In-depth reviews

Volkswagen e-up! (2014-2019) running costs

The Volkswagen e-up! is slightly pricier than a Smart EQ ForFour, but like that car it’ll cost you very little to run

Overall rating

4.0 out of 5

Insurance groupWarrantyService intervals2018/19 company car cost (20%/40%)
10E36 months / 60,000 miles12 months / 10,000 miles£665.21 / £1,330.42

Being electric doesn’t change the fact that people are still prepared to pay a little bit more for a Volkswagen badge. At almost £23,000, the e-up! commands a premium of around £10,000 over the flagship GTI petrol. You’ll slash £3,500 off the electric model’s list price with the Government’s Plug-in Car Grant, however.

For comparison, the Renault ZOE (excluding the mandatory battery lease, granted) costs from £22,920 – despite being a bigger car with a longer electric range. After the grant, the ZOE starts from £19,420.

However, like all electric cars, once you’ve bought your e-up!, it’ll cost very little to run. As there's no petrol or diesel engine, the Volkswagen emits 0g/km of CO2 and is therefore exempt from road tax (VED) and the London Congestion Charge. No CO2 emissions means it sits in the very lowest Benefit-in-Kind company-car tax band, too.

Volkswagen e-up! insurance group

The Volkswagen e-up! is more expensive to insure than its entry-level petrol equivalent, but a group 10 rating is unlikely to break the bank. For comparison, a Smart EQ ForTwo sits in group 12.

Warranty

The Volkswagen e-up’s warranty is identical to the one offered on the normal petrol car. The standard three-year/60,000-mile manufacturer warranty covers all the usual bits and bobs, and excludes consumables like tyres. All this comes in addition to the eight-year battery warranty, three-year paintwork warranty, and 12-year body protection warranty.

Servicing

Volkswagen claims the simplicity of an electric car means it’ll cost less to service. As such, the e-up! only requires servicing after 18,000 miles or two years. After its initial check-up, the service intervals are every 18,000 miles or 12 months.

In addition to all the usual points, Volkswagen will check your charging cables, the battery, and any unique high-voltage components every time it has a service.

Road tax

Being a zero-emissions vehicle, the e-up! is exempt from road tax.

Depreciation

Electric cars don’t tend to fare particularly well when it comes to depreciation. As such, the Volkswagen e-up! will be worth just 37% of its original value after three years or 36,000 miles. That’s a little bit better than a Smart ForFour (34%) but worse than most petrol up! variants (40-47%).

Richard is editor of DrivingElectric, as well as sister site Carbuyer.co.uk, and a regular contributor to Auto Express. An electric and hybrid car advocate, he spent more than five years working on the news and reviews desk at Auto Express and has driven almost every new car currently on sale.

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