One country every bit as capable as Tesla when it comes to filling its cars with whizz-bang technology is China. While the UK doesn’t yet get some of China’s maddest machines, we do get the BYD Seal, which seems to be aimed squarely at the Model 3 – from its attractive fastback styling to its touchscreen-as-centrepiece inside.
The Seal has some (figurative) rough edges, like a saloon-style boot that limits its practicality, a chassis that isn’t as well developed as some other options and high insurance costs… but then all those also apply to the Model 3. The range (up to 354 miles) is competitive and the cabin has an elegant, well-built look and feel. It’s absolutely a worthy alternative.
Used: Porsche Taycan
There used to be a Porsche 911 advertisement that read: “Honestly now, did you spend your youth dreaming about someday owning a Nissan or Mitsubishi?”. Well in this case, you could swap the Japanese brands for Tesla, since used examples of the Porsche Taycan conveniently start around the same price as a new Model 3, and the German car surely still has the more aspirational badge.
The Taycan was one of the best-looking and best-driving EVs on sale when it arrived in 2020 and not much has bettered it since. 4S models with the 93.4kWh Performance Plus battery have a WLTP range of around 288 miles (it’s 301 miles for rear-drive cars). Those figures look a little mean by 2025 standards but they’re hardly unusable, and the Taycan’s performance is still competitive too: 5.4 seconds to 62mph for the RWD cars, 4.0 seconds for the 4S, and handling that justifies the Porsche badge.
Used: Audi e-tron GT
Suppose you don’t want a Model 3, but also want something that flies a little more under-the-radar than a Taycan? Well, the Audi e-tron GT fulfils that role quite neatly, being close cousins with the Porsche but offering different styling and a slightly more relaxed driving experience.