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Best Electric Compact Cars for the Money for 2024

The best electric compact cars for the money are ranked based on an analysis of their price and average lifespan, with the top-ranked models offering the longest life at the lowest price.

The best electric compact car for the money is the Nissan LEAF which has the lowest iSeeCars Annual Lifespan Cost. We rank vehicles by how much a vehicle costs to purchase relative to how long the car lasts which we believe is a good determiner of value - the lower the cost, the better the value. The Nissan LEAF has an average new car list price of $32,456 and an average lifespan of 74,037 miles or about 9.8 years, resulting in an annual purchase cost of $3,329.

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What is the best electric compact car for the money?
  1. Nissan LEAF
Models not ranked yet

The best electric compact car for the money is the Nissan LEAF which has the lowest iSeeCars Annual Lifespan Cost. We rank vehicles by how much a vehicle costs to purchase relative to how long the car lasts which we believe is a good determiner of value - the lower the cost, the better the value. The Nissan LEAF has an average new car list price of $32,456 and an average lifespan of 74,037 miles or about 9.8 years, resulting in an annual purchase cost of $3,329.

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  • Annual Lifespan Cost $3,328.82
  • Avg Lifespan: 74K Miles (9.8 Years)
  • Starting MSRP: $28,140
iSEECARS SCORE

iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association

See how we rank these cars
8.0 / 10
  • Reliability 6.9 / 10
  • Value Retention 7.0 / 10
  • Safety 10 / 10
Vehicle Image
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iSEECARS SCORE

iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association

See how we rank these cars
8.0 / 10
  • Reliability 7.1 / 10
  • Value Retention 6.9 / 10
  • Safety 10 / 10
Vehicle Image
See More Photos

How We Rank These Cars

The Best Cars for the Money list ranks cars by their annual cost, which compares the purchase price of the car against how long the car lasts. We believe this is a good determiner of value--the lower the annual cost, the better the value.

iSeeCars analyzed millions of cars to determine how long each car can last. Then we calculated the annual cost over the lifespan for each vehicle. In the event two or more vehicles have the same annual cost, we use iSeeCars proprietary rating of the overall quality of the car (iSeeCars Score) to break the tie.

The overall iSeeCars Score is an analysis of three factors: reliability, resale value and safety. It is calculated based on the latest research and analysis by our data science team. The data analysis comes from over 12 million new and used vehicles in our Longest-Lasting Cars and 5-Year Depreciation Studies, combined with NHTSA and IIHS Safety Ratings.

Vehicles are scored in three categories:

Reliability

The reliability score represents an analysis of iSeeCars' proprietary research on the longest-lasting vehicles.

Value Retention

The value retention score is based on our data science team's statistical analysis and prediction of 5-year depreciation from MSRP to determine which cars hold their value best, using US Bureau of Labor Statistics data to adjust for inflation.

Safety

The safety score is calculated based on the last five years of crash test ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and incorporates the latest Top Safety Pick information from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).