your front passenger, but there’s a surprising amount of head and leg room for four inside it. And although the boot is small (162 litres), the rear seats can be folded flat to extend the space, or flipped up like cinema seats to give you a second load area that’s tall enough for house plants, not just bonsai trees.

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Key facts

Engine Electric motor Power 94bhp (in Boost mode) Torque 119lb ft Gearbox 1-spd automatic Battery size 25.4kWh (usable) Fastest charging time (10-80%) 30min

Best used electric value car

Kia e-Niro 64kWh 3

Kia e-Niro front driving

On sale from 2019-2022 Prices from £8000

The Kia e-Niro was one of the first EVs to offer a decent range (282 miles officially) at a reasonable price. Today, it’s a comfortable, spacious and great-value used buy.

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