Which electric car is the cheapest to run?

From enjoying a guilt-free zero emissions drive, or getting a kick out of instant torque – there are lots of reasons that drivers say they are glad to have made the switch to electric vehicles.

Lower maintenance costs – thanks to vastly fewer moving parts – and the smooth and silent driving experience are other benefits. And so, too, is the joy of not having to visit the petrol pump.

But this doesn’t mean the cost to run an electric vehicle is zero. While many electric car owners couple their EV with a solar system to get free juice from the sun, paying for electricity to charge their car is still a major factor.

It’s already been shown that electric vehicles can be cheaper to own than petrol and diesel vehicles, particularly with leases, but given drivers in Australia already have to pay a premium for their EVs, the cost of charging does matter.

Now the data is in, using details sourced from EV Database including real world range (which will be much less than the NEDC rating used in Australia), energy consumption and battery size, and calculations based on an electricity cost of 27c per kilowatt hour (check the chart out below).

In terms of cheapest to run, the contest is between the Hyundai Ioniq, which sells in Australia from $48,490, and the Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus which sells from $73,900.

This may seem like a big disparity in price but keep in mind that with a larger battery, the Model 3 SR+ offers longer driving range as well as the ability to update software over-the-air, such as one recent update which in effect helps to slightly increase the car’s range.

That said, when we put the Hyundai Ioniq through its paces it was by no means disappointing, displaying responsive and nimble handling and in our mind, topping the Model 3 with a big and accessible hatch as opposed to the 3’s boot.

Third on the list is the Mini Cooper SE, which recently landed in Australia for press reviews and will sell from $54,980, and which our very own Sophie Vorrath says is a cool city runabout.

Next up is another Hyundai – the 64kWh Hyundai Kona Electric to be exact (64kWh being usable battery capacity). This compact SUV with 400km real world driving range makes a good choice for those after some decent driving range combined with minimal running costs (also: we’ve also heard anecdotal reports the range is really much closer to Hyundai’s stated 480km).

At numbers six and seven, the BMW i3 and Nissan Leaf are also commendable – for further reading on each vehicle simply visit our Models page, choose a model and scroll down to find the latest reviews.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the range of the Hyundai Kona Electric is 67.5km, which obviously it isn’t.