Cars

Electric adds power of choice to Citroen C4

With a choice of three power sources - including an all-electric battery option - Citroen aims to shake-up the family car market with its distinctive new C4, says William Scholes

Citroen C4
Citroen C4 Citroen C4

WITH governments around the world intent on legislating petrol and diesel cars all but out of existence in the next decade, it's clear that battery-powered motoring will become increasingly prevalent, writes William Scholes.

Despite Covid-19 playing havoc with the car industry's launch plans, there is already a steady stream of EVs coming to market.

It's possible that if you're shopping for a new car at the moment, you may well be thinking about something with an electric motor driving its wheels instead of - or as well as, in the case of a hybrid - a petrol or diesel engine.

You might have taken a look and thought that yes, an EV fits in with your expectations and with how you use a car.

Citroen e-C4
Citroen e-C4 Citroen e-C4

Or you might have concluded that now is not quite the time to take the plunge.

The main EV drawbacks are by now well rehearsed. Range and cost can be issues, compounded in Northern Ireland by a slow and sparse public charging network (I write this from the front seat of an EV which I'd hoped to hook up to a charging point in the south Belfast area while I have an hour-and-a-half to wait for my son; any I've visited this evening don’t work, are already in use, are in locked car parks or are blocked by another vehicle. This has been my experience with every electric car I've ever tested...).

Nonetheless, access to a charger at home - which is generally sufficient to rejuice your battery overnight so you have a full charge in the morning - gets past the range issue for most people, most of the time.

Car-makers are taking diverse approaches to this environment. Some are launching standalone electric models alongside their traditional offerings, like Ford with its Mustang Mach-E. Others are essentially establishing parallel line-ups of EVs, as with Volkswagen's ID cars.

Citroen C4
Citroen C4 Citroen C4

Still another approach is that being taken by Citroen, along with its Peugeot, DS and Vauxhall stablemates; you choose the car you want, then decide if you want it to be powered by electric or an internal combustion engine with pistons.

Where the last C4 looked like it came from Dullsville, this new car looks like a proper Citroen. It's quirky and distinctive, in other words, and much the better for it

The new C4 - or e-C4 when kitted out with the electric drivetrain - is the first Citroen to be launched in this way.

If electric is for you, then you can have the e-C4 with a 134bhp/192lb ft motor and 50kWh battery set-up. It is the same drivetrain as found in cars like the Vauxhall Corsa-e and Peugeot e-2008, and Citroen claims a range of up to 217 miles on a full charge. Experience tells me that will be more aspirational than realistic.

Top speed is pegged at 93mph and the 0-62mph is 9.7 seconds, though expect it to feel more rapid than that up to 30mph or 40mph.

The battery carries an eight-year or 100,000-mile warranty for 70 per cent of its charge capacity.

Citroen e-C4
Citroen e-C4 Citroen e-C4

It will take you around seven-and-a-half hours to fully charge your e-C4 from a wallbox charger at home.

Accepting that battery power isn't for everyone, you can also have your C4 with one of three petrol engines (from 99bhp to 153bhp) or one of two diesel options (109bhp or 128bhp). Gearboxes are a mix of six-speed manual and eight-speed automatic.

Citroen C4
Citroen C4 Citroen C4

Where the last C4 looked like it came from Dullsville, this new car looks like a proper Citroen. It's quirky and distinctive, in other words, and much the better for it.

The body is a sleek fastback but the C4 rides higher than a conventional family hatchback, giving it a more robust - though not quite full-fat SUV - stance. Big wheels add to the impression.

Citroen is to be congratulated on being bold enough to give C4 buyers a genuine choice between electric, petrol and diesel

Citroen has identified 'comfort' as its main characteristic in the family car market, so the C4 benefits from the company's 'Advanced Comfort' programme.

That means plush suspension, with 'progressive hydraulic cushions', and 'advanced comfort seats'.

Underlining the emphasis on comfort is Citroen's claim that the C4 offers the best rear knee room in its class. A tapering roofline means headroom isn't class-leading.

The boot volume is a VW Golf-matching 380 litres. This swells to 1,250 litres with the seats folded.

Citroen C4
Citroen C4 Citroen C4
Citroen C4
Citroen C4 Citroen C4

The C4 has what Citroen calls 'smart pad support' - essentially a retractable bracket that pops in and out of the dashboard in front of the passenger that is able to hold a tablet computer. Citroen says this "enables the front passenger to make the most of the time spent on-board"...

There's also a sort of sliding tray, a bit like a drawer, which slides in and out of the dashboard - presumably this is somewhere for the passenger to store their iPad in between making the most of their time on-board.

Citroen C4
Citroen C4 Citroen C4
Citroen C4
Citroen C4 Citroen C4

Meanwhile, the C4 has a large 10-inch touchscreen display of its own. This, says Citroen, is "the real nerve centre of the vehicle", otherwise known as the screen from where you control the telephone, air conditioning, radio, sat-nav and so on.

There's a bunch of safety aids on offer too, including 'highway driver assist', which is Citroen's semi-autonomous system that takes care of braking, acceleration and steering in limited circumstances.

Citroen C4
Citroen C4 Citroen C4

Various 'colour packs' and seven basic body colours mean there are apparently 31 different exterior combinations; add in the various wheel styles, and there are even more ways to personalise the C4 to your tastes.

Trim levels start at 'Sense', priced from £20,010, rising to 'Sense Plus', 'Shine' and 'Shine Plus'.

The e-C4 isn't available with Sense trim. A Sense Plus with the 128bhp petrol engine and an automatic gearbox costs from £24,410; for comparison, the equivalent electric version - which is a smidgen more powerful and also automatic - is priced from £33,395. It is eligible for the government's £2,500 plug-in car grant, which brings the price down to £30,895.

This still leaves the e-C4 costing just shy of £6,500 more than a comparable petrol car. That gap narrows to around £4,600 if comparing to the diesel version.

Once the respective running costs and, where applicable, company car tax benefits are factored in the gap between the piston-engined C4 and the battery e-C4 will narrow for many prospective purchasers.

Citroen C4
Citroen C4 Citroen C4

It pays to do your research thoroughly, and to be clear-eyed about the upsides as well as the downsides of an EV. My previous experience with the e-C4's drivetrain in its Peugeot and Vauxhall relatives showed that overall range falls quite dramatically in cooler weather, for example.

But if it fits in with your lifestyle and you can charge at home or work, then there is much to recommend an EV.

Citroen, then, is to be congratulated on being bold enough to give C4 buyers a genuine choice.

And whatever way your C4 is fuelled, you get a distinctive, comfortable and thoroughly modern family car.

Citroen C4
Citroen C4 Citroen C4
Citroen e-C4
Citroen e-C4 Citroen e-C4
Citroen e-C4
Citroen e-C4 Citroen e-C4
Citroen C4
Citroen C4 Citroen C4