2CV EV CV - electric 2CV Van goes for a drive! 

I think if I wanted an underpowered engine, 2CV handling and 2CV charisma, I would buy a 2CV and save over £40K (inc vat). It would also have the 2CV sound, feel and approximately 10 times the range (before 5 minutes refilling the petrol tank). Still, I have no doubt there are many hipster florists around the country who will love these!

At last a sensible light commercial EV. This would be my vehicle of choice now. I would line the back in plywood, but otherwise it is a perfect fit for me in Herefordshire. Plenty of good roads for a 2CV EV van in electric trim. Okay that my annual visit to Norfolk will mean stopping for a charge on the way. I am sure that suitable Travelodge type places will soon have charging on offer for breaking the journey overnight. I could even sleep in the back at a charging point for real stinginess! Absolute brilliance. Thank you for the video and best wishes from George

I own a 2CV, you're absolutely right, the engine isn't the main characteristic feature of the 2CV. While it does look/drive/sound different than most mainstream engines and it is a boxer, the boxer rumble isn't as pronounced as in a Beetle or an old Porsche, and since you have to rev its valves through the wheelwells to make a bit of progress and often find yourself just in a gear too low or too high to be optimal at most speed limits, I'd even say the original engine is something you accept as part of the car rather than a key feature, hence why many people tune them, put Visa or even GS(A) engines in them. It's the shape, its suspension, and the simplicity what makes it as iconic as it is, and I'd say an electric drivetrain pretty much as good as it gets when it comes to simplicity. I wonder if they could even get away with removing the clutch, put a single fixed gear in the transmission and make the engine reversible so you can just select forward or reverse with a toggle switch. If they're going to make these brand new, without using a donor, this means these will be 2023 cars officially, how will they get away with safety standards? Citroën had to limit the top speed of the Ami (the new one) to 45km/h and have it homologated as a 4 wheeled moped because it doesn't have ABS/ESP/crumplezones/airbags/...

Totally disagree about the engine. Its a major plus in a 2CV. LOVE the noise. Plus.... £39,000 + VAT!!! Need to be mental to pay that.

Pretty sure Ian (HubNut) watches this as well.

Virtue signalling pockets have to be very deep....

It's a bit like buying a 17th century long case grandfather clock , and then putting a battery quartz movement in with a synthesised tick and electronic chimes 😢 , no ,just don't.

Hmmmm.... this is pretty hard for me to like (the engine conversion) as a petrol head. I've restored a 2CV in the past, and the little engine is just as charismatic as the design and the driving characteristics. But very neatly done, and it's future proof now. Nice review Matt, enjoyed it!

I think we will see many artisan bakers that do deliveries using them just as in the 50's and 60's, the 2CV van replaced the old BSA 3 wheel M/C based van which replaced the trade bike. (That Hovis ad just came to mind). Somehow bread and 2CV's go together like an horse and carriage.

More fun playing with body roll in a Rover P6B. Comes with added sound effects...

40K plus vat, I had to check it wasn’t April 1st!! WTF just buy a nice 2cv and keep 35K in your pocket

wow that's going to be one short list at 39K! It's an interesting vehicle that's for sure but not a classic. It's a new EV with a much higher price tag. It divides opinions this one. Great review as always matt!

40K + VAT? now that is ludicrous.

🤣 Another blurred dashboard and perfect focus on the hairs on the back of your hand. Otherwise very interesting. It sounds like it has the typical 2CV gearbox whine.

If the production run is new from the ground up….why do they need the 2CV gearbox? Likewise the redundant clutch pedal. Surely a standard EV direct drive would be more suitable. As to the price, £10k less and I think they would have a decent market. £30k +vat puts it in the range of many other (better but boring) EVs. But with a run of only 200 units per year, it may sell out.

It does look very cool. Not to sure about the fact the original car was incredibly fuel efficient with little emissions to start with. As the price of electricity is so high I wonder if this is in fact cheaper to run than the original . Not withstanding the price tag which I assume runs to many thousands.

Interesting development but for me it is that characterful noise from the two cyl motor that I always think of - having owned 2cv's and Dyane ( I prefer the latter ) whilst not the be all and end all its just that motor that I would miss

Car manufacturers should make small city EVs with accessible, easy to replace battery packs.

I hope Citroen today is taking notes. Just bring back that suspension! O

Cool thing! But why not remove the clutch pedal?

Yeah, love it. It is a way of keeping, in this case increasing, the number of classics on the road.

I hate it when classics are raped with electric power plants.

Oh dear, at £40K its a non-starter.

Love it just pondering what a cute micro-camper this would make 👍

Forty thousand quid!!! It does make people smile -- the people charging that ginormous price for a plastic battery carrier!!!!!

Fully loaded with what weight? How does that shorten the 60 mile range with 11kw battery? Why is the battery pack not underslung between the chassis rails for a low C of G?

No.

How did you get hold of that before Ian?🤣😎 Maybe you should pay Mr.(Moggy) Morgan in Newtown a visit. He has done a few interesting rebuilds, including giving a Delorean a little bit more pep.

I am not a fan of EVs. I loathe them to the extreme. I do like this 2CV conversion.

Stop, don't kill my poor 2CV. Never had one, always longed for.

4:15 beep! beep!

I recognise that last bit road ended your video from that's Sutton Veny near Warminster So I googled the 2cv shop and that where are based so I've learnt something new today

Loved your review, hated the projected price, but I'm old. Is a pint of milk still 1 shilling?

Shouldn’t this be a 2EV?

65 miles sounds like a lot. I drop my wife off at work (which is 5 mins away) and five round trips would run it flat! That's ten deliveries if located that far apart. Not that many really, is it

It's not the future though, is it. It's not green. The elephant in the room.

They should of cut off the clutch pedal completely to prevent oopsies.

Instant like!

I can feel the envy from Wales over here 😂😂👍🏻👍🏻

Seems like a lot of people expect a hand built conversion to be as cheap as a mass produced car.

NIce idea, but I don't want to wait 3 hours for anything. 3 to 5 mins to fill with petrol and go.

Yikes. £50K Inc vat... And no baguette shelf...

Hubnut needs a Hayabusa engine in his...vroom vroom!

£40k... Oof...

Will the new 2cv not have to have air bags and safety equipment fitted like modem cars ?

I like it. There will be enough high margin city based businesses in nice areas to make that production run sell out no doubt. Though, the new Citroen Ami cargo would make at case for itself at a lower price, and also is wee and cute etc.

Good videos,. Did you edit out the scene where you thumped head on bonnet ? 😂

What's the POINT of converting a classic car to electric? It's just destroying the whole essence of it. If you want an electric car, buy a new one.

Citroen should produce it, sell it for around £20,000 and it'd sell very quickly I believe, I'd even consider having the van as it would be great to keep my chair in.

I love it. Future proofing these cars is the way ti keep them on the roads. Great review once again.

Gotta say…why..?

I kinda like to be positive But...ummm Crash rating? Insurance premium?, Reversing camera? Airbags?

Excellent Review, there is so much want a retro car with modern technology and the fact that it's a new car from the ground up sounds good.

bring Morris back! make something simple and electric!!

Great looking van. Looks a tidy conversion. But until they design a manual EV they not for me 🤣

Stick a Haybusa engine in it instead🤣🤣🤣

hi great to see the best car you own back driving again , used to buy them for 100£ or so and drive them flat out {those were the days} and never broke 1 of them , nice place to be , can drive them all day any speed you like , with hindsight probably the best cars i have ever owned

Would it be a bit cheeky for me to suggest that except for the nostalgia underpinings (and perhaps the driving experience?), it seem to be the same or a bit worse in every measurable way compared to the Kangoo ZE you reviewed a while ago and which all in all didnt find much of a favour at all? Me personally I kind of like it, but the 11kwh battery (I take it this is what you meant, not that it can output a maximum of 11kw of power) is indeed quite small, even with the low power motor. This really is a city centre speed and distances vehicle and not much else, in practice. Use it like you would an electric golf cart/quadricycle with a bit more space for stuff, and you will be fine. Its not an alternative to even other "low cost" electric cars in what it can do.

I'd love one of those

I used to hate EVs now i have a kona ev i love it, I'd love to make an electric conversion with an old family van....but now i feel EVs are under attack by many people, they all have in the mind the negative things of EVs but multiplied by 1000. So sad

Nice little van 🚗🚙🚘⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👍👍👍👍👍

40k though🤦🏻‍♂️😂🤣

Will the day ever come when a classic car bodyshell can be 3D printed and electrified, or preferably made to run on hydrogen?

three hours for a recharge means I'll need a new van whilst that one charges. As that battery is easily accessible it seems a shame you can't just unbolt and swap it out for a freshly charged one. Yes, I know, batteries are heavy.

11kWh battery is not worth shy of £40,000

I think this is a great little car. Would really like one. I don’t like the door lock cover protruding from the door ( horrible in a side impact)

I’m looking forward to you reviewing a Mehari one day

So it's not a deux-chevaux, but an electreaux-chevaux then?

They won't sell destroyed a classic car they just can't leave well enough alone

that is so cool and quirky French

40k! Sounds like an awful lot of money for an EV that is so limited in its abilities. You'd have to be overly image conscious to sink that amount into a working vehicle. 🤔

I'm surprised that circuitry to prevent overspeed damage to the motor from a loss of load (e.g. by depressing the clutch whilst motoring) hasn't been incorporated.

You missed the 2 in the link.

As always a great review well done to Citroen it looks so good

like Matt said .. as a city run-about oh yes ... as anything else i'll pass

Yipee I'm 5672nd. Sorry New baby in the house.

That's soooooooo cool

Awful 'car' should only be seen in France and banned from the UK. You've got to be some kind of dork to like these.

The 2CV is a completly different and unusual car on its own but an EV2C now that takes the cake l wonder if Hubnut will be getting one or convert his 2CV to electric also that 2CV EV you drove looks brand new well it is great little van

Johnny furious 😠 the yellow one was on the late break show 🤓 hubnut needs an engine for ellie 🤓

Hubnut should be interested in electric 2CV.

Do want!

Problem with the 2CV is the over £100 a corner for tyres with a low life span. Other than that they are no less valid a car than they ever were.