First impressions of the Citroen e-C3 – an electric car for €20

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Electric crossover with decent technical parameters that attracts not only with the price.

Citroen e-C3

Citroen e-C3 (Publicity Image)

Electric crossover with decent technical parameters that attracts not only with the price.

Only a few days apart, I had the opportunity to get into two electric cars, which, with state support, cost 20 euros. Tomorrow I looked at the GWM Ora 03, which is a hatchback, but this time it is a crossover – Citroen e-C3. If at first I was a little skeptical about the promised price because the press release said it would be without VAT, now, Autohall when I saw €24 in the salon, my doubts disappeared.

Before you read on, only 100 units are planned for the entire region this year. 40 have already been reserved. If feeling – then take it now! Before you catch it.

Citroen e-C3
Citroen e-C3

Unfortunately, it was only available for viewing for 2 days. We were lucky in Riga, because there are only 4 of them produced, which go around dealers for training. It should be taken into account that this is a pre-production model, but we can be sure that >95% of what you see will be in the production model. However, I had a look at this budget European brand electric crossover for both days.

Number 3

It is interesting that with the arrival of electric cars, manufacturers give numbers in the model names that seem easy to understand. And then you have to guess what it means. In Tesla's case, the Model 3 got the number because the "Model E" was not allowed by Ford. How to write SEXY from model names if the letter E is not available? With the number 3... For the other manufacturers, the story is more boring - it denotes the hierarchy of machine size. 3 is less than 4 but greater than 2. For example, Volkswagen has both ID.4, which is greater than ID.3, both promises to be ID.2, which will be smaller. Same with Hyundai, Kia and also Citroen, which is the protagonist of this description.

Citroen e-C3
Citroen e-C3

Citroen appeals to me for various reasons. Starting with the fact that my adventures in the world of electric cars began with C Zero, finally with him concept car Oli, which you can actually see a lot of in the e-C3. The main thing that I like about the Citroen e-C3 is the approach to the creation - no frills, but interesting enough. To be honest, I would even encourage people to get the base version of this machine because it won't have a multimedia screen, but instead a phone holder and a dedicated app for the phone. It is certainly easier to keep an application up-to-date than multimedia, which is often outdated on the day of launch.

First impressions

The Citroen e-C3 was placed in a place where it could not be overlooked. When you enter the dealership, you're almost inside it. The first thing I noticed was the new logo. The next thing that caught my eye was its shape. Let's forget about the shape of the waterfall! Practicality reigns here, to which streamlines are then subordinated. To be honest, if you put the Volvo brand in front of it, I'd easily pass it off as a Volvo.

Citroen e-C3
Citroen e-C3

Gray tones prevail in the interior, but it is bright. I like that the basic information that is typically on the screen behind the steering wheel is pushed all the way to the windshield. Without animations and color tones in the background, but with clear and large numbers and symbols. Almost like a HUD, but not on glass. Multimedia is the main thing I hope will change when it goes into production. However, the only thing I would do on it would be to push the Android Auto button... I don't even understand why car manufacturers try to force anything out of them. Nowadays, you need 4 buttons from the manufacturer - music (mostly Bluetooth, but sometimes you want to turn on the radio), EV info (put on charging schedules and look at historical data), Android Auto/Apple Carplay (for everything else), navigation (for those times when something happened to the phone). Climate control should have separate buttons. I will repeat - the basic version will not have a screen.

I would choose the Max version only because the base (You) version does not have the two-piece rear bench. Yup! In addition to 5k and you, the rear bench is two-piece. You also get two-tone paint to make the roof stand out, roof rails, tinted rear windows, heated side mirrors, a rearview camera and a few other things that make it worth the money, but if the base version had a two-piece rear bench, the rest might be missing enough to take a better package. There is one more thing, why not go for the base version - heated steering wheel and seats are not available in it if I read the booklet correctly.

Citroen e-C3
Citroen e-C3

Crossovers typically look big only from the outside, but inside you often realize that the shoulder of the person next to you is atypically close to a Latvian's liking. A vivid example is the Nissan Juke. This is not the case. The inside is just as big (or small, because it's not mega-big) as it looks from the outside. We are looking at a crossover that is 4m and 1.5cm long and just under 1.8m and 1.3cm wide. This is thanks to its angular design. However, Citroen did what a typical European does - to get more space in the trunk, they take away the space of the second row. Behind me, I can still sit down, but it won't be a pleasant ride for my knees if we go non-stop for the full WLTP promised 320 km, because they will have to hug the chair.

I love Citroen's approach to austerity. It's even gone so far that the charging port doesn't have those redundant covers or rubber plugs that usually cover the DC part and only confuse those who don't know all about charging methods. I just don't see the point of them. I also like the little ohm-boosting elements like the feel good tags.

Citroen e-C3
Citroen e-C3

Compared to Ora 03

Who do I like better? Ora 03 or e-C3?

Both EVs share a platform with other drivetrain models, meaning there are fewer compromises than a purely electric platform. The Citroen has more front-seat space and a bigger boot, while the Ora has plenty of room up front and significantly more space in the second row, sacrificing boot space. Ora is a hatchback, Citroen is an urban crossover. Citroen's peak for DC charging is higher, but the average power really says it all, so I won't judge by this.

I like Citroen's ingenious austerity and small amusing touches, but Ora is more technologically advanced and powerful. Personally, I like smaller cars more, but I look at Chinese products with a little skepticism because of their data collection and the political regime's stance on international issues.

Since the price is identical and the driving distance per charge is almost identical, we can't talk about anything obvious, apart from the form factor. It's really hard for me to rank someone higher, but it's just good - competition appears at a price that's pretty sweet to make Kristaps bite his fingers that he bought a used electric car at the wrong time for a price at which you can buy a new one with higher performance in a few months.

Citroen e-C3 and Citroen Ami
Citroen e-C3 and Citroen Ami

But in general, neither the Citroen e-C3 nor the GWM Ora 03 are currently competitors in the Latvian market. Dacia spring is too sophisticated and technologically naked to be perceived as a competitor. Renault Zoe is overgrown with a price. Nissan Leaf is morally obsolete and will soon be discontinued. Theoretically available fiat 500e with the small battery, but with a 24kWh battery it is hard to recommend these days. These two have no competition in this price range… Both have me scratching my head as to whether I should still buy one of them…

Citroen e-C3 technical parameters:

  • Autonomy: 310 km (WLTP)
  • Battery: 44 kWh (net)
  • DC charging: max 100kW
  • AC charging: 11kW
  • Engine power: 83kW (120 Nm)
  • Run-in (0-100 km/h): 11.0 sec
  • Seats: 5 (2 isofix)
  • V2X: None
  • Battery architecture: 400V
  • Wheel Drive: FWD

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Qamis
Qamis
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23/01/2024 14:32

I'm watching R-Europe promise to deliver this in the summer. Then Latvia could have autumn, but knowing Stellantis will be next year in spring (unless they take the base, without color) 😎

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