Citroen e-C3 review

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EV supermini leads Europe's fightback against low-cost Chinese challengers

Concerned voices continue to debate the influence that Chinese-import electric cars will have on the European market in the longer term. In 2024, concerned European legislators even ruled to impose tariffs on them.

But, until now, very few European car makers have actually grasped the nettle and sought to match what we might consider China-typical value in a European-made, affordable electric car.

That is ostensibly what Stellantis’s new Smart Car model platform has been designed to do – and the fourth-generation Citroën C3 and the brand-new Citroen ë-C3, the subject of this test, become its first-borne fruit.

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DESIGN & STYLING

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The Smart Car platform that underpins this car has been spun off what Stellantis calls its STLA Small architecture. It’s adaptable enough to be used to produce both EV and ICE models, and it will also father the new Citroen C3 Aircross, Fiat Grande Panda and other Stellantis low-cost cars.

Not that all are likely to be as quirky as this Citroën. The double chevron continues to count daring design among its raisons d’etre, and has really developed the crossover-inspired design themes flirted with by the third-generation C3 here. With a bluff nose and a roofline rising to 1577mm (Vauxhall Corsa 1433mm, Renault Clio 1440mm, Nissan Juke 1593mm), this is plainly a compact SUV kind of product.

A contrast roof is standard, as are the aerodynamic-looking, Citroën-branded roof bars atop of it. They will let you affix a rack or a box in which you can carry an extra 75kg of cargo.
Matt Saunders
Road test editor

While both C3 models use a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine as a primary power source, the ë-C3 enters its own market niche as a fairly modestly powerful, and short-range, simple EV. Its electric motor produces 111bhp and 92lb ft of torque, and draws power from an LFP drive battery with a usable capacity of 43.7kWh. That may not sound like much, but both Mini and Renault charge more and give less of the stuff in their cheapest Cooper and 5 rivals.

INTERIOR

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There is some practical sense in allowing the C3 to grow five inches taller. An upwards stretch doesn’t affect how much space this car takes up at the kerb, and it allows Citroën to offset the impact on cabin packaging of an underfloor battery pack and also to give occupants more outright space by sitting them less recumbently than they would otherwise be.

Thus the ë-C3 becomes quite a spacious-feeling supermini, one with particularly abundant head room in the front row and enough space in the second row for most adults to be fairly comfortable.

The high-set instrument panel is actually projected from an upwards-facing display recessed into the dash top, and then reflected towards the driver periscope-style. It allows Citroen to put the display right up against the scuttle, with no wasted space. Clever.
Matt Saunders
Road test editor

We measured 1010mm of front-row head room (20mm more than in the Toyota Yaris) and 660mm of second-row leg room (Toyota Yaris 630mm, Nissan Micra 640mm). The car’s seat cushions lack a little useful inclination angle but, while there’s some compromise to longer-distance comfort in the back due to the highish cabin floor, the seats in the front are comfortably padded and are moderately adjustable.

The ë-C3’s driving position feels a little like one borrowed from sister brand Peugeot’s i-Cockpit playbook. The steering wheel is small and the column low-sprouting, while the all-digital instrumentation pod sits high on the fascia right at the base of the windscreen.

The primary control layout works reasonably well. The space it liberates on the full-width, double-tier dashboard itself makes for lots of oddment storage, and the little corners and flat surfaces can be decorated with colourful knick-knacks, should you be so inclined.

Multimedia - 3 stars

The ë-C3’s provision of physical heating and ventilation controls, mirror adjusters and even proper buttons for the deactivation of key ADAS functions shows you how much Citroën appreciates simplicity and usability.

The studious simplicity of the 10.3in touchscreen infotainment system might actually be a little too much. It offers no trip computer functionality, for instance, and no way to toggle the electronic traction or stability controls; nor even any option to switch the factory navigation system’s units of measurement from metric to imperial (our test car’s was stuck on the former).

Wireless smartphone mirroring is standard on both Plus and Max models, though, and our experience suggests that’s what you will use. And, more widely, the display isn’t too distracting, mostly because the system’s remit is quite limited.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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This is very much an uncomplicated ‘get you from A to B’ kind of car. And, provided that points A and B aren’t too distant from each other, it works rather well.

The ë-C3 isn’t quick, and feels borderline feeble when putting on speed above 50mph. Apart from those moments, though, it typically copes at least fairly well at A-road and motorway speeds, and feels more assertive and at home in urban traffic.

Wind noise can get up at speed with no powertrain noise to drown it out.
Mark Tisshaw
Editor

Simplicity is the abiding theme here, too. Citroën offers no one-pedal driving mode, and no steering wheel paddles for regen control. 

There isn’t even a ‘B’ mode on the drive selector, which most other EVs offer as a kind of maximum trailing-throttle motor regen setting. In its place is a ‘C’ button, which is short for ‘Cruise’ – and this actually slightly reduces motor regen at higher speeds, for more comfortable motorway drivability. As a default, the car’s regenerative braking is still quite mild.

All up, it may sound like a recipe that could frustrate with its lack of configurability – and yet it doesn’t. The ë-C3 just gets on with it, copes with most reasonable demands, rarely annoys and, simply by avoiding complication, pretension and affectation of any kind, ends up being quite a likeable free spirit.

RIDE & HANDLING

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This may be a small car with a comfort-first agenda, but that doesn’t make it characterless or unengaging. In fact, you could say that it succeeds in conjuring likeability more effectively than it does a truly settled, absorbent ride, at least some of the time.

The fairly gentle, lowish-frequency riding gait works quite well on well-surfaced country roads with gentler vertical inputs, where it does have an appealing fluency. It’s hard to tune settled ride comfort into such a small car but, in the right circumstances, Citroën has had at least some success in doing so.

It’s a shame, needless to say, that the ë-C3’s aura of comfort isn’t more pervading. At lower speeds it lacks a little ride isolation, and so the axles can thump around a bit over sharp edges and drain covers, whacking notably back down to terra firma if you take speed bumps hurriedly due to Citroën’s preference for little apparent rebound damping.

The car uses the same hydraulic suspension bushing technology as its maker’s bigger models, and so is tuned with softer springs and dampers, leaning on those hydraulic bump stops to take the sting out of bigger inputs.

But, at higher speeds especially, the approach isn’t always effective. You will feel some sharper compression inputs thump through to your backside, for example; while other inputs, which better-tied-down rivals would just soak up, can cause the body to rebound, and pitch, joggle and pogo down the road just a little. Charming, perhaps, but not objectively commendable.

Assisted Driving - 3 stars

The active safety equipment level of the C3 and ë-C3 isn’t informed by trim level. On both Plus and Max models, you get a manual cruise control/speed limiter; a basic lane departure warning system; a camera-based autonomous emergency braking system; driver monitoring; and a speed limit recognition and recommendation buzzer. If you were hoping that a simple supermini might be able to avoid any of these systems, then welcome to 2025.

The best that Citroën can do is to provide physical buttons for the deactivation of both the speed limit recognition and lane keeping systems. The rest are on whether you like it or not.

Citroen C3 news

New Citroen C3 Hybrid offers 56.5mpg for £20,115
New Citroen C3 Hybrid offers 56.5mpg for £20,115
Citroen e-C3 to gain £15k van variant with 200-mile range
Citroen e-C3 to gain £15k van variant with 200-mile range
Citroen will not limit petrol cars to hit electric sales mix targets
Citroen will not limit petrol cars to hit electric sales mix targets
New Citroen e-C3 brings 199-mile range for £21,990
New Citroen e-C3 brings 199-mile range for £21,990

Thankfully, the driver monitoring system isn’t an intrusive or troublesome one, and the AEB system isn’t predisposed to risk-averse intrusion either.

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MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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The C3 costs from around £18,000 as a pure petrol model, £20,000 as a 48V hybrid or £22,000 as an electric ë-C3. Even as an EV, then, it’s very reasonable indeed.

The ë-C3’s showroom price in particular is level with entry-level versions of the Renault 5, and below that of a Vauxhall Corsa Electric or a BYD Dolphin. The BYD has the edge on all of them on monthly finance, thanks to the support behind its 0% deals, though the Renault and Citroën are at least in touch, both being securable over a four-year term for less than £350 a month after a similar deposit.

The ë-C3 doesn’t have a trip computer with any indication of running efficiency, and so the results of our touring and everyday tests had to be based on indicated remaining battery percentage, and we couldn’t generate an average.

The results we could generate suggested a real-world range of between 120 and 170 miles, depending on type of usage. That may not be brilliant – in terms of outright efficiency, it’s certainly a little underwhelming for a small EV – but the ë-C3 is still likely to be competitive with key electric rivals at its particular price point.

The car also indicated respectable rapid-charging performance, with a weighted test average of 60kW (GWM Ora 03 47kW, Jeep Avenger 67kW).

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VERDICT

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For all of its quirky, unpretentious self-possession, the ë-C3’s main accomplishment is its price. 

But it’s what Citroën offers for that price - some sophistication to the car’s design, cleverness to its packaging, and a driving experience that seeks to go beyond the adequate in at least some respects - that’ll set it apart from other affordable small EVs. The ethos of the ë-C3 seems to be ‘just enough’. It doesn’t try to have the most technology, the fanciest materials, the most power or the biggest range, instead offering you what you’ll need and use, and making sure it all works properly and is nice to interact with.

The ë-C3 lacks the fashionable allure, outright running efficiency and finely polished drive of a Renault 5. But it’s nonetheless a very creditable budget EV made in Europe, and a welcome demonstration of the art of the possible.

Matt Saunders

Matt Saunders Autocar
Title: Road test editor

As Autocar’s chief car tester and reviewer, it’s Matt’s job to ensure the quality, objectivity, relevance and rigour of the entirety of Autocar’s reviews output, as well contributing a great many detailed road tests, group tests and drive reviews himself.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, and has been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s best-known writers and contributors over that time. He served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor, before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, lap-timed, figured, and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Tesla Roadster, Ariel Hipercar, Tata Nano, McLaren Senna, Renault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. Among his wider personal highlights of the job have been covering Sebastien Loeb’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak in 2013; doing 190mph on derestricted German autobahn in a Brabus Rocket; and driving McLaren’s legendary ‘XP5’ F1 prototype. His own car is a trusty Mazda CX-5.

Mark Tisshaw

mark-tisshaw-autocar
Title: Editor

Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.

From this position he oversees all of Autocar’s content across the print magazine, autocar.co.uk website, social media, video, and podcast channels, as well as our recent launch, Autocar Business. Mark regularly interviews the very top global executives in the automotive industry, telling their stories and holding them to account, meeting them at shows and events around the world.

Mark is a Car of the Year juror, a prestigious annual award that Autocar is one of the main sponsors of. He has made media appearances on the likes of the BBC, and contributed to titles including What Car?, Move Electric and Pistonheads, and has written a column for The Sun.