The Cheapest Electric Cars in Australia (2026)

The cheapest electric car in Australia is the BYD Atto 1 Essential, at $23,990 before on-road costs as of September 2026, and BYD is currently selling it for $19,990 drive-away on orders placed by 15 December 2026. Next up are the Geely EX2 at $26,490 and the BYD Dolphin at $29,990, both before on-roads. Seven battery-electric cars now start at $34,000 or less, and the catch at the bottom of the market is range: the cheapest versions carry small batteries, and the Atto 1 Essential claims just 220 km.

Which electric cars are the cheapest right now?

The table lists the cheapest grade of each model, sorted by the maker’s advertised starting price. Watch the price basis. BYD and Geely advertise a list price before on-road costs; MG, GAC and GWM advertise a drive-away price, which already includes stamp duty, registration, CTP insurance and delivery. On a car at this price, on-road costs add roughly $2,700 to $3,000 in NSW going by the makers’ own configurators, and they vary by state, so a $31,990 drive-away price is cheaper than a $31,990 list price. Prices are from each maker’s Australian website as of September 2026.

Sources: BYD’s configurator and model pages for the Atto 1, Dolphin and Atto 2; Geely’s EX2 page and build tool; MG’s MG4 Urban page and brochure; GAC’s Aion UT page; GWM’s Ora 5 page. The Atto 1 and EX2 fast-charging figures are from CarExpert and CarExpert, and the Aion UT’s from CarExpert, because the makers’ pages do not state them. Battery and range for the Dolphin, Atto 2 and Ora 5 come from our own vehicle dataset, checked against the makers’ published figures.

Our table ranks on price alone, not on which car is best. For a second opinion on that, Wheels named the MG4 Urban its best electric small car of 2026 in August, ahead of the BYD Atto 1 and GAC Aion UT, citing its equipment, range and practicality for the price.

Every car in the table uses a Type 2 plug for AC charging at home and a CCS2 plug for DC fast charging, the standard on every new EV sold here.

What do the step-up grades cost?

Most of these cars come in two grades, and the dearer one usually buys a bigger battery rather than just more features. The Atto 1 Premium ($27,990 before on-roads) moves to a 43.2 kWh battery, 310 km and 85 kW charging. The EX2 Inspire ($30,990) gets 47.14 kWh, 345 km and 80 kW. The Dolphin Premium ($36,990) jumps to 60.48 kWh and 427 km. The MG4 Urban Essence 54 ($34,990 drive-away) claims 405 km. On the Aion UT and Atto 2, both grades share one battery, so the extra money buys equipment only.

If your driving includes regular trips beyond the city, the step-up grade is usually the better buy. Paying $4,000 more to go from 220 km to 310 km changes what the car can do far more than any trim upgrade.

Are there deals below these prices?

Yes, and they move the order around. As of late September 2026:

• BYD Atto 1 Essential: $19,990 drive-away on orders placed from 15 September to 15 December 2026 and delivered by 31 December, per BYD’s offers page. CarsGuide points out that makes it the cheapest new car in Australia, electric or not.
• BYD Dolphin Essential: $28,888 drive-away over the same period.
• MG4 Urban: MG’s configurator shows a $2,000 cash-back, taking the Essence 43 to $29,990 drive-away in NSW.
• Leapmotor B05: from $35,990 drive-away for the 56.2 kWh, 401 km Style, but Leapmotor’s offer applies only to Lightning Yellow cars bought and delivered by 30 September. We have not included it in the table because its price after that date is not published.

Offers end, and new ones appear most months. Check the maker’s own offers page before you walk into a dealer.

Is a 220 km range enough?

For many city households, yes. If your week is a commute, school runs and errands, and the car plugs in at home most nights, it starts every morning with a full battery and 220 km is plenty. The trouble starts on the highway. Our guide to how far an EV can really go explains why: expect 10 to 20 per cent less than the WLTP figure in everyday driving and 60 to 75 per cent of it at a steady 110 km/h. On those numbers the Atto 1 Essential is roughly a 130 to 165 km car on a freeway, which rules out Sydney to Canberra without a charging stop.

Charging speed follows battery size, too. A small battery charging at 60 or 65 kW still gets from 10 to 80 per cent in about half an hour, because there is less to fill, but each stop adds fewer kilometres. If you have no driveway and will rely on public chargers, give range more weight than price. Our charging time guide works out stop times for most of these cars.

Which is the cheapest electric car to run?

Running costs barely separate these cars, because they are all small and light. Our dataset puts the BYD Atto 2 at about 13.7 kWh per 100 km in an Australian road test and the Dolphin Essential and Ora 5 at about 15; MG quotes 16.5 kWh per 100 km for the MG4 Urban Essence 43 on the WLTP test and CarExpert reports 16.4 for the Aion UT. At 30c/kWh that is roughly $4.10 to $5.00 per 100 km, against about $13.30 for a petrol car using 7 L/100 km at $1.90 a litre.

What moves your running cost is where you charge, not which small EV you pick. An overnight EV electricity plan at around 8c/kWh cuts the same 100 km to about $1.20; relying on DC fast chargers at 60 to 70c/kWh pushes it to $9 or more. Our cost to charge guide runs the numbers by tariff and network.

Does a novated lease make sense on a cheap EV?

It can. Battery-electric cars under the luxury car tax threshold for fuel-efficient vehicles ($91,661 for 2026-27) are exempt from fringe benefits tax on a novated lease, and every car here is less than half that. The federal government has also announced that from 1 April 2027 the full exemption will be limited to EVs costing $75,000 or less. That change is not yet law, and every car in this list sits under the cap anyway.

Because the tax saving scales with the car’s price, the dollar benefit is smaller on a $24,000 car than on a $60,000 one, and lease fees take a bigger bite. Our novated lease guide shows how the maths works on an average PAYG salary and what to ask a provider.

Why aren’t plug-in hybrids in this list?

Because they are not electric cars in the sense most buyers mean. BYD’s Atto 2 DM-i plug-in hybrid starts at $24,990 before on-roads, cheaper than all but one EV above, but it runs on petrol once its battery is empty, does not qualify for the EV FBT exemption, and costs whatever your mix of plug and pump works out to. Some households are better served by one. Our EV vs hybrid guide helps you decide which.

Prices, offers and grades change often. We check this list against the makers’ websites and will update it as new models land; if you are buying soon, confirm the drive-away price for your postcode on the maker’s configurator before you sign.