The 10 Best Electric Cars for City Driving

The ID.3 is Volkswagen’s electrified version of its highly successful Golf range, and is easily one of the best electric cars for city driving. The five-door hatchback is a great family car that provides plenty of space while remaining compact and great for driving around town.

The ID.3 offers very light steering and is more than capable of turning in tight spaces despite being a relatively long 4.3 metres. It also accelerates fast, doing 0-60 mph in around seven seconds on models with more powerful batteries – handy for pulling away at traffic lights. While range isn’t such a big concern when thinking about the best electric city car, some versions of the ID.3 offer up to 339 miles, meaning you have the flexibility to go on longer trips too. 

It’s a great family car with lots of boot space and legroom for your passengers. Inside, the ID.3 provides plenty of comfort, and some models even offer adjustable lumbar support on the front seats. Many models come with a rearview camera, which helps with parking. We also really like the wide windscreen and slim pillars, which gives you maximum visibility on unpredictable urban roads. 

The e-208 is Peugeot’s first mass-produced EV and is a real success. This electric version of the standard Peugeot 208 looks, feels and performs very similar to the petrol-powered original, making it an easy entryway into owning an EV. 

What makes the e-208 one of the best electric cars for city driving is its practicality when it comes to navigating the urban environment. It has loads of great features, including parking sensors on every model, power folding wing mirrors which means they won’t get knocked on busy streets, and a compact steering wheel (almost dinner-plate sized) which makes positioning the car really easy. Despite being a five-door, this hatchback is still very compact, which makes it ideal for parking in tighter spaces or for dealing with busy traffic. 

The e-208 also has an impressive range (up to 224 miles) and accelerates relatively quickly (0-60 mph in eight seconds). It’s also a comfortable drive, and its soft suspension means it can handle bumps and potholes better than many other small EVs. Inside, the 7-inch infotainment system is easy to use, and the materials on the seats and dashboard feel high quality. It also comes with its own heat pump, which means you can warm the car in cold months without using up the battery. 

The Fiat 500 takes a classic city car and upgrades it for the electric age. We love the retro style of this dinky EV, but we’re also impressed by how driveable it is on urban roads. 

This is intentionally a small city car. With a 10-metre turning circle and compact dimensions, it’s incredibly handy for getting around town. You do sacrifice some space in this three-door (the back two seats offer minimal legroom, and the boot is only really suited to your weekly food shop). Still, you arguably don’t need much more from a city car anyway. 

The Fiat 500 makes our list for the best electric city car of 2023 because of its driveability. The steering is incredibly light, which makes sharp turns and manoeuvres around the road very easy. It comes with ‘one pedal’ driving – you slow down and accelerate just using the throttle pedal – making driving in ring road traffic much less tiring. It also has autonomous emergency braking – a great feature that means the car automatically applies the brakes if a pedestrian or cyclist wanders into your path. On top of all this, it has a range of up to 199 miles. 

Inside, it’s compact but still comfy for the driver and passenger. The car’s big 10.25-inch dashboard touchscreen allows you to connect with your Android or iPhone. We also really like the Fiat 500’s dedicated smartphone app, which means you can remotely double-check if the car’s locked or see if windows have been left open (and you can control it remotely too). 

The Vauxhall Corsa is one of the most popular cars in the UK, and this electrified update is easily among the best electric city cars. The Corsa has always been compact, which is why the model has long been popular among urban drivers. All the same, the Corsa Electric doesn’t feel too cramped, and even taller backseat passengers still have enough room to feel comfortable. 

In terms of driving, the Corsa Electric has very light steering, which makes parallel parking or quick direction changes very manageable, and its small turning circle is also handy. Not to mention that you also get rear reversing sensors on all versions, which helps with parking. This small car also has an impressive range of up to 222 miles, which means it’s able to take on longer trips from time to time. 

The interior is fairly conventional, so it’ll feel familiar. There’s a decent 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system that you can connect to Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. The car comes with all the modern features you’d expect, including USB charging points and a connected app which lets you pre-warm or pre-cool the car depending on the temperature outside.

Few cars are as synonymous with urban motoring as the Mini. And with its iconic design, personalisation options, and exceptional handling, the Mini Electric is surely one of the best electric cars for city driving. 

In terms of handling, the EV version of the Mini has maintained the brand’s famous ‘go-kart’ style driving. It’s really nippy, fun to drive, and very agile – great for ducking in and out of lanes and parking in tight spots. The range is a little lower than competitors at 145 miles, but if you mainly need this for local commutes, it’s more than enough. 

It is the interior that arguably makes the Mini Electric one of the best electric city cars. The dashboard design and infotainment system are really unique, with a circular infotainment system and easy-to-use dials and buttons for essential controls. The seats and materials feel classy and comfortable, and the rear passengers get a reasonable amount of space. There are also loads of ways to accessorise the car, including options for back seat storage packs, paint colours and more.

We couldn’t make a list of the best electric cars for city driving and not include the BMW i3. And while the German brand stopped manufacturing the i3 in 2022, there’s still a big market for used versions of this hugely-impressive and much-loved EV. 

For city-dwellers, there’s a lot to like with the i3. Take the handling, which benefits from all the expertise of BMW’s engineers. The car is easy to manoeuvre with very light steering. It also has a very small turning circle, which is great for quick u-turns on city streets, while its snub nose means it’s easy to see where you’re going when parking in tight spots. 

Inside, the i3 still feels very futuristic, despite being one of the older EV lines. The cars come with lots of unusual and eye-catching materials (such as eucalyptus wood panelling), plenty of tech and a decent infotainment system. Despite its small size, the i3 still feels pretty roomy inside, and two rear passengers have more than enough legroom and height. You also get access to things like BMW ConnectedDrive (a service which connects the car to your phone, sends data about the vehicle’s health to BMW, and provides you with traffic information and other handy stuff), navigation, real-time traffic information and other handy services – all of which help make your drive through town that much easier. 

The Mercedes EQA is one of the smaller SUVs (‘sports utility vehicles’) on the market, making it a great family car for city driving. It provides a handy combination of storage and height off the ground (great for strapping in a car seat) while still being relatively compact.

Inside, this is a very spacious feeling car, and the front seats are designed so those in the rear seats still get plenty of knee room. It also feels very premium, with lots of soft-touch materials and attractive panelling, plus very comfortable seats – which makes queuing in traffic that much more bearable. 

In terms of driving, the EQA feels reassuringly solid, and Mercedes have a good reputation for building exceptionally safe and secure cars. It also offers one of the highest ranges in this list (328 miles) and decent acceleration (0-60 mph in just under 9 seconds), making it capable of taking on longer trips and motorway driving. Parking sensors and rearview cameras come as standard, which helps with squeezing into tight spots when visiting town centres. 

The Q4 e-tron is a classy SUV, and is one of the best electric city cars for families thanks to its generous internal space – while still being compact enough to be nimble around town. Add in plenty of tech, sophisticated styling and a range of 300 miles, and this EV really stands out. 

As a city car, the Q4 e-tron is really practical. It’s very spacious and benefits from a flat floor due to the layout of the battery pack – that means rear seat passengers don’t feel cramped. There’s plenty of room in the boot, which is great for big family shops too. It’s also just very comfortable throughout, giving you that Audi brand of sophisticated luxury in materials, panelling and style. 

The car handles well, and in terms of safety, it emits a special ‘sound’ when travelling at lower speeds, which warns pedestrians and cyclists of your presence – a great feature for urban driving. Other tech features include a connected service which lets you programme the car’s SatNav from your smartphone before you start driving, so it’s ready to go as soon as you get in. It can also charge from 10-80% in just 20 minutes (using a rapid charger), meaning you can ‘fill up’ in the time it takes to grab a coffee or nip into the shops.

Smart cars have a well-deserved reputation as one of the best vehicles for urban drivers, thanks to their compact size. And the electrified Smart EQ ForTwo is easily among the best electric city cars. 

The EQ ForTwo is an ideal city car in so many ways. It is incredibly compact, at just 2.7 metres long. That makes it perfect for turning, parking nose first in tight spaces, and taking very tight corners. It also handles exceptionally well, thanks to light steering. While it’s not a place you’ll want to spend hours on end, it’s still comfortable enough for commuting in and journeying around town, and the small boot is still spacious enough for a weekly shop. 

With a range of just 80 miles, you won’t travel far in the EQ ForTwo, but this is more than enough for most urban adventures. If you need a bit more space, then the EQ ForFour lets you carry two more passengers, great for carpooling with friends. 

The Honda e is one of the best electric cars for city driving, delivering cool looks, a high-tech dashboard and enjoyable handling. Its size really makes it stand out, and it has a ridiculously small turning circle so you’ll rarely need to do a three-point turn. Grippy around corners and roundabouts, it feels solid yet speedy and is easy to drive. It also comes with front and rear cameras, which makes parking super easy. 

This is a small car, and while the driver and front passenger have more than enough space, the rear row is fairly small. But for short trips around town, this is hardly an issue. The same goes for the relatively low range of 137 miles – fine for your commute, just don’t expect to go on epic road trips. 

We especially like the interior of the Honda e. The dashboard is like one long collection of screens, starting with two angled wing mirror displays, a rearview display, a 12.3-inch infotainment system and an 8.8-inch instrument cluster behind the steering wheel. There are also USB charging sockets everywhere, and even an HDMI input so you can plug a games console into the dashboard! The general design is great, mixing high tech with charming retro design, wood-style trim and squidgy seats. It’s a fun place to be.