CITROEN e-SPACE TOURER

£54,375 OTR/£56,960 as tested/£469 pcm WHY IT'S HERE: Is a giant battery powered MPV really a good idea? DRIVER: SAM PHILIP

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WHAT BETTER WAY TO SEND OFF the Citroen e-SpaceTourer than with a big European roadtrip? If you're a fan of visiting French motorway service stations - and who isn't? - quite literally nothing!

Yep, we loaded up the big e-bus and headed to the Alps. And the big e-bus proved, for the most part, a fine companion for a proper long family adventure. Practicality? Unparalleled. Sure, ventilated massage seats and quilted dolphin leather upholstery might be nice, but true luxury is near limitless space.

And, out in the mountains, the e-SpaceTourer nailed the brief. It transported several chests of drawers without issue, because that's the sort of thing you do on a regular family roadtrip. Following a freak blizzard, it proved a surprisingly effective snowplough.

I'd wondered if the single 134bhp electric motor had the shove to haul the chunky Citroen up the steepest mountain passes, but it managed without issue. Overall efficiency was surprisingly healthy, the regenerative braking harvesting plenty of juice on the downhill stretches. Quiet fuss free electric propulsion fits this big bus - and the big mountains - rather nicely.