This Electric Car Is Now The UK’s Cheapest Car
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The UK has been better than most at adopting electric cars. Electric cars just recently outsold “normal” petrol cars for the first time, and in the first quarter of 2026 plugin cars accounted for 35% of all UK car sales, with full electrics (BEVs) accounting for 22%. It’s one of the best markets for EVs. Part of that is that the country actually offers the public good affordable electric cars.
Now, the cheapest car you can buy in the UK is electric. The Dacia Spring EV starts at £11,990 ($13,700).
The second cheapest car is also electric. In fact, it was the cheapest car for about 24 hours before Dacia cut the price of its Spring EV. That second cheapest car is the Leapmotor T03, which costs just £12,995 ($17,400). There’s also a higher-trim Dacia Spring Extreme 100. The Spring Extreme 100 costs £12,990. So, for a consumer, it’s basically a choice of whether to save £1,000 or a matter of brand and style preferences. That said, both the entry-level Dacia Spring Expression 70 and the higher-trim entry-level Dacia Spring Extreme 100 have 140 miles of range, while the Leapmotor T03 starts with 165 miles of range; however, the Dacia Spring Extreme 100 has 100 kW of power whereas the Spring Extreme 100 and Leapmotor T03 have just 70 kW of power. “The more expensive Spring also adds a 10.1in touchscreen with smartphone mirroring, electric rear windows and a reversing camera over the sparsely equipped standard car,” Autocar adds. The Leapmotor T03 also has a 10.1 inch center touchscreen, but there’s no mention of phone mirroring.
You can find out more about the cars on their respective webpages: Leapmotor T03 and Dacia Spring.
Just to be clear, yes, these cars are the cheapest of any powertrain in the UK. The cheapest non-electric car is the £14,765 Dacia Sandero (petrol powered).
Electric vehicle technology costs keep coming down, too. So, in terms of low-cost competition, this is basically the beginning of the end for petrol-powered vehicles. How can you compete when you cost more to buy and you cost more to operate? And the driving experience is significantly worse.
Of course, these are base models that are all about saving money, and that also offer that simple, small-car experience for people who prefer that (count me in). Going to the Leapmotor UK website to learn more about the T03, though, the first thing that popped in front of my face was the all new B05. Oh my, what a cool looking car!
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