• Excellent fuel economy across the range
• Even the GTI isn’t thirsty
• All-electric E-Up provides lowest running costs

What are the running costs?

Regardless of engine or trim, the Volkswagen Up is one of the cheapest cars to run that’s currently on sale. Fuel economy, tax and insurance for the Up has all been designed to be as low as possible.

Unsurprisingly, the all-electric E-Up that emits zero emissions has the lowest running costs of the range.

Aside from the Up GTI, every petrol derivative returns a claimed average fuel economy of over 54mpg, the most frugal being the entry-level Up in three-door format. Predictably, the 115hp Up GTI claims the lowest average fuel economy at 51.4mpg for the five-door model.

Out of the petrol versions, the lowest CO2 award also goes to the entry-level Up in three-door format, producing just 116g/km of CO2. Naturally, the electric E-Up emits no CO2.

View detailed MPG and CO2 figures on the Volkswagen Up specs pages

Insurance for the Volkswagen Up is as low as group 2E (on a scale from 1-50). The Up GTI is in group 17E, though, reflecting its sporting aspirations.

Volkswagen Up residual values are solid, too.

For the lowest running costs in the Up range, the E-Up is head and shoulders above the rest. Producing zero emissions means it’s exempt from road tax plus the claimed range of 160 miles can be charged from your domestic electricity plug. That’ll take about 16 hours from flat to fully-charged, however, so you’re better off with a proper home charger. The 32.2kWh battery can be charged at a rate of 7.2kW on an AC socket or up to 40kW on a public rapid charger.

1106

Servicing and warranty

Volkswagen servicing isn’t the cheapest, but it does offer servicing plans and fixed-price maintenance to allow buyers to at least know ahead of time what their costs will be. The E-Up is cheaper to service than the petrol models as it has no oil and filter to change, while its brakes are likely to last longer, too. Volkswagen recommends servicing every 18,000 miles or two years, whichever comes first.

The standard Volkswagen new-car warranty covers two years of unlimited mileage, then a third year up to 60,000 miles. That’s bettered by most of the Up’s rivals, even if Volkswagen does have inexpensive warranty extension options.

Reliability

• Extremely well built for its class
• Relatively simple design
• Small number of recalls since launch

The Up has been on sale since 2012 and has had six recalls against its name, the most worrying of which was for an issue that may even lead to a fire in the E-Up. Cabin quality and the general level of fit and finish is on a par with more expensive Volkswagen models, and far outshines the Up’s rivals.

Also in the car’s favour is its general simplicity. While the equipment levels are good, there are no fancy gadgets to malfunction, while everything that is on the Up has worked its way down from other models in the manufacturer’s range.