The best electric sports cars – driven, rated and ranked
Some of the fastest cars on the planet are now powered by electricity. These are the best ones right now
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by James Disdale and Jack Warrick
11 mins read
24 July 2024
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The march towards electrification is accelerating, and if any sector serves to highlight the shift towards all things battery-powered, it’s arguably the sports car class.
Traditionally the preserve of petrol-soaked, adrenaline-pumping machines, this rarefied corner of the market has gained ever-increasing numbers of contenders favouring lithium ion over super-unleaded. Now, some of the best sports cars on sale are electric.
Not only is this new source of power delivering the sort of power and performance that internally combusted alternatives could only dream about, but it’s also broadening the definition of what a high-performance car can be.
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That’s why our list runs the gamut from traditional low-slung sportsters to curvaceous coupés, continent-crushing GTs and even (whisper it) the odd SUV.
There are cars from established players of the driver’s car art, as well as those from makers more normally associated with humbler offerings. If nothing else, the EV revolution has helped level the playing field. Yet while these machines look disparate on paper and in the metal, they all share a similar goal of keeping the driver amused.
This is also one of the most fast-moving market sectors, with new additions arriving all the time. So some of the cars you see here can be driven out of a showroom today, while others are little more than a line in an order book.
Thankfully, the number of options is growing year on year. So let’s get to it and run through the best electric sports cars money can buy today.
1. Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
9
Pros
Terrifically adjustable handling
Strong straight-line performance
Significant upgrades over the standard Ioniq 5
Cons
Extra power means its not the most efficient EV
Quite large on UK roads
It might not look like one, but the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N should be classed as an electric sports car due to its sheer performance and handling dynamism.
From the start, the Korean brand’s performance division developed the Ioniq 5 N as a pure driver’s car and it certainly delivers. Not only did we name it our best performance car of 2024, but we’d also go far as to describe it as the best electric driver’s car made to date.
Power comes from a dual-electric motor set-up, with 223bhp sent to the front wheels and 378bhp directed to the rear. Its maximum output stands at 641bhp, which helps the Ioniq 5 N hit 0-62mph in just 3.4sec.
Drivers can also choose from six drive modes and adjust the motor response, damper stiffness, steering weight and stability control sensitivity. One of the car’s more gimmicky features is its synthetic engine noise, which can resemble a choice of three different sounds.
But the Ioniq 5 N isn’t just a brilliant sports car: it’s also excellent for day-to-day use, with its 84kWh battery offering around 280 miles of range on a charge, and maximum charging speeds of 340kW.
It’s reasonably quiet, isolated and comfortable too, so you can enjoy it as a commuter car as well as a thoroughbred track-day monster.
Read our Hyundai Ioniq 5 N review
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2. Porsche Taycan
9
Pros
Outstanding handling
Sophisticated ride
Improved electric range and charging speeds
Cons
Four-seat practicality isn’t as spacious as a full-size saloon
Residual values aren’t what they used to be
Porsche has hit the EV market with exactly the sort of impact you would hope that an industry powerhouse of its stature might make, even if it wasn’t with the sort of car you would expect it to make that statement with.
Instead of being a true sports car in the traditional sense, the Taycan is a four-door fast grand tourer that’s slightly smaller than the existing Panamera but is certainly not the lesser car of the two.
The Taycan possesses fine body control, rare balance, superbly calibrated operating controls and palpable steering precision. That it rides extremely well on its air suspension only adds to its appeal and was a key factor in our decision to award the Taycan the full five stars after an exhaustive road test.
In fact, were it possible to drive blindfolded and with noise-cancelling headphones on, you would still know instantly that the Taycan was a Porsche. From the steering weight and feel, to the unerring agility and expensively calibrated damping, the Taycan marks itself out as a true son of Zuffenhausen.
There are now several models in the range, although the best elements of the package are evident even in the 532bhp 4S, which despite its lower-level status is still supercar-grade accelerative.
The top-ranking Turbo S musters 751bhp, costs almost £140,000 and is surely one of the quickest real-world cars on the planet, especially when you factor in its 2.6sec 0-60mph time. There are also Sport Turismo and Cross Turismo versions, which add estate and off-road flavours respectively to the Taycan recipe.
However, our money (quite a large chunk of it in fairness) would go on the 590bhp GTS, which combines more than enough poke with suspension settings designed to delight keen drivers. It will also travel the best part of 300 miles on a charge, which means more time driving.
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3. Audi RS E-tron GT
9
Pros
Power delivered smoothly and quietly
Drives like an Audi RS model should
Cons
Expensive with must-have options
Doesn’t quite plug the gap like the departed Audi R8
The first electric car to wear Audi’s RS initials is, deep down, the Taycan in a different suit.
It uses the same powerful electric motors (one per axle) and the same three-chamber air suspension and, of course, the underlying architecture is shared. As such, the battery pack is also carried over, resulting in a WLTP range of up to 285 miles and the potential for 350kW ultra-rapid charging.
What this all means is that, firstly, the RS E-tron GT is enormously quick. In fact, the flagship version develops 612lb ft and 637bhp and will accelerate to 62mph in comfortably less than 3.5sec.
Better still, it handles well, albeit not with quite the same level of panache and engagement as its Porsche cousin, particularly in terms of steering.
Yet it’s not far off, and the trade-off is a more relaxed gait than the Taycan when you’re mooching, which, considering the refinement benefits of an EV, makes the Audi an equally appealing proposition.
Read our Audi RS E-tron GT review
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4. Rimac Nevera
9
Pros
One of the fastest cars on the planet
Startling performance
Cons
£2.4 million price
Few car makers have made such a big impression in such a short space of time as Rimac. In little more than a decade, the Croatian firm has grown from the garage of Mate Rimac into a company that’s now partly owned by Porsche and planning the future of Bugatti. That’s quite a meteoric rise.
The crowning achievement of the young Rimac empire is the Nevera, which is the follow-up to the Concept One and C_Two show cars, the former having arguably kick-started the electric hypercar trend with its 1073bhp output and £670,000 asking price when it made its debut in 2017.
Just 150 examples of the Nevera will be made, almost all of which are apparently spoken for. Its appeal has only been enhanced in the eyes of many people by its recent record-breaking EV top speed run, when it topped 256mph.
The hardware is compelling, if somewhat eye-watering. The car is built around a composite tub, and there’s an electric motor for each wheel, with independent single-speed gearboxes at the front and two two-speed dual-clutch ‘boxes for the back axle.
All this means the Nevera boasts 1888bhp and a mountainous 1696lb ft, which allows it to hit 0-62mph in just 1.95sec. Its 120kWh battery also allows for up to 340 miles of range.
With double-wishbone suspension, torque vectoring, and the potential for level-four autonomous driving, the car has the works – and an eye-watering £2.4 million price to match.
Read our Rimac Nevera review
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5. Lotus Evija
8
Pros
Very light compared with most other EVs
Incredible speed
Cons
Limited range
We’ve yet to drive it on the road
Many recent Lotus headlines have been about the Emira, the British brand’s Porsche 718 Cayman-chasing sports car.
Yet this machine is also being heralded as the firm’s last to feature a petrol engine, with future models favouring ultra-rapid charging over unleaded. The first hint of what we can expect has already been given by the Evija, an electric hypercar being produced in a limited run of 130.
The bald statistics are somewhat mind-numbing. Lotus itself was recently surprised to find that the car’s four motors together deliver 2011bhp, rather than the 1973bhp it had previously quoted.
That propels 1680kg, which is relatively light in EV terms, so performance will feel like freefall, we imagine. Actual performance figures are thin on the ground, but Lotus expects a sub-2.0sec time for the 0-62mph sprint and a top speed the naughty side of 200mph.
That said, Lotus is tuning the car more for handling and dynamism than raw statistics, so the power delivery is said to crescendo, rather like any naturally aspirated engine would.
Just how much the Evija bottles traditional Lotus traits remains to be seen, but if any of the upcoming electric hypercars can truly appeal as a driver’s car, Hethel’s effort is probably the best bet.
Read our Lotus Evija review
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6. Pininfarina Battista
8
Pros
Sweet steering
Obviously incredibly powerful
Cons
You need £2,000,000 to buy one
Possibly not as fun as a £100,000 track-day car
Much like the relationship between the Porsche Taycan and Audi RS E-tron GT, the Pininfarina Battista shares much hardware (and software) with the Rimac Nevera, but for the purposes of differentiation, it’s being presented as the more outwardly luxurious, more GT-oriented machine of the pair.
Even so, this is no soft-centred cruiser, as the raw statistics reveal. With 1900bhp and 1696lb ft on offer from its four motors, it’s perhaps no surprise to find it can do 0-186mph in less than 12sec and 217mph all out – although even these numbers pale into insignificance alongside the £2 million asking price.
Yet there’s more to it than just statistics, because the Battista handles with surprising delicacy and poise too, feeling every bit as thrilling through the corners as it does down the straights.
It even managed to encourage our inscrutable editor-at-large, Matt Prior, to laugh out loud when he sampled it on track, which says a lot about its considerable abilities.
In the metal (and carbonfibre, obvs), the Battista is beautifully wrought both inside and out and largely Italianate, despite the fact that the company is now based in Munich and the parent company – Mahindra – is Indian.
The engineers and trimmers themselves, however, include alumni from Pagani and the Mercedes-AMG Project One hypercar, meaning there’s no lack of talent on display here.
Read our Pininfarina Battista review
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7. Maserati Granturismo Folgore
8
Pros
Uses its tri-motor set-up to good effect
Brings something genuinely new to the table
Cons
Battery is relatively small for a grand tourer
£15k more expensive than the petrol car
Over the decades, there have been many false dawns for Maserati, but somehow the iconic Italian brand has failed to move out of the shadows of its early-1950s heyday, when its cars were winning Formula 1 world championships on the track and the hearts of enthusiasts on the road.
Yet while this recent attempt to reset and go again could ultimately flatter to deceive once more, there are reasons to be hopeful that this time the Modenese maker is finally on the path to success.
First up, there was the launch last year of the sensational MC20 supercar. Then it pulled the covers off a new mid-sized SUV (crucial for sales success) and now there’s the all-new Granturismo, a coupé that’s designed to do exactly what it says on the tin.
More importantly, it’s the first Maserati to get the all-electric treatment. Known as the Folgore (that’s thunderbolt in English), it’s based on an all-new, largely aluminium platform that’s designed to work with both ICE and BEV powertrains.
It has the raw statistics: with a tri-motor set-up (two at the back for torque vectoring and one at the front), it delivers 751bhp for 0-62mph in 2.7sec and a 199mph top speed.
What’s more, its battery (83kWh for a claimed range of 280 miles) has been designed in an elongated H-shape layout, with the centre section slotting down the spin of the car. Not only does this deliver a lower seating position, but it also centres the masses and helps to give the car greater agilty.
We’ve only driven the car on track so far, but the results are extremely promising. The incredible acceleration you expect, but it’s the car’s ability to turn in sharply, rotate quickly around the apex and exit with a delicious rear-biased attitude that means it’s good to drive.
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8. MG Cyberster
8
Pros
Accurate, assured handling
GT-like suppleness of ride
Cons
Not light on its feet, compact or agile like a classic roadster
Infotainment and ADAS systems can distract and frustrate
The MG Cyberster is an important car for the Chinese-owned Britsh brand.
Not only does it mark the brand’s 100th anniversary since its initial founding, but it’s also the first electric convertible to go on sale in the UK.
Powered by a 77kWh battery, it promises around 276 miles of range. It sends its energy to two electric motors, which combine to offer 503bhp and 535lb ft, covering 0-62mph in 3.2sec. Alternatively, you can select a single-motor set-up, with power sent to the rear wheels only.
While its weight means it’s not quite as pure and zippy as a Mazda MX-5, MG has gone to great lengths to ensure the Cyberster drives with the zest and enjoyment of a more traditional sports car.
Its handling is engaging, which partners well with the Cyberster’s supple and controlled ride if you’re not looking to hustle it.
It marks a superb return for MG into the sports car market, but the real trump card is its price. The single-motor model kicks off from £54,995, rising to £59,995 for the all-wheel-drive variant.
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9. BMW i4
8
Pros
Recognisably BMW in its handling and ergonomics
Rolling refinement and perceived cabin quality are good
You don’t need to spend all the money to get the best model
Cons
Real-world range is only so-so
M50 derivative isn’t necessarily a natural choice for keen drivers
BMW is no stranger to electrified sports cars: its ill-fated i8 combined daring supercar looks with a powerful, high-tech, plug-in hybrid powertrain and a genuinely entertaining driving experience. However, the i4 is the firm’s first stab at a proper high-performance electric car – and it’s not a bad effort.
Unlike the i3 and iX, the i4 isn’t built on a bespoke EV platform but instead uses a version of BMW’s CLAR architecture (in essence, this is an electrified 4 Series Gran Coupé).
There’s an entry-level rear-drive eDrive40 model that’s brisk enough, but for true bar-room bragging rights, you need the M50, which features a twin-motor set-up that packs a hefty 536bhp punch for a M4-baiting 0-62mph time of 3.9sec.
Despite a kerb weight that’s 300kg the wrong side of two tonnes, the BMW handles with surprising agility and control, its powerful motors and clever software allowing some tail-happy action if you’re in the mood. It’s not as fun as an M4 Competition, but it feels just as fast and what it lacks in outright poise and precision it gains in comfort and refinement.
As a first attempt at a fully electric driver’s car, the M50 is pretty much on target, but bear in mind that the cheaper and slower (but lighter and with less adhesive tyres) eDrive40 actually has the sweeter and more approachable handling balance, plus it will go further on a charge (367 miles).
As a driver’s car, the eDrive40 the better bet, and the fact that you’re saving a few quid only makes the deal more appealing.
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10. Kia EV6 GT
7
Pros
Performance is mighty, but not unruly
It’s a performance car that can be driven daily
Cabin is spacious and cleverly laid out
Cons
Feels too big and heavy
Not really innovative enough to win over EV critics
Drift mode is more of a dynamic oddity than an enriching factor
You may not have been expecting to find a Kia in this list, but the Korean firm has been on a mission to shift perceptions recently.
It started a few years ago with the now defunct Stinger GT-S, an upmarket five-door coupé that packed a thumping V6 engine and expressive rear-wheel-drive handling, but it’s the warm embrace of electrification that will allow it to really make its high-performance mark.
The rakish EV6 has already impressed in its cooking versions, with good looks, plenty of pace and biddable handling making it a surprisingly satisfying steer.
So expectations for the flagship GT model are understandably high – not surprising when you consider the specification.
The raw statistics show that its dual-motor set-up (one at the front and another at the back for four-wheel drive) packs 577bhp and 546lb ft, which makes it good for a 0-62mph time of 3.5sec and a 161mph top speed. And thanks to its 77.4kWh battery, it can travel a claimed 263 miles on a charge, while an 800V electrical architecture means ultra-rapid charging is on the menu.
There have also been chassis tweaks, with an enhanced GT mode delivering more focused damper settings at the touch of a button, as well as the full 577bhp.
Overall, it feels surprisingly light on its feet. There’s quick steering, strong grip and, of course, a devastating turn of speed, while the Drift mode is hilarious – although the wild angles of dangle it induces mean it’s best not deployed on the road. Only when pushed to the limit does the EV6 feel a little ragged as it struggles to contain its SUV-ish height and not inconsiderable mass.
However, where the EV6 really scores is in its value for money. On paper, its £62,645 asking price looks a little steep, but few cars come close to matching the quirky-looking Korean machine’s performance-per-pound offering.
