Several dozen models of electric cars are sold in Europe, from some for 20,000 euros to supercars for 200,000 euros. What are the 50 best-selling models and how much do they cost? What is the promised autonomy, from those with whom you do not even cover the distance Bucharest – Brasov, to those with whom you come from the capital, all the way to Timisoara.

Brief information

• The cheapest electric cars in Europe cost less than 30,000 euros without subsidies. Dacia Spring has the lowest price, along with the smart and MG models.

• The most expensive models have a range of more than 500 km and cost more than 100,000 euros. For example, Tesla Model S Plaid, with a range of 550 km, costs 140,000 euros. The Mercedes EQS 450+ model costs about 110,000 euros (640 km by car).

• The best-selling cars cost somewhere between 35,000 and 50,000 euros. There are more and more models of Chinese brands such as BYD, NIO, JAC or Hongqi. Several Chinese models were launched in the second half of 2022 and will perform well in 2023.

• The segment of electric SUVs with a range of 250 to 350 km has grown the most, with models such as the electric Hyundai Kona, Volkswagen ID4, Skoda Enyaq, Peugeot e-2008, Nissan Ariya or Kia EV6.

• The battery is the most expensive component of an electric vehicle and costs thousands of euros. The smallest electrics have batteries of up to 30 kWh, and the most expensive and sophisticated top models from premium German brands have batteries of more than 100 kWh, but these cars cost more than €100,000.

• The electric, costing up to €40,000, has a top speed of 130-160 km/h, but acceleration is brisk, with a time of less than 10 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h.

• At the end of the year, the most expensive electric model should enter the European market: the Rolls Royce Spectre, a 100 kWh battery, a range of 455 km and a maximum speed of 250 km/h.

• Electricity is still a niche, but its share will continue to grow until 2035. Electrics now make up 10% of new cars sold in Europe and are too expensive for most of the population. In January, more than 1,000 fully electric cars were registered in Romania.

• Only one model exceeded 100,000 units, the Tesla Model Y, out of 137,000 units sold last year in Europe. Tesla Model 3, Volkswagen ID 4, Fiat 500e and Volkswagen ID3 closed the top five.

Brands and models

Tesla Motors

It had the two best-selling electric cars in Europe last year: the Model Y with more than 137,000 vehicles and the Model 3 with 91,000. The Model Y starts at €47,000 and the Model 3 starts at €45,000. The most expensive Tesla option is the Model S Plaid with a range of 550 km, acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.1 seconds and a price of around 140,000 euros. There is also a Tesla Model X Plaid with a 95 kWh battery and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.6 seconds.

For the “entry” version of the Model Y with a 57 kWh battery, the range is 345 km.

Volkswagen

The group had the best year in its history for all-electric cars, with the ID 4 being the third best-selling model in Europe and the ID 3 the fifth, with more than 100,000 customers (in total). The ID 5 sold 21,000 units and the eUp 17,000. The Volkswagen ID4 starts at €47,000 and the ID 3 starts at €38,000.

The latest ID Buzz Pro model has a 77kWh battery, a range of 330km and a price tag of over €65,000.

• Romanians and electric cars – history in small steps and what the future will look like when sales reach tens of thousands of cars per year

hearing

The German brand had five models in the European electric top 50: Q4, e-tron, Q4 Sportback, e-tron Sportback and e-tron GT. Q4 gained 27,000 customers, and the top five had a total of over 80,000 customers.

The Q4 e-tron 40 costs from 52,000 euros and promises a range of 405 km. The most expensive model of the brand is the Audi e-tron GT RS, it costs about 150 thousand euros and develops 250 km/h. Acceleration is excellent: from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.3 seconds.

Mercedes

And Mercedes had five models in the top 50 electric bestsellers in Europe: EQA, EQC, EQB, EQE and EQS. EQA is the best seller with 23,000 units and the five together have more than 70,000 units.

The Mercedes EQA 350 4MATIC model costs from 60,000 euros, has a 66.5 kWh battery and a range of 350 km. The EQB 250 also costs less than €60,000.

• How much does an electric car battery cost in 2023?

The EQE 350 SUV costs 90,000 euros and has a range of 470 km. The most expensive Mercedes is the EQS SUV 580 4MATIC, which in some markets costs 167,000 euros and accelerates from 0 to 100 km in 4.6 seconds.

BMW

There were four models in the top electric cars of the Bavarian brand: i4, iX, iX3 and i3. The i4 was in 25th place and the four cars found almost 90,000 buyers.

The BMW i4 eDrive35 starts at around €60,000 and has a range of 400 km, while the i4 M50 variant has a larger battery, a range of 435 km and a price of more than €70,000. The BMW iX3 also costs from €70,000 and the iX xDrive40 from €80,000+ (71kWh battery, 360km range).

The most expensive fully electric BMW i7 xDrive60 costs 140,000 euros.

Fiat

Electric 500 found 66,000 buyers, which is 50% more than in 2021. The Fiat 500e costs from 31,000 euros in the version with a 21.3 kWh battery and a range of 135 km. The price is about 37,000 euros for a Fiat 500e 3+1 42 kWh with a range of 235 km.

Skoda

The Czech brand did not have electric models until a few years ago, but has a comprehensive electrification program. The Enyaq model found 50,000 customers. The Skoda Enyaq iV 60 variant with a 58 kWh battery starts at 50,000 euros. The Enyaq Coupe iV RS variant has a 77kWh battery and a range of 405km, priced around €65,000.

Dacia

In its first full year on the market, the Spring found 48,000 customers, and recently a version with a more powerful engine also appeared. The Spring costs from 20,800 euros, and the version with a slightly more powerful engine costs around 22,500 euros.

Peugeot

The French brand has two models that are doing well: the electric e-208, which saw sales increase by 10% compared to 2021, and the e-2008, which sold 27,000 units. The e-208 costs from 33-35,000 euros, and the e-2008 from 38,000 euros. The e-2008 SUV has a range of 255 km, and the e-208 has a range of 285 km.

Hyundai

Hyundai had two models in the top 11, both with roughly 40,000 units: the electric Kona and the IONIQ5. The Kona starts at €36,000 and the IONIQ 5 starts at €44,000. Hyundai IONIQ 5 Long Range AWD has a range of 385 km and costs about 60,000 euros. The car accelerates to 185 km/h and accelerates to 100 km/h in 5.1 seconds.

Kia

Hyundai’s “mate” alliance found 38,000 customers for the Niro and 28,000 for the EV6. The electric Niro costs from 45-47,000 euros, and the EV 6 – from 47-49,000 euros. The most powerful electric Kia is the EV6 GT with a range of 370 km, a maximum speed of 260 km/h and a price of more than 70,000 euros.

Renault

Sales of the Zoe model have halved after it was at the top of European all-electric cars for many years. Then came the Megane E-Tech, which sold 32,000 units in its first year on sale. The electric Twingo sold 26,000 units compared to 2021.

Megane E-Tech costs from 42,000 euros in a version with a 40 kWh battery and a range of 250 km. The version with a 60 kWh battery and a range of 365 km costs 5 thousand euros more. Renault Zoe costs around 36-38,000 euros. and the electric Twingo is sold only in certain markets, costs around €28,000 and has a range of 130 km.

Opel

The German brand from the Stellantis group had two models that found 28,000 buyers each: Mokka and Corsa. The electric Mokka had its first full year of sales. The Corsa-e is priced from around €34,000 and the Mokka-e from €38,000, both in the 45kWh battery version. For the Mokka, the range is 255 km, and for the Corsa – 285 km.

Ford

Mach-E found more than 25,000 customers, a 10% increase from 2021. Prices for the Mustang Mach E start at €62,000, in the Mach-E SR RWD version, a 71 kWh battery, and a range of 355 km. The Ford Mustang Mach-E GT costs more than €85,000, has a 91 kWh battery and a top speed of 200 km/h. The car accelerates to 100 km/h in 4.1 seconds.

Mini

The Electric Mini model found 34,000 customers, which is 17% more. Prices are in the range of 36-38,000 euros, and the battery is 28.9 kWh, which means an autonomy of 180 km.

Volvo

The Swedish brand, which is part of the Chinese group Geely, entered the top 50 electric cars in Europe in two models: XC40 and C40.

The C40 Recharge model costs from 48,000 euros in the Single Motor version, with a 67 kWh battery and a range of 345 km. The XC40 Recharge model costs about 60,000 euros in the Twin Motor version (78 kWh battery and 380 km range).

The most expensive electric Volvo is the EX90 in the Twin Motor Performance version: 110,000 euros, a range of 440 km and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds.

Polar Star

The Polestar 2 model produced by the Volvo Group was in a very good 16th place, with sales increasing by 66% in 2022. Prices start at 51-53,000 euros for the standard version with a range of 385 km. The Polestar 2 model in the Long Range Performance version has a range of 410 km and accelerates to 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds.

Nissan

The Leaf, which has been the world’s best-selling electric car for several years, had its best year in 2018, with nearly 40,000 sold on the continent. Last year, it fell to 28,000.

Leaf costs from 35,000 euros. The latest model, the Ariya SUV, was introduced in the summer and costs from 50,000 euros for the version with a 63 kWh battery and 63,000 euros for the 87 kWh version. The promised range is 320 km, respectively 445 km (for the 87 kWh version).

Copper

Seat’s performance brand recorded very good results, with the Born model becoming the 15th best-selling electric car in Europe with over 32,000 units sold. The Born compact comes with two versions of batteries with a capacity of 58 kWh and 77 kWh. A 45 kWh version will be released soon. Prices, depending on the version, start from 40,000 to 49,000 euros. Range of 275 km for the cheaper version.

GM

The Chinese brand is unknown here, but in Europe it started its rise, having four models in the top 50: MG ZS, MG 5, MG Marvel R and MG 4. Total sales were about 50,000 units.

The MG ZS starts at €33,000 and has a range of 270 km, while the extended range option costs €38,000. The most expensive car is the Marvel R Performance, which costs 50,000 euros and accelerates to 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds.

Porsche

Almost 19,000 Europeans have bought the Taycan sports car, which is available in several versions, with prices starting at €90,000 for the version with a 71 kWh battery and a range of 230 km. The most expensive is the Porsche Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo: it costs almost 200,000 euros and accelerates to 100 km/h in 2.9 seconds.

clever

The fortwo electric car has sold more than 17,000 units and costs about 25,000 euros, has a range of about 100 km and a small battery of 16.7 kWh. The Smart #1 Brabus model will be presented in several countries with a 64 kWh battery, a range of 335 km and a price of almost 50,000 euros.

Citroën

The Citroen e-C4 model has found almost 20,000 buyers and costs about 40,000 euros. Battery 45 kWh, range 265 km.

Jaguar

Jaguar entered the top 50 with the i-Pace, an SUV that found more than 6,000 buyers. It costs more than €90,000, has an 84 kWh battery and a top speed of 200 km/h. The promised autonomy is 380 km, but accelerates to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds.

Mazda

The MX-30 model was released in the middle of the year. It costs 35 thousand euros, the range is 170 km, the maximum speed is 140 km/h. The battery has 30 kWh.

Sources: JATO statistics and comparison site EV Database

Photo source: Dreamstime.com