Used test: Fiat 500 Electric vs Mini Electric costs

Buying and owning

Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security

When new, our Fiat 500 Electric came in at £27,995, while the Mini Electric was more expensive at £29,900. Now, after three years on the used market in the 500 Electric's case and four years in the Mini's case, they've both reached roughly £14,000 each. 

Over the next three years, our data puts 500 Electric deprecation at £5400, with that figure dropping to £2950 for the Mini. 

In insurance group 17, the 500 Electric should cost you around £545. The Mini is likely to cost you more, with its insurance group of 22 setting you back around £640. For two services of the 500, Fiat quoted us £336.20. Expect to pay more when servicing the Mini: for two services, we saw a £503.64 figure from Mini. 

Both of these cars come reasonably well equipped, with automatic headlights, rain-sensing wipers, rear parking sensors and cruise control. The 500 left some desirable features to the options list, mind you. For instance, the Mini has a standard rear-view camera, while the original 500 owner had to pay £850 (for the Eye Park Pack) for it. You also best hope they paid £450 (for the Winter Pack) if you want heated seats – once again, that's a standard feature on our Mini. 

In our 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey, the 500 Electric was absent, but owners we've spoken to have generally been satisfied, even if some experienced software glitches.

The Mini Electric was present in our survey and, not only that, it ranked first out of 20 cars in the electric car class – its reliability score of 97.6% instills confidence. Any issues owners found with their Minis were never serious enough to render the car undriveable. Mini covered the cost of all remedial work and, although no cars were fixed in a day, all were back on the road in less than a week. 

As car brands, Mini placed third – again, very impressive – while Fiat saw a mid-table result: 15th out of a total 32 manufacturers. 

When safety tested by experts Euro NCAP, the Fiat 500 Electric received four out of five stars. The Mini Electric has never been tested. The petrol version has, albeit all the way back in 2014, meaning its four-star rating has expired. 

On a 7kW home charger, the Mini will take 4hr 15min to charge, while the 500 will take 6hr – that's 0-100%, by the way. When allowed to charge at their maximum rate on a rapid charger, you should see a 10-80% charge to take 27min in regards to the 500 and 35min in regards to the Mini. 

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