At SMMT's Drive Live event near Worcester last month, I drove eight electric cars in a single day. After a day behind the wheel, the Mini Cooper Electric stood out as the clear winner, scoring 9/10, ahead of the Kia EV2 (8.5/10) and the Nissan Leaf (7/10).
Modern electric cars come in all shapes and sizes and are becoming more popular than ever. America's ongoing war with Iran has seen fuel prices skyrocket to prices never seen before across the UK, forcing motorists to consider electric vehicles. The new electric car market grew 12% last month – the 10th consecutive month of growth – according to SMMT.
Eighth: Polestar 4 (RRP - £55,750)
Coming in last was the Polestar 4. Undeniably a capable machine, with excellent handling, efficiency and technology, it comes last because of how irritating it is to use. It is all very well and good for a car to be capable on paper; the real test is how easy it is to use day to day.
Before we get to specifics of the car's irritations, it is important to say that it is very nice on the inside; the seats are comfortable and supportive and you find yourself in a world of premium-feeling materials. On the road, as mentioned, it feels stable, planted, and grippy. It feels heavy too, but it controls its weight well even if the lane assist has a habit of cutting in too aggressively.
On the flip side, the car's usability is low. Every change and alteration has to be made through the infernally large touchscreen in the centre of the car. Polestar, unlike other manufacturers on this list, has not yet caught up to the fact that buttons have had a bit of a renaissance recently. Yes, there are some on the ceiling, but that's not enough.
Furthermore, the rear view mirror is also a screen meaning your eyes have to take a moment to refocus, and the wireless charging pad doesn't grip your phone enough. In practice, if you accelerate too hard, your precious device will fly out of the slot. These might sound like minor gripes, but over time even owners might lose patience. Verdict: 5.5/10.
Seventh: Jeep Compass (RRP - £34,635)
The Jeep is a strange beast because, on the surface, it looks like the full off-roader its brand name promises. It's a book with a very fine cover. On the inside, there is a good array of switches to accompany the blissfully small touch screen in the centre of the dashboard, as well as physical controls on the steering wheel.
The seats, too, are comfortable and sturdy, and there are plenty of charging points for one's various devices. My issue with the car, however, is once you get on the road there's nothing that feels definably 'Jeep'. There's no sense that, if the badges and decals were changed to, for example, a Citroën, you would feel as if you were driving something else; there was no sense of piloting something distinctive, like it was a Jeep in name only.
To drive, beige as it was, the car had a slightly long brake pedal, but not terrible. It gripped well enough on the corners and was otherwise well-behaved; the suspension was as soft as butter, and it was easy to see out of. It beats the Polestar simply because it felt like a big car that was easy to use. Verdict: 6/10.
Sixth: Genesis GV70 (RRP - £66,815)
Genesis is a Korean car brand owned by Hyundai. The car I had the opportunity to drive at the SMMT event, the electric GV70, was once named the Scottish Car Of The Year, so expectations were high.
The interior of the GV70 was a svelte sea of white leather and plastics covering absolutely everything, like the car's interior had been turned to extreme grayscale on a smartphone. Not necessarily a criticism, just something I'd noticed. In common with other Hyundai Group products, there was a small screen with accompanying physical controls, including an i-drive style dial on the centre console and a subsidiary dial on the steering wheel.
Behind the steering wheel lay one of the strangest curiosities of them all. A lot of cars nowadays have done away with physical dials and replaced them with digital ones. The Genesis is no different, but this one also had the golf scores. I'm not joking, it had the French Open leaderboard open as I drove along with the player's scores.
Fortunately this doesn't distract from the driving too much; it has classically mild numb electric car steering, but still gives you some idea as to what is going on underneath the four corners of the car. The suspension feels soft and well-damped, more so than the Jeep above. Overall, it just cruises on with not much fuss, and you're dropped off back at your destination in great comfort. Verdict: 6.5/10.
Fifth: Nissan Leaf (RRP - £37,999)
Ah yes, the Nissan Leaf, a car which remade headlines when Ferrari released the £450,000 Luce earlier this year and people couldn't help but notice aesthetic similarities between the two. The Nissan is a lot less expensive than the Ferrari, but then it's aimed at a much larger market. The version I drove was the third generation of a car released in the early-2010s as part of that era's electric car renaissance.
This new model takes the Leaf away from the hatchback segment and into the ever-burgeoning SUV one. Arguably, the Leaf is one of the cars that looks better as a coupe SUV than its predecessor did as a hatchback. It's a likeable car, and it shares some of that with its sister, the Qashqai, which, in part, started off the whole SUV craze in the mid-2000s. On the inside, it shares the same tech as its hybrid cousin, with cloth and assorted leathery bits in the upholstery.
Again, just like the Qashqai, it's easy to use and easy to operate on the move, with plenty of physical controls on the dashboard and steering wheel, plus paddles to control the regenerative braking behind the steering wheel. It's brisk, but not too powerful. It doesn't attempt to be a racing car through the corners, but it remains flat and stable. It is a car that does a solid job, and that's no bad thing. Verdict: 7/10.
Fourth: Fiat Grande Panda Electric (RRP - £20,495)
I've driven the hybrid version of the Fiat Grande Panda; it was SMMT's May Test Day back in May at the Millbrook Proving Ground. That was fun and the car felt a little like the original Panda I drove back in December 2023, albeit not one that had been converted into a coffee truck. When it comes to the electric version of the car, the retro-futuristic looks were once again an appeal, as was the car's diminuitive size by modern standards. The interior is shared between the hybrid and the electric versions of the car.
The interior can best be described as minimalistic, with a small screen in the centre of the dash, underneath which are the climate controls, charging slots, and the de rigueur wireless charging pad. The steering wheel is quite large for a car of this size, but also has physical controls and a small digital display behind it.
Take the car out on the road, and it immediately feels a lot less nimble than its hybrid sibling, even if it rolls a little less thanks to the battery being low down and as close to the ground as the design allows. It's not a brisk car; it doesn't try to snap your neck with a heavy dose of accelerative force. I'm sure it would be a fine car to nip around cities in and maybe even go further afield, given its range of just under 200 miles. Verdict: 7.5/10.
Third: Citroen Ami Buggy (RRP - £10,496)
As with the Fiat Grande Panda above, I've driven another version of the Citroen Ami before. Back in 2023 I test drove the non-buggy version around London for the Express. However, the variant I drove at SMMT's event this time around had no doors at all. It's not a serious competitor to any car on this list; it's not even a car, it's technically speaking a quadricycle with a top speed of just 28mph. You can't drive it on motorways, but you can drive it on the little back roads around the hotel we were based at.
What it is, in effect, is a normal Citroen Ami with slightly different bodywork and metal gates in place of normal doors. This doorlessness served mainly to bring into sharp relief how close we were to colder weather. Halfway during my test drive I had to stop and put on my beloved blue bobble hat and a neck warmer.
You develop a great appreciation for the indoors when you feel the outdoors trying to make its way into the cabin, which is made up of a simple digital display, a few buttons to change between forward and reverse, and a little netting to stop your bag moving around inside. Nevertheless, it was a vehicle that had me giggling in mild hysterics at the end because of how ridiculous, in a good way, it was. Verdict: 8/10.
Second: Kia EV2 (RRP - £27,995)
Well hello Kia EV2. I'd wanted to drive this car for a while in large part because of how many awards it has won in recent months, including the Car of the Year and Best Small Electric Car at the first RAC New Car Awards earlier this year. In fact, it was a car that proved very popular during the test day. On the surface it shares Kia's semi-cyberpunk-sci-fi esque design language that features a little on the Sportage SUV. It also reminded me a little too of the Mk1 BMW MINI Countryman in terms of its overall silhouette.
Step inside the Kia and the restrained modern nature of the interior. There are fewer buttons than in the Nissan Leaf, but more than in the Polestar 4. It feels premium on the inside, but not claustrophobic, and seats are comfortable, but support you. There are also nice little details too such as plusses and minuses on the pedals.
On the move, it feels stocky, but I mean that in a good way; it feels assured and nimbler than other electric cars. When I did a group test comparing to the Polestar and Nissan, I decided it would be the one I would have if it was my own money, in large part because it's not too big, yet supremely practical. Verdict: 8.5/10.
First: Mini Cooper Electric (RRP - £26,905)
Given my views about modern cars, I shouldn't really like this car, because on paper it doesn't suit my likes and dislikes. It's got a massive touchscreen in the centre of the dashboard, it has very few buttons, the steering wheel is incredibly thick, and it is very brisk.
BUT, but, I can't help but really like the electric version of the MINI Cooper because whilst it is very powerful and covers the ground very effectively, it is small, and nimble and fizzes with excitement. It is beautifully feral in its nature, like a very excitable black Labrador which has just had a very potent biscuit let loose in a forest. It's a car that is very good looking, very fun to drive, not the most practical, but that doesn't matter.
What's more, because it's a MINI, it handles well. The steering is direct, the suspension firm, but communicative. Yes, the touchscreen is irritating and I hope MINI follows other manufacturers and decides that buttons deserve a comeback, but as a pure vehicle for electric driving pleasure, this is the clear winner out of the eight on this list. Verdict: 9/10.
