Cheap, But Others Are More Cheerful

To turn the new Citroen e-C3 on, you have to take a small metallic stick called a ‘key’, place it in what I’m told is called an ‘ignition’, and turn it. In my year-and-a-bit of reviewing cars, I’ve encountered precisely one other brand new vehicle that starts in this novel new fashion (the VW T-Cross, since you asked).

This neatly sums up what the e-C3’s about – simplicity and affordability, two areas where the current crop of electric cars don’t often excel.

The little e-C3 aims to change this. Based on Stellantis’ new Smart Car platform, you can get a C3 with pure petrol or hybrid power. It’s the EV that Citroen’s really making a big deal about, though, because – for now at least – it’s one of the cheapest electric cars on sale in Britain. With pricing starting at £22,095, and our range-topping Max test car with metallic paint (fancy) coming in at £24,050, it’s only undercut by things like the Dacia Spring and Leapmotor T03, which don’t really work outside of town.

The e-C3 does – just. Its 44kWh battery offers a quoted range of 199 miles, and while something between 140 and 180, depending on weather, is probably closer to the mark, it’s just about at the bottom end of an EV you could realistically take a longer trip in without spending half your time trying to find a rapid charger.

Said battery is hooked up to a motor that sends 113bhp and 93lb ft to the front wheel, with the resulting performance as leisurely as you’d expect: 0-62mph takes 10.3 seconds, and top speed is just 82mph.

But hey, Citroen’s not trying to claim the e-C3 is some kind of hot hatch. In fact, it’s refreshing to be in something so overtly un-sporty. It doesn’t even have a quote-unquote ‘sport’ drive mode, which is pretty much industry standard these days.

Use the e-C3 for its intended purpose of urban zoominess, and it’s hard to find fault. The steering is a little heavier than you might expect, but it’s still almost laughably easy to manoeuvre, and while the torque figure is modest, its instant delivery is more than ample for nipping out of junctions and away from the lights. A proper one-pedal driving mode would be nice, though – the difference between regular driving and cranked-up regen setting is barely perceptible.

That un-sporty nature benefits the e-C3’s ride, too. It’s obviously no Bentley, but with its soft springs and low-for-an-EV 1151kg kerbweight, it’s able to boing across the sort of urban horridness that bigger, firmer cars would thunk over.

On the surface at least, things get even better on the interior. Yes, there’s some hard plastic evidence that the e-C3’s been built down to a price, but what do you expect? Overall, it’s far from feeling like a penalty box – little touches like covering the dash in fabric go a long, long way to making it feel posher. Top marks for having some proper switches, too.

Space is good, with plenty of legroom front and back and literally miles of headroom (okay, not literally), and the seats are nice and squidgy. The driving position, though, leaves quite a bit to be desired if you’re over a certain height. There’s not enough thigh support, and those on the taller side will find there’s not quite enough reach adjustment in the steering wheel.

Said wheel is slightly naff, too, an undersized Allegro-style squared-off thing similar to the equally horrid ones you get in Peugeots these days. It’s shaped like this to give a clear view above for the minimalist digital instruments, but there must be a better solution. And while we’re grumbling, said instruments don’t offer any way to view things like range, battery percentage and consumption simultaneously – it’s one or the other.

These are minor gripes, though – the e-C3 is a pleasant place to be, and equipment and tech levels nicely sit between miserly and overbearing. There’s cruise control, but it’s not adaptive, and you get the bare minimum of ADAS systems, which can be easily deactivated by a couple of buttons tucked away by the steering wheel. The Max trim gets sat-nav, but CarPlay and Android Auto are standard across the range.

Take it out of town, and it’s not the capsule of calming silence bigger EVs can be – there’s decent wind noise at speed, and you’re always aware of the electric motor whining away in front of you.

However, it’ll sit at 70 without complaint, feeling surefooted and grown-up. What it doesn’t particularly feel is fun. The steering is direct and nicely weighted, and it happily sticks to its line through bends despite its soft setup, but it’s all quite functional: there’s not much of the verve and pizazz that small French cars have traditionally done well. But we can’t really praise the e-C3 for being so earnestly un-sporty then criticise it for this.

But on the subject of verve and pizazz, we arrive at the e-C3’s biggest problem, which was gestated just down the River Seine from Citroen’s own headquarters: the Renault 5.

Renault’s retro golden child has stolen hearts and won fervent praise wherever it’s gone, and in basic 40kWh, 118bhp form, it starts at £22,995, dangerously close to the e-C3’s own £22,095 entry point. Your extra £990 is buying you slightly more grunt, better handling, a nicer and less ergonomically compromised interior, a very similar range and, crucially, those utterly charming looks.

Then there’s the electric version of the Fiat Grande Panda. It’s based on exactly the same platform as the Citroen, and gets exactly the same powertrain and quoted range. When it goes on sale in the UK, though, it’s going to start at £20,975, undercutting the cheapest e-C3 by over a grand. To us, it’s a far more characterful little thing inside and out (not surprising, given its lead designer, François Leboine, did the original styling concept of the R5 before moving over to Fiat).

Make no mistake, the e-C3 is a cracking effort at a small, affordable EV. Perfectly usable for most journeys and offering great value for money, it’s a car you can happily buy with your head. Its biggest problem is that it’s challenged by rivals you can buy with your head and your heart.