Citroën ë-C3 Aircross Review

Background

We’ve had lots of expensive electric SUVs but not so many towards the £20,000 end of the scale. That has now changed with the arrival of the Citroën ë-C3 Aircross, which offers a spacious interior for a bargain price. So has Citroën pulled off the impossible in terms of lots of car for not much money?

Design & Engineering

It doesn’t take a detective to spot the similarity between the Citroën ë-C3 Aircross and the Vauxhall Frontera, and this is because they’re both based on the same ‘Stellantis Smart Car’ platform (along with the Fiat Grande Panda, which does feature different styling).

The ë-C3 Aircross is described as a compact C-segment SUV, even though it’s 4,395mm long, and officially a C-segment SUV measures between 4.4 metres and 4.7 metres in length, so according to that definition it’s 5mm too short to fit in the C-SUV class. Whatever segment it’s in, the ë-C3 Aircross has lots of rear legroom and a large 460-litre boot (which increases to 1,600 litres with the rear seats folded). There’s a large storage space under the false boot floor for charging cables, but the boot lip is high, so if you have ageing dogs, they might struggle to jump into the boot.

The same body style also comes with the option of seven seats in the petrol and hybrid versions, but not in the electric model.

The cockpit is mostly fairly plain and dark, but there are some soft touch fabrics, and creativity is injected by red and white labels on the inside of the door panels saying “be cool, have fun, be happy, feel good”.

The ë-C3 Aircross has two battery options: Standard 44 kWh (as tested) or Extended Range 54 kWh, with the electric motor delivering front-wheel drive.

Citroën ë-C3 Aircross Driving Experience

The Citroën ë-C3 Aircross driving experience can be summarised by saying that it’s easy and comfortable to drive. Its steering is very light, and the high profile tyres on the 17-inch wheels result in good ride quality on smooth roads, but the suspension can struggle to cope with large bumps or potholes.

The ë-C3 Aircross is reasonably compact so it has a degree of agility, which is helped by its 1,504 kg kerb weight, which is light for an electric car.

Front-wheel drive in an EV should mean that the risk of wheelspin and torque steer is never very far away, but this generally isn’t an issue with the ë-C3 Aircross because it has a relatively low torque figure of 125 Nm, and a power output of just 113 PS. This also results in a leisurely 0-62mph acceleration time of 11.7 seconds. So if you’re looking for high performance and precise race car-like steering and handling, look elsewhere. You don’t even get any choice of drive modes.

The gear selector is the familiar Stellantis ‘switch’ which sits on the centre console, but in the ë-C3 Aircross it has the options of P, R, N, D and C (rather than the normal B) – which is for Comfort, or ‘Coasting’ – so if you don’t select C, you get some brake regeneration as standard.

The ë-C3 Aircross has a narrow driver’s instrument display, which you look at over the top of the steering wheel, and a central touchscreen, which features buttons for five shortcuts: Home, Media, Phone, Navigation and Settings. Below the screen are some physical buttons for features including climate.

There are two brilliant physical buttons on the right-hand side of the dash, one to switch off the lane departure warning system and another to switch off the speed warning. And the ë-C3 Aircross, in MAX trim as tested, has heated seats and heated steering wheel, which should help to avoid excessive cabin heating in cold weather, so preserving the driving range.

One slightly strange feature of the ë-C3 Aircross is that you need to put the key into the ignition to start it, which makes it feel like an old petrol car.

Citroën ë-C3 Aircross Electric Range and Charging

The Citroën ë-C3 Aircross is available with a 44kWh (Standard Range) battery (as tested) delivering an official WLTP combined driving range of 188 miles, or a 54kWh (Extended Range) battery with a range of 248/9 miles. After a week on test in winter the real-world range of the 44kWh model was averaging 160 miles (the driver’s display usually gives you a battery percentage but no range figure). Electrical consumption is 3.9 miles/kWh.

Like most other Stellantis models, the ë-C3 Aircross has a maximum rapid charging rate of 100 kW, which should deliver a 0% to 80% DC charge in 26 minutes. A full charge using a 7kW home wall box should take 4 hours 10 minutes.

Price And Model Range

The Citroën ë-C3 Aircross is available from £21,595 after the £1,500 Electric Car Grant.

The Citroën ë-C3 Aircross MAX 44kWh is priced at £25,095. Our test car came with one option of Elixir Red premium metallic paint (£770), taking the total price of the test car to £25,865.

The ë-C3 Aircross is available with 44kWh or 54kWh batteries, and in PLUS or MAX specs, and the electric model is only available as a five seater (a seven seater option is available for petrol and hybrid models).

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