Value for money is the goal with new saloon version of leisurely family hatchback
PIERS WARD @piers_ward
TESTED 14.3.23, WORCESTERSHIRE ON SALE NOW
We should start with a cliché: the range of an electric car. Sorry, but there’s no getting away from the fact that with a 46kWh battery giving it 221 miles per charge, the new Citroën ë-C4 X isn’t going to break any records.
Nor is the charging especially quick, maximum 100kW ingestion replenishing 0-80% in 30 minutes.
But Citroën is refreshingly honest about this. No smoke and mirrors here, just an honest appraisal of what a bigger battery would have meant: more cost, more weight and less of what buyers allegedly want.
Citroën wants to be the brand of ‘enough’ and not embrace excess. That has overtones of the comedic BL Princess strapline ‘Better than average’, but let’s gloss over that and focus on the fact that this elongated ë-C4 does deliver on the key aspect of the small battery strategy, in that it costs from £31,995. In this day and age, that’s a lot of car for the money.
We tried mid-range Shine trim (£34,495), but basic Sense is the one to get, as it doesn’t miss out on much. With either you’re greeted by a sensibly laid-out, fastback-style saloon with an SUV-like stance. The wheelbase is exactly the same as the regular ë-C4’s, so all the extra length has gone into the rear, yet it doesn’t look ungainly from the side.
The boot volume is theoretically impressive at 510 litres (130 up on the hatch), but it’s a saloon opening so isn’t as practical overall as either its sibling or other coupé-ish cars, such as the Peugeot 408, that benefit from a hatch aperture.
There are neat storage solutions inside, including a pull-out laptop shelf for the front passenger, but not as many as you get in other EVs. It has more of a standard ICE layout.
Thankfully, there are normal buttons for the climate control (the 10in touchscreen protrudes neatly from the dashboard’s top) and the quality of all the materials is largely good, with the odd bit of hard plastic felt only if you hunt for it. It feels better than its price suggests.
With a 134bhp single electric motor driving the front wheels, performance is unremarkable. But there’s enough torque on offer for the repeat A-to-B journeys that most of these cars will end up doing.
It all feels correctly engineered for the task it needs to do, making it a well-balanced car.
The seats are especially comf
