December might normally be a quiet time for car retailers, but when big targets are on the board they must work harder than ever.

When it comes to electric cars, each car maker has a government-set sales target to hit each year. The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate states that this year 28 per cent of all new cars sold by each brand must be fully electric. There are penalties to pay for companies that don’t hit those targets, although there are certain workarounds like borrowing allowances from future years, banking surplus allowances or buying credits from others.

So far this year, 26.4 per cent of all new cars registered have been fully electric – slightly shy of the 28 per cent. Of course, some car makers have done better than others and with the target rising to 33 per cent next year, many will be keen to bank numbers for next year, too.

Vauxhall’s excellent family-friendly Frontera can be leased for £123 a month right now. (Vauxhall)

That all means a last-minute push for EV sales – with some car makers more desperate than others to get those final all-electric registrations over the line.

Some of the star buys I’ve seen include a Dacia Spring for just £97 a month and its main city car rival the luxuriously-equipped Leapmotor T03 for just £120 a month.

However, plenty of other deals stand out, especially on the new Vauxhall Frontera, which I rate highly as an excellent, cheap family runaround. You can currently get a Frontera from just £120 a month, too – a sensational price for a great car.

Another highlight is the brilliant Renault 4, now eligible for the £3,750 Electric Car Grant from last week, available for £182 a month.

The new Renault 4 qualifies for the full £3,750 Electric Car Grant, which has also meant leasing costs have dropped (Steve Fowler)

All these deals are available via leasing comparison website Leasing.com, while terms and conditions obviously apply. The deals mentioned all require a deposit – often the equivalent to 12 months’ rental – there might also be an arrangement fee and the deals I’ve mentioned have a mileage limit of 5,000 miles per year. However, with the overall average mileage people drive in the UK just 7,100 miles a year, that mileage limit may be enough for many.

You can always change the mileage, so for an above average 8,000 miles per year, the Frontera would go up to £135 a month and the Renault 4 would cost a still very reasonable £201 a month.

Most deals are over two years, but the Renault 4’s begins to look even better as it’s a three year deal.

Other notable deals include the BYD Dolphin Surf at £133 a month, the excellent MG4 at £163 a month, the big Leapmotor C10 at £167 a month and the family-friendly Vauxhall Grandland for £200 a month – all on similar terms.

If a personal lease doesn’t suit you and you want a traditional PCP, there are strong deals available through car dealers, too. For example, that BYD Dolphin Surf lease deal looks attractive, but remember the deposit and arrangement fees that total £1,945. Your local BYD dealer is offering the mid-spec Dolphin Surf Boost (my pick of the range) for £189 a month, but with only a £189 deposit, too. That’s a long deal over 49 months and with a 6,000 mile a year mileage limit.

If electric isn’t your thing, then a plug-in hybrid might do the trick with the cheapest lease on offer the Chery Tiggo 7 for £207 a month. However, I’d be more tempted by a couple of years in a Volkswagen Passat Estate PHEV for just £224 a month.

Paul Harrison, Chief Partnerships Officer at Leasing.com, told us: “The ZEV mandate, Electric Car Grant and competition from new entrants has resulted in some exceptional electric new car offers coming to market. We’ve seen overall private new car demand grow by a staggering 37 per cent compared to last year, and the market share of battery electric vehicles is now 28 per cent of total enquiries compared to just 19 per cent in 2024. We expect it to exceed 30 per cent by the end of this year and the quality of new cars coming to market in 2026 will continue to push this figure higher.”

One word of warning on lease deals: they can prove popular and change on a daily basis, so the deals mentioned here can disappear quickly.

And for more information on how leasing works and the different finance options available, our guide to car finance car help.