Citroën ë-C3 review

When it comes to electric cars, motoring journalists hear lots of hype about "unparalleled efficiency", "supercar-rivalling performance", "ultra-rapid charging" and so on, yet concepts like simplicity and value for money rarely come up. So the launch of this new Citroën ë-C3 felt like a breath of fresh air.

With the ë-C3 Citroën is offering a small electric SUV with a spacious interior, decent equipment list and near 200-mile range for less than the price of an entry-level MG4 EV. Only the forthcoming Dacia Spring comes cheaper – and that's smaller and less powerful with a range of less than 150 miles.

How has Citroën produced such a cost-effective electric SUV? Well, traditionally, Citroën’s USP has been comfort, but now, under the Stellantis Group, the brand is also focused on delivering maximum value for money. Hence the development of a new Smart Car platform (no, not that one) that's cheaper and simpler to produce. 

Citroën is also very proud of offering the ë-C3 with basic but essential features. So don’t expect keyless entry, powered seats, a panoramic roof or even a starter button – you need to use a key to turn it on. 

It’s all wonderfully sensible, but you do have to wonder whether tech-loving modern drivers will be well served by that austerity or be better off with, say, a BYD Dolphin or Peugeot e-2008. Read on to find out how the Citroën ë-C3 stacks up against the best electric car rivals...

At launch, the Citroën ë-C3 is available in just one configuration with a 43.7kWh battery that’s good for an official range of 199 miles.

That’s usefully more than you get from a Dacia Spring (149 miles) and not far behind a BYD Dolphin (211 miles in its cheapest guise) or MG4 EV SE (218 miles). In time there will be an even more affordable, smaller-battery ë-C3 with around 124 miles of range.

The 44kWh battery uses the same lithium iron phosphate (LFD) chemistry beloved by BYD. LFD units are typically cheaper to produce than other electric car batteries but are also heavier, and the range offered is more readily impacted by cold weather. That could be a problem in the UK, especially when Citroën won’t be offering a heat pump as an option. 

Low temperatures were not an issue on the day of our test: the ë-C3 returned an efficiency of 4.3 miles per kWh, giving it a rough real-world range of nearly 190 miles. Not groundbreaking, but respectable. As was the performance.

With just 111bhp on tap and an official 0-60mph time of 10.4 seconds (a Jeep Avenger covers the same sprint in just 8.7 seconds) we were worried it would feel hopelessly slow but in reality it’s more than nippy enough from 0-50mph. It’s also incredibly easy to drive smoothly thanks to a linear, well-calibrated accelerator pedal – something you can’t say about the Dolphin.  

While we suspect some buyers will disappointed to learn that the ë-C3 doesn’t feature a one-pedal driving mode or different grades of regenerative braking, we found the base regen setting well-judged. When you lift off the accelerator the car slows down gently, but if you’re approaching a tight corner or a junction you need to use the brake pedal.

Despite being something of a budget option, the ë-C3 still gets Citroën’s Advanced Comfort suspension (hydraulically cushioned dampers). The upside is a squishy ride over most surfaces. although the rear axle occasionally thumps over sharp ridges, but the downside is quite a lot of body lean during cornering.

Still, who buys a small SUV for its handling prowess? There’s plenty of grip, the steering is well weighted (although we’d like it to be a little less darty off centre) and the car wafts along at speed. Indeed, the only thing stopping you from doing a long journey is the battery range and the fact that there's a surprising amount of road noise above 50mph.

The interior of the Citroën ë-C3 is not what you'd call plush, but nor does it feel too austere. While plenty of hard plastics have been used throughout, the design itself is funky and modern (little motivational labels are stitched into the armrests on the doors, for example) and our top-spec Max model had an attractive swathe of material across the dashboard.

You even get what Citroën calls a head-up display, although it's not the sort you get on pricier cars, because rather than the graphics being projected on to the windscreen, they're on a reflective instrument panel.

It’s a neat-looking, cost-effective solution that places the digital speedo, battery charge level and trip information right in front of you. It’s also easy to see the instruments over the unconventional oblong steering wheel – Citroën’s take, in effect, on the Peugeot i-Cockpit.

Unlike the MG4 EV and BYD Dolphin, the ë-C3 has a plethora of tactile physical buttons for the climate control and to turn off drive assistance systems such as lane-keep assist. They have allowed Citroën to keep the 10.25in touchscreen infotainment system refreshingly simple, with basic media and navigation applications. You also get Android Auto and Apple CarPlay so you can use phone apps through the screen. 

The driving position is a touch higher than in a regular hatchback. Combined with tall side windows and relatively narrow pillars, visibility is generally good. Nervous parkers will also be pleased to hear that rear parking sensors come as standard, with top-spec Max models gaining a rear-view camera.

Speaking of the driving position, the seats themselves are worth discussing. Citroën calls them Advanced Comfort Seats and they use a high-density foam that was inspired by the bed industry. We found them to be lovely and plush. There's no lumbar support adjustment, but we didn't miss it thanks to the supportive shape of the backrest.

The Citroën ë-C3 is not a very wide car but there’s still enough space up front that passengers won’t feel at risk of knocking elbows. 

Things are a little tighter in the back, but there is plenty of room for your feet under the front seats and head room is comparable to a Jeep Avenger. Unlike in a lot of electric cars the battery is stored beneath the back seat so the floor remains at a regular height – as a result you won’t find your knees wrapped around your ears. 

You also get three headrests in the back – unlike in the MG4 EV – but we suspect there might be some shoulder rubbing if you try to fit three adults back there. To be fair, the same can also be said for more expensive rivals such as the Avenger and Vauxhall Mokka Electric. 

When it comes to luggage space, the ë-C3 has a tall but rather short boot that offers a modest 310 litres. That’s less than a BYD Dolphin, Avenger or MG4 but much more than the GWM Ora 03 offers. In real-world terms, it gives you enough space to fit a week's worth of shopping, but the boot opening is quite small and it has a high load lip, which makes loading in heavy items a bit of a chore.

There’s no hidden cable storage compartment under the boot floor or any storage under the bonnet so the charging cables with have to go in with the rest of your luggage. When you need more space, you can drop the rear seat backs in a 60/40 split but when folded down they leave a step up from the recessed boot floor (rather than creating a long, flat load area).

You'll struggle to find a new electric car (hatchback or small SUV) that undercuts the starting price of the Citroën ë-C3, with it coming in significantly cheaper than a BYD Dolphin, GWM Ora 03, MG4 EV, Jeep Avenger and Peugeot e-2008. The Dacia Spring will be cheaper but that's a significantly smaller car with a much cheaper feeling interior.

Two trims are offered for the ë-C3: Plus and Max. Plus gets all the essentials that you need, including the touchscreen infotainment system, LED headlights, comfort seats, comfort suspension and rear parking sensors.

Max adds 17in diamond-cut alloy wheels, LED taillights, tinted rear windows, automatic air conditioning, wireless phone-charging, a rear-view camera, electric rear windows, electrically folding and heated exterior mirrors, automatic wipers and automatic high beam.

DC charging speeds are up to 100kW and will deliver a 20-80% charge (which is around 90 to 100 miles of real-world range) in 26 minutes, but you have to remember the battery size is fairly modest. A standard 7kW home charger will fully charge the ë-C3 in around seven hours.

Citroën gives you a standard three-year, 60,000-mile warranty on the car. The battery is covered for eight years and 100,000 miles, with a guarantee that it will be refurbished or replaced if it drops below 70% of the as-new performance in the warranty period.

The ë-C3 has not yet been tested by the safety experts at Euro NCAP but as standard it comes with lane-keep assist, speed-limit recognition, a driver attention alert system and autonomous emergency braking (AEB).

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