Citroën e-C4 X If you’re after an electric car that can carry a lot of luggage, this one puts the boot in On sale Now Price from £31,995
Dan Jones Dan.Jones@haymarket.com
IT’S BECOME SOMETHING of a tradition for manufacturers to develop sleeker coupé versions of their existing SUVs for buyers who want a bit more style to go with that practicality.
The all-new Citroën e-C4 X, though, flips that on its head. You see, rather than following the crowd, the regular e-C4 has been stretched and turned from a stylish coupé SUV into what should be a more practical saloon. How much more practical? Well, it’s 240mm longer than the e-C4, so the main attraction is that you get a bigger boot than most rivals give you.
Beyond the stretched proportions, not much has changed compared with the regular e-C4, so you’ll find the same 134bhp electric motor and 50kWh battery powering the front wheels, and the same 0-62mph sprint time of 10.0sec.
Until you see the car’s reflection in a shop window, you’ll struggle to tell which car you’re in from behind the wheel. Indeed, despite the extra weight, the e-C4 X feels pretty much identical to its stablemate. There’s more than enough power around town, but the acceleration quickly tails off towards motorway speeds. It certainly isn’t as quick as the MG 4 Long Range, which will dispatch 0-62mph in 7.9sec, and it’s a far cry from the Kia Niro EV ( just 7.8sec).
For most, though, the issue of range is more important, and the e-C4 X can officially cover up to 222 miles on a fully charged battery – slightly up on the regular e-C4’s 217 miles, thanks to superior aerodynamics. It’s no match for the Niro EV or the cheaper MG 4 Long Range, though; both of those cars officially manage around 280 miles.
On the other hand, the e-C4 X won’t take long to charge. It can accept rates of up to 100kW (faster than the Niro EV can take), so a 10-80% boost will take around 30 minutes.
Citroën’s usual soft, well-cushioned ride remains, soaking up minor road imperfections despite every e-C4 X coming with biggish 18in alloy wheels. However, while that makes the eC4 X a very comfortable thing to tootle around town in, the softness causes issues at higher speeds: body control is loose and the car doesn’t feel as planted as you’d like over undulating roads. It also means occupants are subjected to more vertical bounce than in stiffer rivals, such as the Renault Megane E-Tech.
Being longer than its coupé sibling, the e-C4 X might be expected to be more spacious inside, but there’s really nothing to split them. Both have the same amount of head and leg r
