Citroen e-C4 Long Term review

Sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin....

Mileage: 1,104
Real-world range: 222 miles
Efficiency: 4.1m/kWh

Comfort is Citroen’s new selling point. Instead of chasing down the ultimate lap times on a German race track, the company has tuned its cars to soak up pot holes. And it works really well. Don’t expect the same squishy suspension you’d find in a classic Citroen, but the e-C4 is one of the best riding cars you can buy. And that would appeal to many people, including me.

Another fan is my 88 year old father, who got into the passenger seat and after a couple of miles declared it “one of the nicest cars you’ve ever taken me in.” Besides the ride comfort, he like the height. It’s half way between being a hatchback and an SUV , so you don’t have to step up or fall down in the seat – it just seems to be in the right place. 

Talking of seats, part of the comfort package was to make them as comfortable as possible. They are squishy enough to help take the edge off bumps without being so soft that they lack support on longer journeys.

It’s the same ‘just right’ for the range and performance. Being the Max model, it has 156hp which on paper seems barely enough these days when even modest hatchbacks seem to have 200 or more. But while it was never a car you would get excited about driving, it never felt slow either. The relaxed performance kind of suited the rest of the car’s character. Instead of rushing everywhere, you just take it a little slower. 

The relative lack of performance helps the efficiency too. The official range is 258 miles, which is impressive since the e-C4 has a battery which is just 54kWh – that’s about the same size a Renault 5’s. In reality the meter has been showing 225ish miles after a full charge and we thought that might be optimistic. But we’ve been averaging over 4 miles per kWh, which makes a real difference to the cost of running a car, especially if you are charging in public.

Right size? How to tackle the longer drives in an e-C4

Mileage: 1,289
Real-world range: 219 miles
Efficiency: 4.0 m/kWh

As my kids are at university in Leeds, the e-C4 got to stretch its legs on a few long journeys. As it is 175 miles away from home, a full charge was more than enough to get me there and part of the way home. Then a top up at a fast charger gives me enough to get back to the safety and low cost of my wall box and overnight tariff.

Yes, the rapid chargers are pricey, but if you ‘fill up’ to 100% at home and arrive back with as little charge as you dare, it is still much cheaper than old fashioned fuel.

I made it even cheaper by choosing my rapid charger top up carefully. There are some Tesla chargers in Haigh just off the M1where I could charge for 47p per kWh. I got 38kWh in less than half an hour, helped by me being the only person charging at the huge bank of chargers. There were no facilities except for a bush and a street lamp though…

I got back home with no issues and felt fresh as a daisy, although the Citroen’s efficiency falls if you drive at the motorway speed limit. There will be someone out there cleverer than me who has worked out the optimum speed/efficiency ratio to ensure they can drive slower but avoid stopping to charge, thereby ultimately saving time.

The heat is on - now I’ve found the button

Mileage: 1,363
Real-world range: 220 miles
Efficiency: 4.0 m/kWh

Some chillier weather meant I was making full use of the heated seats, but I’d been spoiled by previous cars and wished it had a steering wheel warmer too. Then I spotted that it did actually have this feature, but the switch was hidden out of sight to the right of the steering wheel. Once you know where it is that’s not a problem, but it seems like an afterthought. I still prefer it to having the functions buried on a touch screen though. 

Loads better? Top drawer boot capacity

Mileage: 1,593
Real-world range: 223 miles
Efficiency: 4.1 m/kWh

We need to talk about storage. Firstly, the good bit. My wife has a habit of telling me she has bought something random on Facebook or eBay and then dispatching me to go and collect it. In the latest case it was a chest of drawers and I winced when I saw the measurements. Would it fit? Only just. By winding the seats forward a little more than was comfortable the furniture slid in and the tailgate shut. I can only imagine a Citroen engineer has the same drawers and designed the car around them. 

Then I spotted than a suitcase fitted in perfectly lengthways too. Like it had been made for it. That is certainly more likely to have been the case.

But not all the storage spaces are quite as satisfying. Above the glovebox is a special slide-out drawer which has a mount. If you buy the accessories you can attach a tablet computer to it. This must’ve looked good in the design phase and in brochures, but I doubt it has ever been used in the real world.

The wireless charging pad is another bugbear. It is sensibly placed – although it does make it easy to forget your phone when you leave the car – but the main problem is that you have to get the handset placed millimetre perfectly to initiate the charge. And if you go around a corner or over a speed hump, it inevitably shifts.  Luckily the cable slot is right next to it – the old ways are sometimes the best.

​Conclusion:

The Citroen might not be the sexiest EV, but the prices are keen and it is a comfortable alternative which it perfectly suited to Britain’s broken roads.