The Cheapest Electric Cars In 2024 Aren't What You'd Expect

Fisker just significantly slashed the price of the Ocean EV to $24,999, effectively making it the least expensive EV currently for sale in the United States. For that, you get a five-seater SUV and 231 miles of range. Whether or not Fisker stays in business long enough to get cars on the road is another question entirely. Perhaps the lower price will keep the lights on at Fisker just a little while longer for customers to get a car. Stranger things have happened.

EVs, in general, lean towards the more expensive side. For every car like the Fisker Ocean at the bottom of the price spectrum, there are many cars like the Cadillac IQ, Tesla Model S, and Lucid Air that tip the monetary scales. However, there are still a fair number of inexpensive EVs from automakers you might not immediately associate with the more budget-minded driver. The Ocean hasn't entirely cornered the more reasonable part of the market.

Clocking in a $30,900, the 2024 MINI Cooper SE electric is definitely a more left-field choice than your average Tesla or Ford Mustang Mach-E. However, you can't argue with the price tag. It sports a single electric motor that pumps out a surprisingly peppy 181 horsepower. That motor is able to propel the car to 60 miles per hour in a perfectly reasonable 6.9 seconds. You aren't going to be burning the tires off other cars at the drag strip, but those aren't bad specs by any stretch of the imagination.

There are few cars as instantly recognizable as a Mini Cooper, and the battery-powered version is no different. If you are a die-hard Mini Cooper fan, or at least want to make a convincing environmentally-conscious impression of Mr. Bean or the climactic car chase from "The Italian Job," look no further than the MINI Cooper SE Electric. There is, however, a downside that's worth discussing. It's only capable of 114 miles of range, making it one of the shortest-range EVs on the market today. 

No list of cheap EVs is complete without the Chevy Bolt at an MSRP of $26,500. In 2024, though, the Bolt does, in fact, deserve a large asterisk. General Motors announced that the Bolt was reaching the end of production, and the Bolt, as the world knows it, would be no more. You may not be able to directly order a new Bolt from the factory, but there are still new 2023 Bolts widely available at Chevy and GM-specific dealerships across the country. 

At a range of an estimated 259 miles, it's extremely capable as a daily driver and still a fantastic deal if you can get your hands on one. Prior to the Ocean's precipitous fall in price, the Bolt was the least expensive EV on the market. Compared to the Ocean, the Bolt is made by a company that isn't hanging on by a thread financially, and it offers just a little more miles of range. That may be worth a consideration.

Love it or hate it, the Tesla Model 3 is an incredibly popular car. If you don't care about the antics of Elon Musk, the entire vibe of Tesla as a company, and just want a reasonably priced EV that gets decent range, the Model 3 is hard to ignore at a price of $38,990. It may not be the most exciting from an exterior or interior view, but the recent refresh has done the formerly staid-looking Model 3 some favors. 

According to Tesla's website, a five-seater sedan with a range of 272 miles and a listed top speed of 125 miles can be had for a little under $40,000. It completes the all-important 0-60 charge in a respectable 5.8 seconds. Any exterior color other than the base "Stealth Grey" will add to the price tag, as will the black interior. Most options will take it north of $40,000. 

The Nissan Leaf is one of the first popular electric cars on the road, and it isn't going away anytime soon. The base model Nissan Leaf S starts at $28,140, and it has a range of 149 miles, which puts it at a disadvantage compared to its competitors, although it's admirable that Nissan hasn't given up on the Leaf. The Nissan Leaf SV Plus, with a much larger battery and a range of 212 miles, cranks the price up by a significant margin to a still-not-too-unreasonable $36,040. Plus, you get more horsepower. The SV Plus Leaf is rated at 214 horsepower, while the base model cranks out 147 horsepower.

While the Leaf may not be the best model for the range, it's still on the market, and Nissan is still offering support and quality-of-life features like a huge service network and warranty support. Sometimes, all someone needs is a new car with a good warranty that won't destroy a bank account. The Nissan Leaf fulfills that role as well as it always has.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6 take the spotlight as far as Hyundai EVs are concerned, but that doesn't mean that Hyundai's third EV, the Kona, doesn't deserve at least a little attention. It starts at $32,675, and it has an estimated range of 200 miles on the dot. If there was one word to describe the electric Kona, it would be "reasonable." It has a single electric motor that puts out a perfectly reasonable 133 horsepower. When using a DC fast charger, it can replenish its battery from 10% to 80% in a perfectly reasonable 43 minutes. 

The Kona sits squarely in the middle of the pack as far as budget EVs go, but that's not a bad thing at all. Normcore is a prevailing style choice these days, and standing out in the crowd isn't always everyone's cup of tea. For everyone whose music taste trends towards Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, and Taylor Swift, there's the Hyundai Kona.