Citroen C5 Aircross PHEV Review

Introduction and model history

The Citroen C5 Aircross is the closest thing that Citroen has to a flagship really – it has sold the odd pointless big limo every now and again (but mostly leaves that to DS these days), for a long while it specialised in huge, immensely practical and clever MPVs, but those went briefly extinct for a decade (and seem to be coming back into fashion again, fingers crossed). 

It’s down to this large (ish) family SUV to fly the flag for Citroen values – comfort, practicality and a decent price tag.

Citroen is of course part of the Stellantis group, which means the C5 Aircross shares a platform with a long list of other cars – the Vauxhall Grandland, Peugeots 3008 and 5008, the Jeep Compass – and we’ve seen those other cars occasionally struggle to assert their identity within those strictures. One look at the Citroen and you can see that it’s managing OK. 

This is the plug-in hybrid version of the car – there’s also the mild hybrid petrol option (don’t bother, but then I would say that) and the fully electric version (I know this is only the intro, but that’s definitely the one to go for) to choose from. 

Citroen has at least made it easy with the PHEV – you can only get it in the top level trim, it comes with a 17.8kWh battery that’s rated for 50 miles of WLTP range (40–45 in practice) and it’s best enjoyed with a home charger. 

Plug-in rivals like the Kia Sportage and Ford Kuga also start at prices higher than the C5 Aircross’s £39k too, despite it being top trim only, highlighting the Citroen’s value. 

Range, battery and charging

The C5 Aircross PHEV is rated for 50 miles of WLTP range from the 17.4kWh battery – I got just shy of 45 miles from the battery when I took the car out for a mixed drive through country and town roads, which is respectable I think. If you had a 20-mile commute and a plug at home you could feasibly spend most of your time with the Citroen just using electricity. 

Which is of course the sweet spot for having a PHEV like this – we just wouldn’t recommend considering one if you can’t charge at home, the economical case explodes in your face if you’re charging one of these at a public charge point. 

The PHEV doesn’t get a heat pump like the EV does, but then this battery and e-motor have a petrol engine close by if they need warming up. You can charge from zero to full on a 7.4kW charger in two hours and 55 minutes. 

Official mpg is 82.2, but it’s a nonsense figure – you can get infinity mpg if you charge all the time, and if you don’t you’ll be looking at more like 30/35mpg. 

Practicality and boot space

It’s in the boot where a big SUV like this makes its case – the C5 Aircross PHEV offers you 565 litres with the seats up and 1,668 litres with them folded down. There’s no seven seater option for this car, nor does Citroen have any plans to introduce one. Bit of a shame, but there are still plenty of people looking for a spacious and practical five-seater family car of course. 

The one disappointing feature with this new generation of C5 Aircross is that the three individual rear sears have been replaced with a bench seat. Citroen reckons that most of its customers don’t really use them (because they’re driving?) but it still feels like a backwards step. 

There’s loads of room in the back of the C5 Aircross though, and three people will still be able to make themselves comfortable even if the seats have regressed. 

It’s worth noting if you’re a towing person that the PHEV has the highest rated capacity of the C5 Aircross range – by 300kg over the next model. 

• Dimensions (LxWxH): 4,652mm/2,108mm/1,690mm
• Boot capacity: 565 litres/1,668 litres
• Max towing capacity: 1,550kg

Interior, design and technology 

Up the front of the cabin you’ve got lots of glossy black plastics that we’re not really a fan of for how quickly they get smudged up with dirt. There’s a little roll of fabric that spans the width of the dashboard underneath the air vents which adds a little touch of class though. 

The 13in portrait touchscreen is a little on the large size, but is integrated nicely into the dash. You can just plug your phone in and it works well mirroring your own display, but Citroen’s own effort isn't too bad, with a segmented approach that keeps the aircon controls available at the bottom. There are some useful shortcut buttons at the base of the screen, but we’d always fancy more.

Having said that, one thing that would wind me right up is the fact that the cupholders are underneath the centre console, so either your passenger has to fetch your drink or you’ll have to reach dangerously under your leg. It’s a fact reflected in the country’s cars that the French simply don’t believe coffee should be carried around.

You’ve got a decent spec to enjoy with the sole Max trim available though – adaptive cruise, 360-degree parking cameras with sensors front and rear, keyless entry, matrix LED headlights, heated electric folding mirrors, dual-zone aircon, heated front seats and steering wheel, electric tailgate, chilled box in the centre console, wireless phone charging, plus Apple and Android connectivity. 

Motors, performance and handling 

Some carmakers are sporty, others luxurious – Citroen as a brand has oriented itself towards the comfortable end of the spectrum and actively touts its comfort levels when talking about its cars, which sets a high level of expectation when you get behind the wheel. 

Fortunately, though this is not the case with all of Citroen’s cars, the C5 Aircross actually is a nice comfortable car. The ride in the plug-in version is slightly more fidgety and less soothing than the electric one, probably down to the extra weight of the combustion engine up front. 

The engine is fairly quiet when it kicks into life, and you do get a nice perky shove off the line from the e-motor. With an 8.3sec 0–62mph time the PHEV is actually marginally the quickest version of the C5 Aircross – the EV is 0.6sec slower and the petrol version 2.9sec slower. 

It’s not said very often around electric cars, but if you do a lot of accelerating you could save a lot of time by switching. 

That all said, I did find the plug-in version more fidgety than the EV – the ride just doesn’t settle down in quite the same way. It could be that the electric really benefits from having all that weight at the bottom of the car, or perhaps the PHEV just isn’t keen on the big heavy engine hanging around up front. 

At any rate, the C5 Aircross isn’t a car that likes to be driven around too fast, much better to take it easy and enjoy its softer nature. 

• Power: 225hp
• 0–62mph:  8.3sec
• Powertrain: Front-wheel drive

Running costs and pricing

The C5 Aircross keeps things nice and simple when it comes to this plug-in hybrid version of the car – there’s just the one spec available.

You can only get the C5 Aircross PHEV in top of the line Max trim, and it will set you back £38,860. Because the electric e-C5 versions of the car are eligible for the government’s plug-in electric car grant, that makes this the most expensive option in the C5 range if you’re paying cash, just over £3k pricier than the hybrid petrol option. 

The company car tax rate is higher too because of the engine (18% versus 4% for the EV), but that still only means £116 a month of benefit in kind tax payments if you’re a 20% taxpayer. 

It’s in your best interests to keep the battery topped up as often as possible, when I drove the car with a very empty battery it struggled between 30 and 35mpg. The electric range isn’t too unrealistic, the official number is 50 miles and I got about 45 out of it. 

Verdict

The electric version of the C5 Aircross feels like a much more rounded product – the petrol engine brings extra weight at the front and affects the refinement of the car, but overall it’s still a more comfortable proposition than many of its rivals.

If you’ve got charging available at home then that’s the best starting point for contemplating a PHEV like the C5 Aircross – you need to keep it topped up regularly to get the benefits from it. But then why not take the plunge and go for the fully electric version? Especially the Long Range version with its 421 miles of range, suddenly range anxiety isn’t an excuse anymore.