Compare Chinese electric cars

In the past, Chinese cars have been mocked for being poor copycats of existing models from Europe and North America. However, over the past decade the country has turned its reputation on its head, building quality cars with their own unique designs.

Naturally, some are better than others, but you can no longer write off Chinese manufacturers. The success of MG proves that there’s appetite for affordable, well-built cars on these shores, and BYD appears to be following a similar trend, with more to come.

As with cars from any country, prices vary wildly depending on the model you go for. However, most of the Chinese models currently available in the UK are affordable family cars – the MG4 EV has earned a reputation for being the best cheap electric car, starting at around £25,000. The BYD Seal on the other hand is an alternative to the Tesla Model 3, and as such costs more at just over £45,000. More expensive models from luxury brands such as Nio are likely not far away.

At the moment, the MG4 EV is the highest ranked Chinese electric car on sale in the UK, according to our team of car testing experts. The BYD Dolphin and BYD Seal aren’t far behind, though.

There are currently three Chinese electric car manufacturers selling in the UK: MG, BYD and ORA. However, a few years ago there were hundreds of car makers in China trying to take advantage of the electric car boom. Some were more successful than others and this number is coming down. There are now about a dozen major players, though many of these have various subsidiaries within them making cars under different brands for different audiences. Expect to see more and more making their way to Europe in the coming years.