Citroen e-C4 50kWh Shine Plus

Can you cross a hatchback with a coupé SUV for a small electric car? We’re living with an e-C4 to find out

- Allan Muir

DID YOU KNOW that Citroën has been dabbling with electric vehicles (EVs) for nearly 30 years? I was aware that the French company has been selling electric vans and MPVs for a while now, but it turns out that battery-powered AX and Saxo hatchbacks existed as far back as the early 1990s, although they sold in tiny numbers (and not in the UK). Along with Peugeot, it also collaborated with Mitsubishi to rebadge the i-MiEV city car back in 2010.

Worthy though those earlier efforts at zero-emissions mobility undoubtedly were, you probably wouldn’t have wanted to own any of them, due to their high prices and short ranges. But that’s all changed now, with the arrival of the Citroën e-C4, the brand’s first ‘proper’ EV for the modern era.

Although the reinvented C4 (now a cross between a family hatchback, a coupé and an SUV) is available with regular petrol and diesel power, it’s the electric version that interested me most. Based on the same underpinnings as the Peugeot e-2008 and Vauxhall Mokka-e (among others), the e-C4 has a single 134bhp electric motor and a 50kWh battery that officially promises a range of up to 217 miles.