Best new electric cars: 17 EVs to look forward to in 2025 and beyond
From the retro-inspired Renault 5 to the highly-anticipated electric Range Rover – plus a whole new family of EVs from Jaguar – these are the new electric cars we’re looking forward to
The Independent's Electric Vehicles Channel is sponsored by E.ON Next.
There are already over 100 models of electric car available to buy in the UK, and that number is going up all the time. As manufacturers work hard to meet a government mandate requiring 22 per cent of all new car sales to be electric this year – increasing to 28 per cent in 2025 and 52 per cent by 2028 – new models are landing all the time.
What’s more, prices are falling. Electric cars are no longer restricted to the luxury end of the market, and while you can still spend six figures on an EV, there are genuinely affordable, sub-£20,000 electric cars like the Dacia Spring to consider. In the coming months we’ll see more small EVs go on sale, in the shape of the retro-styled Renault 5 and its sporty sibling the Alpine A290.
We’re also looking forward to the launch of the first all-electric Range Rover, which is due on sale soon, and a whole new family of electric cars from Jaguar due to hit the market in 2026. EVs just over the horizon include the Polestar 4, which we drove recently, the Alfa Romeo Junior, the Kia EV3 and the Mini Aceman, which we’ll also be taking for a spin very soon.
Below we’ve rounded up some of the most important new electric cars coming to market in the next few months. This article will be updated regularly to keep track of future electric cars, and include our reviews as soon as we’ve got behind the wheel.
Abarth 600e
- Expected price: Around £40,000
- Launch date: Late 2024
Abarth has a long history of adding a bit of flare to the far humbler offerings of its sibling, Fiat. The company turns 75 this year, and as part of the celebrations it’ll release its second all-electric car. Based on the Fiat 600e, the Abarth 600e is a sporty electric crossover with the Ford Puma ST in its sights.
The Abarth 600e will send 237 bhp to its front axle with a single electric motor, making it considerably more powerful than the 153 bhp Fiat on which it’s based. It’s likely to have the same 51 kWh battery as the Fiat, so we can expect its range to be a little lower than the 252 miles of the standard 600e. Other known hardware details include a limited-slip differential and a set of performance tyres.
As with the Abarth 500e, the 600e will have an external sound generator to remind passers-by that, no, it really isn’t just a Fiat. Thankfully, Abarth says the sound effects will be easier to switch off than in the 500e, which had the off switch buried in a submenu.
Alfa Romeo Junior
- Expected price: From £33,895
- Launch date: Second half of 2024
Alfa’s first electric car, the Junior shares the same EV platform as the Jeep Avenger. It’s a compact SUV with three trim levels and three power outputs on offer. Prices start at £33,895 for the entry-level Elettrica, rising to £35,695 for the better-equipped Speciale, then leap to £42,295 for the more powerful Veloce model.
The 54 kWh battery pack and single electric motor of the Elettrica send 154 bhp to the front wheels and the claimed range is up to 255 miles. Alfa says a charge from 20 to 80 percent will take less than 30 minutes.
In top-spec Veloce guise the Alfa Junior is boosted to 276 bhp, albeit still with a single motor powering the front wheels, and a spritely 0-62 mph time of 5.9 seconds. On that note, we applaud Alfa for not fitting the Junior with a comically over-powered dual-motor setup, as some other manufacturers of small EV are guilty of.
Alpine A290
- Expected price: Around £36,000
- Launch date: Late 2024
The A290 by Alpine is a sportier version of the equally new Renault 5. It’s an electric hot-hatchback with a characterful, muscular body, the French brand’s distinctive set of quad headlights, and enough power to outrun the Abarth 500e. Front-wheel-drive and with 220 bhp, the Alpine will sprint to 62 mph in 6.4 seconds and has a claimed range of 236 miles. All of that means the Alpine promises to go further – and get there more quickly – than the similarly sporty Mini Cooper SE. Prices for the A290 are expected to start in a similar ballpark to the Mini, at around £35,000.
Audi A6 e-tron
- Expected price: From £69,900
- Launch date: Autumn 2024
Audi’s electric e-tron family will soon gain a couple of new members, in the form of the A6 and sportier S6, with both offered as a saloon or an estate. The cars will use the same platform as the Audi Q6 e-tron and Porsche Macan, which means a large, 100 kWh battery and 800-volt architecture.
Expected to be priced from around £55,000 to north of £80,000, the A6 promises a huge range of 435 miles and charging speeds of up to 270 kW – so if you can find an equally powerful charger, it should fill its battery from 10 to 80 percent in 20 minutes. The A6 range starts with a single-motor, rear-drive model with 362 bhp, which Audi says will deliver a 0-62 mph time of 5.4 seconds.
The quicker S6 gains a second motor for all-wheel-drive, a total output of over 540 bhp, and a 0-62 mph time of just under four seconds.
BMW ‘Neue Klasse’
- Expected price: Unknown for now
- Launch date: 2025
Although still concept cars for now, BMW’s so-called Neue Klasse and larger Neue Klasse X are a pair of electric cars to get excited about. The former is expected to become a saloon car the same size as the 3-Series, while the X will, predictable, become an SUV.
We have high hopes. BMW has described its upcoming Neue Klasse family as the biggest single investment in the company’s history, and that the upcoming cars will redefine the German brand for an all-electric future. These cars are expected to use a fast-charging 800-volt electrical system, with three battery size options of 75, 90 and 105 kWh. Mercifully, the cars should offer a cleaner, simpler design than some of BMW’s current creations, when they arrive in production form in 2025.
Fiat Topolino
- Expected price: Around £9,000
- Launch date: 2024
Now for something different. Like, really different. Remember the Citroen Ami? Well this is what happens when you take the electric French quadricycle and inject some Italian charisma. It’s also what happens when you open up the roof, paint it mint green and replace the doors with the ropes you might find around the private bit of a posh beach bar.
We admit it might not be entirely suitable for the UK, but it’s a huge dose of dolce vita nonetheless, and a demonstration of what EVs can be if you think outside the box. It promises 47 miles of range from its tiny 5.5 kWh battery, just 8 bhp, a top speed of 28 mph – and a set of stylish seat covers that can be used as beach towels. It’ll likely be priced at around £8,000.
Ford E-Transit Custom
- Price: £45,000 (ex VAT)
- Launch date: Late 2024
Often described as the backbone of Britain, and also the country’s best-selling commercial vehicle, the Ford Transit is going electric. It has a targeted range of 163 to 209 miles, a 2.3-tonne towing capability and a maximum gross payload of 1,088 kg, Ford says.
The van is also claimed to charge from 10 to 80 percent in 39 minutes (depending on the power of the charger used, of course), and it can deliver up to 2.3 kW of power to run power tools, lights, laptops and other devices. Other tech features include a 360-degree camera, 5G connectivity and a 13-inch touchscreen running Fords’ SYNC operating system. It’ll be priced from between £40,000 and £45,000 before VAT.
Jaguar
- Expected price: Under £100,000
- Launch date: 2026
What’s going on at Jaguar? It’s a fair question to ask, given it’s about to stop producing all of its cars, including the electric I-Pace, which was way ahead of the curve when it arrived in 2017 but has barely been touched since.
The company is going for a clean-slate approach. It’ll axe everything it currently sells by the end of 2024, then produce nothing at all until deliveries of an all-new EV family begin in 2026. It’ll be like when Glastonbury has a fallow year, but with Jaguar working frantically behind the scenes to completely reinvent itself. Not just let some grass grow back.
This reinvention will include taking a big step up-market. Its first new EV is expected to be a £100,000 four-door GT with over 400 miles of range, two motors and nearly 600 horsepower. All being well, this will be followed by an equally plush SUV and a bigger luxury saloon that Jag hopes will give Bentley sleepless nights. It’s a huge gamble for a British firm that has failed to keep pace with the success of its sibling brands Range Rover and Land Rover – and it’ll all kick off with the reveal of an EV concept car this December.
Kia EV3
- Expected price: From £33,000
- Launch date: Late 2024
Kia sells some fantastic electric cars, so we have high expectations for the EV3. To go on sale later in 2024, the EV3 will sit below the massive EV9, mid-size EV6 and equally new EV5. It’ll use the same E-GMP electric platform that underpins other Kia, Hyundai and Genesis cars, which means the smaller EV will still benefit from an 800-volt system with rapid charging.
Kia says the finished car will look a lot like the concept it revealed in 2023, pictured above, with the promise of practicality and a spacious interior despite the compact dimensions. Range from the 81.4 kWh battery will be up to 372 miles, the company says, while the 0-62 mph time is 7.5 seconds and, more importantly in the real world, the EV3 will fill its battery from 10 to 80 percent in about 30 minutes. A lesser version will also be available, and is expected to be priced from just under £30,000. It’ll have a 58.3 kWh battery and a range of about 255 miles. Both variants are equipped with a single motor sending 201 bhp to the front wheels.
Lotus Emeya
- Price: From £94,950
- Launch date: Second half of 2024
A saloon sibling of the Lotus Eletre SUV, the Emeya is a Lotus built to take on the Porsche Taycan, Audi e-tron GT and likely whatever Jaguar has in store for us in 2026.
Priced from £94,950 to £129,950 for the flagship R variant, the Emeya promises a maximum range of 379 miles from its 102 kWh battery pack and a maximum charge rate of 350 kW. That makes it the fastest-charging production EV yet, and means it can fill its battery from 10 to 80 percent in 18 minutes. But, as always, that’ll only be possible when connected to an equally powerful charger.
Engineered and built in China, the Emeya will be among the quickest and most powerful four-door cars on sale, producing 905 bhp in R form and hitting 62 mph in 2.8 seconds. The entry-level Emeya and mid-range Emeya S are likely to produce closer to 600 bhp. Other features include a trick air suspension system that scans the road 1,000 times per second then adjusts accordingly, active aerodynamics, 5G connectivity and a 15.1-inch OLED dashboard display.
Maserati MC20 Folgore
- Price: Around £300,000
- Launch date: 2025
The electric supercar is a tough nut to crack. Some brands, like Rimac and Lotus, have aimed for the very top of the market and used electrification to produce monsters with 2,000 horsepower and price tags of £2,000,000. But what about everyone else? We’re still waiting to see what an all-electric Ferrari will look like, while McLaren isn’t saying anything just yet and Aston Martin simply doesn’t seem interested in electrification. It doesn’t even sell a hybrid.
But Maserati has shown interest in an EV supercar. It’ll be called the MC20 Folgore and, the Italian company says, it’ll arrive in 2025. We haven’t seen it yet, but the name alone means it’ll be a battery-powered version of the existing MC20 (pictured above), a two-seat supercar currently powered by a V6 engine. It is understood the electric version will use a similar three-motor setup to that of Maserati’s electric GranTurismo Folgore, and the company says it shouldn’t weigh too much more than the V6 version. The MC20 is one of our favourite supercars of the past few years, so we have high hopes for its electric sibling, which is expected some time in 2025.
MG Cyber GTS
- Expected price: Around £55,000
- Launch date: 2025 or 2026
MG doesn’t just sell sensible electric cars for family duties and Uber shifts. It also sells the well-reviewed Cyberster, a stylish two-seat sports car with a fold-down roof and scissor-style doors.
And next up is the Cyber GTS, a hard-topped coupe sibling to the Cyberster. It was revealed as a concept to celebrate MG’s 100th birthday at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed, and at the same show MG demonstrated a moving prototype – suggesting it’s serious about putting the GTS into production. It’s understood the car will be offered with similar single- and dual-motor options as the Cyberster, and that it could go into production as soon as 2025.
Mini Aceman
- Price: £31,800
- Launch date: November 2024
Arriving with customers in November, the Aceman is an all-new member of the Mini family. It’s an electric compact crossover that’s designed to fit between the three-door Mini Cooper hatchback and the larger Countryman SUV. It’s also the first Mini to be offered exclusively as an EV, since the Cooper and Countryman can both still be bought with engines.
Priced from £31,800 and with up to 252 miles of range, the Aceman finds itself in a crowded segment of the EV market, with rivals like the Jeep Avenger, Alfa Romeo Junior, Renault Megane E-Tech and Kia EV2 all vying for mass-market attention. Two battery options are available, with capacities of 42.5 kWh (good for a claimed 192 miles) and 54.2 kWh. Power outputs are 181 bhp and 215 bhp respectively, with 0-62 mph times of 7.9 and 7.1 seconds.
Polestar 4
- Price: £59,990
- Launch date: Autumn 2024
Would you buy a car without a rear windscreen? That’s the first question you’ll likely ask yourself when you see the new Polestar 4. It’s otherwise a perfectly sensible electric, four-door saloon with plenty of Swedish sensibility baked in and priced from just under £60,000. It’s packed full of useful tech, of course, and because this is 2024 its minimal interior puts almost all controls on the large central touchscreen.
So what about the rear? Removing the rear screen is the result of relocating the header rail, which usually sits at the rear of the roof and helps give a car its rigidity. This was lowered to improve aerodynamics (and thus increase range), then because its new position would either impact passenger head room or block the rear windscreen, it was decided the glass should go. The result is aesthetically weird, but creates a cabin that cocoons its rear passengers while somehow remaining roomy – and rearward visibility is taken care of by a camera feed beaming to the interior mirror.
The Polestar 4 is available with a one- or two-motor setup, producing 268 and 536 bhp respectively. Their 0-62 mph times are 6.9 and a supercar-like 3.7 seconds, while range is 385 miles and 367 miles. As ever, the cheaper, less powerful but longer-legged model looks like the better choice.
Range Rover Electric
- Expected price: From £130,000
- Launch date: Late 2024
The first all-electric Range Rover will arrive later in 2024 – and, from what JLR has already shown of it, testing in the Arctic Circle, it’ll look almost identical to the current model. That of course means a simple, modern, full-size luxury SUV, but little else is known for now.
JLR has previously said it’ll have an 800-volt charging architecture. That’s double the voltage of most other EVs, and means the Range Rover Electric should have a maximum charge rate of over 250 kW. It is also sure to have the same go-anywhere ability of its siblings, including being able to wade through 850 mm of water. Prices haven’t been announced yet, but it’s likely to start comfortably above the £104,000 commanded by the current model.
Range Rover Sport Electric
- Expected price: Around £100,000
- Launch date: 2025
Due in 2025, an electric version of the Range Rover Sport will sit below the full-size Range Rover Electric, pictured above. Like its bigger brother, it is also expected to look remarkably similar to the current model, making it slightly smaller than the flagship and a little more affordable too. It will go up against the Lotus Eletre and an upcoming electric Porsche Cayenne.
Renault 5 E-Tech
- Expected price: £25,000
- Launch date: Early 2025
Renault’s going retro with its next EV. The new 5 is a five-door hatchback that harks back to the original 5, which was in production through the 1970s, 80s and 90s. To be priced from around £23,000, the new car retains much of the original boxy aesthetic, plus an interior that blends modern digital displays and infotainment with 1970s colours and textures. There’s even a woven wicker baguette holder for your morning trips to the bakery. No really, there is.
Under the body you’ll find a 52 kWh battery pack sending 134 bhp to the front wheels and promising a range of up to 248 miles. Renault says the battery will charge from 15 to 80 percent in 30 minutes (if you use the right charger). Tech features include integrated navigation from Waze, plus access to Amazon Music, Google Assistant and more apps from the Play store.
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