I have learned to take Jack’s advice with a pinch of salt. Don’t go Chademo… From my less than scientific observations there are more chademo than Fast 22kW AC stations. I don’t see me abandoning my old girl for this younger model. Zoe’s Eco mode probably would have got me from Porthmadog to my home in Cambridgeshire non stop. Except I knew I would blow it on the A14. She is guesstimating 200miles with my driving. As for storage. Suitcase, holdall and electric wheelchair with plenty of space up to the parcel shelf. Me and my girl will be together for a good while to come.
@@chriswatt2702 About Chademo - was he talking about it in relation to 22kW AC or in relation to CCS? Because CCS is definitely the one to go with in Europe
@@bluemountain4181 it was a quote from another Jack video. Advice that I followed but also did not get CCS. Should have been mentioned as, guess what, there are more CCS and Chademo combined chargers than three phase type 2.
Woah woah woah hold up. Feel like we skipped over the battery chemistry a bit fast there. Having it be LFP is a HUGE deal for people who want longevity and minimal degredation. For a sub 50kwh battery, the extra weight is worth it to go LFP. Can we confirm both variants the 40+ and 29kwh version are both LFP? Love this car. Great video Jack and the team.
I agree, battery chemistry should always be mentioned, I would never even consider a lithium-ion car, but LFP and Sodium would go on my list immediately.
The lifetime of LFP v NCM isn’t really an issue for car drivers……….plenty of non-LFP Teslas with 250k plus miles on the clock with under 20% depredation. Most 100k mile ones are around 5%. LFP can also experience rapid charging being throttled, susceptible to cell temp more. Be a shame if not actively thermally managed, that’s more an issue that battery chemistry.
@@jamesvandamme7786I believe it's the world that isn't waiting for the US mate. The top three selling cars in the US are crazy old fashioned pick-ups that are unsellable outside the US..... If the protectionist import tax happens your car industry will stay behind until it's dead. Not facing the competition is suicide 😢
This looks brilliant; I had a Jan 1960 registered Morris Mini Minor and it had 33BHP and was fine in the 1980s. I accept there is a lot more traffic now, but 111bhp really is not a problem. Sounds like Citroen have nailed this car, I hope they sell a bucketload.
😂😂😂 Quite so but try not to ignore the weight. Original Mini Minor weighed in around ten and a half cwt. Battery probably weighs quite a bit so that accounts for powerful electric motor.
@@keithhooper6123 Yeah, young folk think you can only have cars that have at least 4 doors, 6 seats, screens on that back of every seat and a minimum of 350bhp. Everything else is some form of city car. Tell them you went from Amsterdam to Spain in a 2-door 1972 VW beetle with 44bhp, they will put you in a hospital for the mentally challenged. Everyone seems to have back injuries and at least 1 wooden leg, since they all need 4 doors to get into a car.
Speaking of cheap, electric cars, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV had a bit of the same as this Citroen. It was cheaply made but they kept an odd array of creature comforts. The base model came with two speakers, but had heated seats. It had an interior from Tupperware, but had speed-sensitive wipers. It had the barest of instruments, but had a heated steering wheel. It also had an overboosted steering wheel like this Citroen. There is something charming about a simplistic car.
I had two 2CVs in my earlier years and they were great, simple, practicle and cheap. I am glad to see Citroën haven't lost thier touch in that respect. 😊
It'll be my 1st electric car when my current ICE kicks the bucket! But I'll have the ~200 mile WLTP version, because I mostly need it for day trips :D I was thinking the Dacia Spring in the past, but the range just isn't enough for me. This one will do VERY nicely!
@@EcceJackI did 50k miles in a 38kWh Ioniq, before that I’ve commuted in 24kWh Leaf and a minuscule c-zero. Range is overrated. Been driving full EV for 12yrs……just do it
@@ianjames3078 Thanks for the perspective! I drive a Vauxhall Vivaro-e van for work, and on long journeys, and rather enjoy it. I commute on foot, so the car really is for day (and weekend) trips - and I don't have an electric one yet more because of the money than anything else, which is why something like this one looks very appealing
Exactly the kind of car that's needed to tackle air pollution in our cities. We'll done Citreon. If you factor in the money you will save on petrol, if you charge at home, the car will pay for itself.
With the high cost of UK electricity, think that argument unfortunately isn't in the EVs favour. Especially if you charge on public infrastructure. Don't go EV to save pennies, unless it's a company car and you're charging for free at work. Check out the depreciation. Each couple of years EVs will improve, like computers and phones don't hold their value. At least not until things mature a lot.
Just looked up the e-C3 here in Denmark, Apparently there's a trim level 'VTR Sport'(+7000dkk/~£800 extra) above the one Jack reviewed here, which does have heated front seats, windscreen & steering wheel + quite a lot of other stuff. For the price i actually think i'd prefer that over the blingy red metal paintjob which costs 9500dkk over standard for comparison.
In Germany, you can also have heated seats and steering wheel for I guess 700 eur. 11kw OBC is 400 eur extra. the bad thing is you cannot get winter packet for basic trim You, so the Max version + winter packet is not that cheap anymore.
I love/appreciate the way you review cars in their orginal context. I know all car journalists think they do it this way but they can't help themselves(of course there are exceptions) but you do it very genuinely..
home run! Treffer und versenkt! A comfortable, quiet, spacious, quite affordable electric car with acceptable range and charging speed. I imagine Teslabjorn will do his 1,000 km challenge run in under 11 hours with this one. Me wants it!
at last, a clip that deserves to be titled "affordable electric car". cheap is 20 grand nowadays :))) it's funny how jack looks like a giant when he stands next to the car, but when he's in the car it feels like he's back to regular person size :)
Reality check. Dacia Sandero 14k £ Thats affordable, and practical. Except for the environment of course... we do have to make this move away from fossil fuels.
@@allanpick4235 Yeah, electric cars still have ways to go. I wonder how much the pertrol version of C3 will be if this one is the cheapest in its electric segment.
@@2727daqwid Me foams at the mouth every time I hear affordable... At least it now applies to sub 30k these days. But let's be honest. When a car can do a week's driving on one charge, which you top up while at the super market, say 30mins, and costs around 15k, that's affordable. Because so many people do not have room to charge cars at their houses or flats. Then I would love to buy one.
@@allanpick4235 No currently sold battery, and the production processes, and recycling, which no one does, is any cleaner than all of the ice cars ever made
So much to like about this car from both a consumer perspective and a design one. Decades ago I was part of a team that generated a number of ideas for Jaguar LandRover. It was clear back then that there was an appetite for an eco friendly economical car, that wasn't green wash. Unfortunately legacy brands still had so much buy-in to the systems of manufacturing that they really struggled to understand what was being proposed. Finally we are starting to see ideas from all those decades ago being used. The future really is not to keep burning your resources.
I was at Everything Electric North and thought mentioning the "Back Room Staff" was a fantastic way to recognise the hard work behind the scenes. Maybe you could add the names of the people involved in the filming editing etc in the summery of the video in the drop down. I would appreciate it and i am sure they would too!! Old style "Credits"
@@toyotaprius79 I supose this new type of suspension will be more reliable? I love hydropneumatic too but man the maintanance and complexity... Its oposite of what they wanted to achive, simple car with as little parts possible:) And horizontal springs and swing arms were designed for "non existing roads" type of driving. Bit different priority then today driving.
@@tgregi I had a BX19 about 15 years ago - the only maintenance it ever needed was calling in to my Citroen garage and having the balloons inflated occasionally, which cost $40NZD (about 20 Euro) evry once in a while. I still miss that car - the comfort! the smooth! the quirky!
Thanks for the nice review. Yep, we were waiting for several years for an EV with a, for us, useable range of over 300km and decent charging speed with 100kW, for around €25k. Preferable with an LFP battery pack. This is the one. We bought the MAX for €26k (with €2950 subsidie) black body white roof and the 11kW AC charger. Delivery in October. Super happy. The Renault R5 Etech was the 2nd choice, nice sporty body. But that has NCM battery tech, the 40kWh battery and with 80kW slower charging. AND, in reality that will not be sold this year. You can order, but it will be mid 2025 before it arrives a the dealers. (possibly no subsidy in 2025). So, it is the Citroën ë-C3 MAX that came out on top.
@@Whatshisname346 Thanks for the confirmation. On the dealers website in the Netherlands, it also says heated front seats and heated steering wheel standard in the MAX. Without it, i don't think we would have bought it.
best thing they could do is get rid of him. Prioritising cybertruck over the entry level hatch/SUV, and putting it out with serious issues but asking 100k USD for it is wildly irresponsible with shareholder money. Continuing to put outessentially unfinished products and asking people to pay top dollar them is so callous.
I love the idea of using your own phone or tablet for the infotainment screen but they should also just have a typical old school DINN radio and physical aircon buttons.
It does come with aircon buttons actually! Theyre the same as in the version shown here, the row underneath the screen. Fully agreed on radio though, its a nice commuting thing where you dont really need GPS anyway and are too lazy to plonk your phone in. ^^
The entry level car does NOT have an infotainment screen !!! Yay !!! That's a first in the industry !!! Infotainment screens suck purple Twinkies. I've been advocating for a decade using your phone and a USB charger for navigation. Everyone told me, "It can't be done." Well, bug off! Citroen did it !!! Perfection !!!! Thank you.
@@decimal1815Or for the price of any new car android auto should be standard, cheap as chips. FFS a radio was standard in the 70's, anything to stop people using their bloody phones in cars.
This is the first EV i'm actually tempted to buy. Inexpensive? Check! Not overpowered? Check! Built simple without a bunch of extra crap? Check! And its available without a TV in the dash too?!? Holy moly, this is my next car!
Great job Citroen. I think it is definitely more of a southern Europe car, with its LFP and no heated seats/steering wheel and no heat pump. Going to be everywhere on the Mediterranean coastlines.
LFP battery is a good choice! Obviously it does not have the same energy density as NMC but it's MUCH MUCH safer! LFP does not burn! Also LFP degrades 3-4 times slower than NMC!
The same goes for Peugeot, they had a nice, relatively small and simple, lion outline badge... and now they have a relatively large shield with a lion head! Who gave the green light for that? Please show yourself!!
It is notable how quickly Citroen took what they learned from Oli and have incorporated some of that into a production car. Honestly, as an old person I think we are ready for cars with basic, simple features that just let us drive the car, instead of trying to tantalize and distract us with shiny objects and tech baubles. Our phones already do that, there's no need for a car to do the same. I am not technology or feature averse, but driving a car does not need to be an "experience" for most people. Driving is dangerous the the tool we use to drive should never be challenging us for attention.
This is something I agree with and a major decision making point for me. I love Renault’s media control stalk. I love the Aircon is controlled by dials. Starting to feel a bit too warm, three clicks counter clockwise with eyes on the road. Jack’s throw away line about Eco mode. This mode is a remapping of the output of the accelerator pedal to the performance of the drive train. No delays on production line. Negligible weight increase so why is it missing?
I agree, can’t stand the advertising for a new car which starts with showing the tech .. no mention of interior, engines, etc until it’s shown us the massive infotainment 🙄😫
Yeah I have never understood why our cars need to be rolling mansions, there are more amenities and tech and stuff to make us "comfortable" in the average car these days than most people have at home. Massage and AC in the seats... All that weigh a massive amount. Look at BMW's new M5 with mild hybrid tech. Its gained 1000 pounds in a single generation! 1/3 of a small car in one generation, almost 2,5 tonnes. Everyone blame the hybrid parts added... Each seat in a modern car is what? 70 kg? more? 14 electric motors, heating, cooling... ducting...
Fantasic little thing. Finally concentrating on the things that matter. Lack of heat pump and heated seats is a shame though, as it will really effect the efficiency in the winter.
You can get heated seats + steering wheel + windscreen as an option (1K euro), but no heat pump because that is just more expensive. I would have liked to see battery thermal management(at least heating for the winter since it's an LFP)
And that €1K upgrade got loads of extra goodies too like fog lights, driver assists, -reversing camera- etc, seems like an absolute no-brainer value wise esp. compared to the €1300 ask for the blingy red metal paint job.
@@evfocusro Oops my bad, reversing camera is indeed standard on mid level spec. Although here in DK, the trim level i are named differently(You!/Impress/VTR Sport) I'm assuming they're probably equivalent anyway? 🤔
£23k isn't "genuinely affordable", it is "relatively affordable". Relative to other new cars, it is cheap, yes. But you look at the average person's salary in the UK, it is still a huge purchase to buy one of these new. The average person is going to look at a used car, which opens many avenues - you can have a really, really nice EV for the same money and a car that is only a couple of years old.
I understand your point, but I’m going to take a stand here. There wouldn't be any used cars on the market if there were no new cars to begin with. If everyone only bought used cars, eventually, there wouldn't be any used cars left.
@@LePerlashez you are absolutely right. But on that point, I really don't understand people who buy new cheap cars, such as a Dacia. You can get so much more for your money getting something mildly used.
That's ALWAYS been true, new cars are not cheap, and arguably should not be. some people will always pay for the service, guarantee, choice, smell and peace of mind a new car gives. plus remember a LOT of cars in the uk are now leased.
Average uk wage is 35k pre tax.. you can realistically aim for a car which is half ur salary so a decent car for around £15 to 17k range would be a good target for most UK people. The government should for once reduce taxes on new cars and let people buy new motors for a bit less like the Americans do.
I like that we're making cars taller, from an ergonomics point of view. I wish we weren't making them taller at the grille, from a not killing pedestrians point of view.
When car journalists try to convince us that 22.000 pounds is affordable, remember - not that long ago, you used to be able to buy mid spec Polos, Fiestas, Puntos, for 10.000. It's not electric that's the problem, it's the whole industry. And China might have something to say about that in the future.
they are on the manufacturers' payroll, of course they are going to say that a £ 24k is cheap. They are definitely not making ends meet with RU-vid ads. Not a single journalist has the balls to call out these outrageous prices.
I have a base model C5 Aircross. Didn't quite have the budget to go electric at the time of buying. I love my car. It's no frills, comfortable and very practical. This eC3 looks brilliant.
I like it...a lot! To your list of heat pump, heated seats and steering wheel, I'd add ventilated seats. The heat pump would preserve efficiency when heating/cooling is required for comfort, and heated/ventilated seats would expand the ambient temperature range where heat or A/C would be needed. An electric-only platform would also be nice. However, I totally get why Stellantis are doing the multi-energy platform thing. Another wonderful review, Jack. Keep up the great work.
I think this goes into the realms of faffy expensiveness though. I’d actually cut that list to just heat pump - efficient heating to preserve range. I don’t buy the notion that resistive heating the person and their hands is more efficient than a heat pump would be in heating the whole cabin. And it’s a damn sight less comfortable. The other things are nice to have but to be found on more expensive models. Keep the cheapness!
Now if they could redo the e-C4 with a proper EV architecture, lower base, no central tunnel, 45-55kWh, 100kW DC charging, 11kW AC, 88kW motor like my Ioniq Electric (0-60 in 8secs, no one needs more than that), heat pump, they’d have a banger!
@@kosiranze almost. It still has a central tunnel, high base, yet smaller boot and more cramped interior than my Ioniq. The basic motor is 100kW. And despite the 50kWh battery pack, it struggles to really achieve better than 3.8-4 miles/kWh and to reach 200 miles of range. In that respect the Ioniq 38kWh is a much better deal (at least for the UK).
Thats whats interesting about this new generation, its not about excess but about - Do I really need that much?. The new generation is not about bigger and more is better, but rather what is effective?, what is appropriate? Its not about that 20 pound burger that you can eat only half off and toss away the rest, its about an appropriately sized and tasty meal that will fulfill your nourishment needs. its not about that car that looks like an elephant and can drive up a wall, its about what car do I need to get through my day.
Citroen are going to sell a lot of these, both EV and ICE. Regards the size I'd say 4m is pretty large for a supermini, thats as long as mk3 golf, let alone a mk1 which was barely 3.7m. for me the wheels are too big, I'd put smaller ones on the top spec immediately
They’re going to do an aircross 7 seater version of this. Not sure if it’ll have a bigger battery but I’d pay an extra couple of can’t to be able to haul a bit more stuff in the back.
Thank you so much for putting in metric or S.I. units. So many UK shows don't and it is so annoying. 189 out of 193 countries say thank you! Great test too.
Wont be that affordable, tyres cost you 800 quid a set, and need a new chassis every time you run off the road because you had to navigate through 5 pages to turn down the air con or open a window... Buttons ain't cool but they do work Elon. Dang he can't hear me up there.
This has to be one of my favourite car reviews from Fully Charged and the first time Jack has made me genuinely laugh out loud (with his Elon joke). It’s exactly the kind of car we have been waiting for - affordable small family car and he gets to the stuff that matters straight away - price, range and interior space via the Jack test. (I’m 6”5 myself and have a family of already tall and growing children). Other reviews feel like I’m being dragged along through endless things I don’t care much about until I finally hear the price and range at the end and can firmly dismiss it as an option. Personally, although £20K is on the cheaper end when you look at the prices of new cars, I’ve never spent that much on a car in my life and always bought second hand and kept the costs well under half that, so it will be a while before these reach the second hand market and become truly affordable to my mind. Still that will happen and I look forward to it finally arriving. As to any quibbles about what’s on offer in the car itself, as Jack mentions a heat pump is missing. It’s pretty important to have as standard to regulate battery temperature here in the U.K. especially to reduce range loss in cold weather. I have a second hand electric van from Stellantis with a Vauxhall badge on it and the range drops very significantly in winter. Other than that I’d love to see a long range version that can do around 300-400 miles per charge. I’m in the rare bracket that does regular long journeys of over 300 miles round trip in a day at regular intervals throughout the year and trying it in my van, with a similar WLTP range to this of just under 200miles becomes a bit painful due to having to plan in all the charging stops (and trying to find the cheaper ones!). I wonder if manufacturers aiming at meeting average needs is going to get us there in the long run. It’s the extremes that people want to know are covered - that family holiday drive down to Cornwall etc. people think about that worse case scenario (even though it only happens once a year) and want something that works for that too, not just their day to day school runs, shops and commutes. I’m willing to put up with the pain points on those long journeys to reduce emissions but I’m not sure most other people are.
Up here in Finland you can get one with seated heats and clammy hands but it’ll set you back €29,500 and you have to take the iffy touchscreen. I’ll hang on for the R5 just to see if Renault can pull off something as affordable. Nice little car though!
What a brilliant looking Citroen. This might be a game changer given the styling and price. Ideal for towns and cities. Can't wait to see it in the metal.
As someone who drives a second-hand Smart Fortwo Electric 2015, this sort of feels like what I have, but better. No customization, no tweaking, no big config, nothing revolutionary. Just a car, that works as a car, gets you to your destination and "just works". Part of me really wants to be able to access the Smart's internals because I'm a power user and I'd like to have more control, but... but it works anyway! Definitely sounds like the E-C3 is going to help with better adoption. Maybe it'll come to Canada at one point, and I'll see some on the street. Thanks for this review!
It's a winner! Sensible small, unobtrusive screen and even an option without one! that's amazing.; rear charging port; physical buttons; space to spread your legs. Is there a button to turn off the Lane Nanny?
Here's a question, the entry level model that uses your phone to control things like the radio... Does that mean with that version it would be illegal to change the radio station whilst driving? As you can't operate your phone whilst driving, even though a touchscreen when physically part of the car is fine?
This car would be perfect for east, south-east, and south asia❤ if citroen can market this car in those places efrectively, i think we can see another icon from citroen
Thanks Jack for your imortent focus on cheaper good electric cars. Yes I agree, I don't understand the need for ECO mode, we can do as we did some decades ago to use less petrol, just drive slower, less hard axellerations and we may not need to use aircondition on colder days. And this tiny car might have the same space or more than in a Volvo C40.
Top tip - get a 2 year old Hyundai Ioniq 38 with 3yr warranty for half the price and at least the same range……..it’s more efficient…..cheaper to ‘fuel’.
I understand your point, but I’m going to take a stand here. There wouldn't be any used cars on the market if there were no new cars to begin with. If everyone only bought used cars, eventually, there wouldn't be any used cars left.
Thanks for presenting this intersting little new car. Depending on how you define a "family" I still find it quite a stretch to call this car a "family car". When the four of us go camping/tenting (and we don't take more luggage with us than we really need), we fill 800l boot space of a Tesla MS (a Dometic Cooler fills on third already) and also a roof box (filled with tent, sleeping bags etc). The E-C3 might be a nice second car for doing the groceries and bringing the kids to places, but definitely not more. And as such, I might consider this as a family backup car indeed (might be we soon need a second car, as the kids grow older and their range of activity extends).
Brilliant review. Detailed, informative, entertaining and, most importantly, lashings of common sense. Just wish the legacy brands had turned up to Harrogate.
I never understood why heat pumps are not standard on every EV as they already have a compressor onboard for the air con, a heat pump is the same plus a 4 way valve and a solenoid to reverse the cycle, it should be like 30 euros of additional components.
Great car... And even the somewhat average range fits in well with what's going on in France charging wise : new charging stations fast and slow are popping up everywhere. Last time I went from Paris to Montpellier I counted 37 fast charging stations, that's one every 13 miles! About half of the motorway service stations have electric charging stations with the other half being equipped in the coming two years. Supermarkets are getting into the business too with Lidl even offering budget fast chargers!
YOU is 23.300€ but it's too stripped down to be used as the only family car. MAX + options(winter package and 11kW AC) tops at 28.400 €. You get a lot of extra stuff for the money so I say it's worth it.
Here in DK the price difference between the bare bones and highest level spec is a mere 20K DKK(€2667). You'd be crazy to skimp on it with the amount of extra goodies you get, not least the heated seats, wheel & front windscreen, but also tons of driver aids, bigger wheels, fog lights and acoustically insulated windscreen(Maybe the one Jack drove in the video had this, since he mentioned how quiet it was?))
Fab review of a fab car. Kudos to Citroen for delivering what the EV dream was sold to us as - lightweight, affordable cars that are kinder on the environment. Is it perfect ?, no, but it's a large step in the right direction and I hope other manufacturers take note. I also think it looks terrific, I would be quite happy with this as my main car.
Smart to make a model with a smaller battery. Many folks seldom drive as much as 100 miles in a day, and would like a smaller (lighter, cheaper) battery pack. More makers would do well to offer lower-range models.
From launch I believe UK cars (Plus and Max trim levels) both get the 10" screen whilst top-spec Max cars get heated seats and steering wheel. Pricing-wise it's similar to a petrol Skoda Fabia, Hyundai i20 or hybrid Renault Clio. This isn't being aimed at people who might otherwise get something larger and older.
Brilliant review, hopefully the sign of things to come. I'll be looking for to 11th July when Fiat launch their new Panda EV which is based on the same platform as the e-C3
Great review Jack, an affordable EV car at last,Citroen has always had a certain way in building cars, Unique you might say, even when they use to be available back in the Day in Canada, it would definitely need a heat pump and heated seats and heated steering wheel here in Canada for our winters, it would cut into range sure , most people would get buy it , I drive 80kms/day for work and the speed on my route averages 95kph with traffic so it is just fine, The E-C3 would work out to $38,500.00 which is good and in the province i live in we get $4000 rebate and the federal rebate $5000 would bring this car under $30,000 WOOHOO, ti would be the biggest winning Canada automotive wise since before Covid and make it affordable for I would say million Canadians, that is a win in every direction, meaning most owners would charge once a week or less, we have a large percentage of drivers that only drive 50-75 miles/weekly or less ,it would be good to see Citroen back in Canada , it is a cool little cart needs a heat pump for Canadian market 👍
BYD can provide a sub 10k electric car..but with import tax and supply issues why haven't we seen a tidal wave of these efficient cars.. The sweet spot in The UK would probably be around 15k.. We aren't that far away. It Dosnt need whistles and bells.
Safety, transport costs and build quality. Like it or not the market here expects higher perceived quality, it’s why brands like Proton, Perodua and FSO never caught on. Also by the time you add on shipping and taxes you’re looking at a £15,000 car which probably has terrible high speed stability.
Really looking forward to the new electric Panda (also from Stellantis) - this gives me some hope! I'll need a replacement for my ancient 2008 Panda Cross - ideally in a nice eye catching colour.
