RAY MASSEY: Citroen’s e-C3 Urban Range is a multi-tasker

For city dwellers needing a nippy runaround, or rural folk after something to hop between villages, step forward Citroen’s smart and feisty e-C3 Urban Range hatchback.

I’ve been taking this new shorter-range, cheaper electric supermini out for a spin.

It does fewer miles on a single charge than its standard electric sibling – launched two years ago – but comes in at just £18,485 with a taxpayer-funded £1,500 EV car grant applied.

Shorter range aside, the performance of this value-for-money option is barely affected, if at all. It delivers good bursts of power and acceleration when needed.

Having whizzed in it around the narrow, jam-packed backstreets of Marseille, and up and down a hairy hairpin single-file mountain track to the sea, I can confirm it delivers a sprightly and nimble drive in a variety of conditions.

It comes with a powertrain that combines a 113hp (82kW) electric motor with a less powerful 30kWh battery. This still allows it to accelerate from rest to 62mph in 10.4 seconds, up to a top speed of 82mph. 

Range is kept in check with an average of 130 miles – which might just get you from London to Birmingham on a single charge, or a return trip from London to Oxford – but such trips are not its aim. 

Instead, Citroen is targeting anyone looking to make short journeys – to the shops, on the school run, commuting to and from work – but rarely venturing far beyond the boundaries of their towns, cities and villages. And in this mode the average range for city driving rises to 186 miles.

The e-C3 is a strikingly designed and characterful, fully electric, zero-emissions car that is generously specced and sold at a price that Citroen say is comparable to – or even lower than – many competitors’ entry-level petrol-powered hatchbacks.

As a relatively spacious family hatchback it has five of Citroen’s advanced comfort seats and suspension, as well as a flexible 310-litre boot, which, with the rear seats down, expands to 1,188 litres.

It is available with 7kW charging as standard, which powers up the car from 20 to 80 per cent in two hours 50 minutes, with optional support for 30kW DC rapid charging to 80 per cent in 36 minutes. 

If you think you’ll make longer journeys, there’s always the Standard Range e-C3 in Plus trim starting at £22,095 – or £20,595 after the £1,500 subsidy.

Although the long-standing Standard Range e-C3 Electric automatic has the same 113hp electric motor – and the same 0 to 62mph acceleration of 10.4 seconds and 82mph top speed – its bigger 44kWh battery gives it a longer average range of 202miles.

The new cheaper Urban Range option with a lower range was not available when the e-C3 model was first launched two years ago.

Available only in PLUS trim and riding on 17-inch wheels, the Urban Range e-C3 has a flexible 310-litre boot which with the rear seats down expands four-fold to 1188 litres.

The car-maker says it is also aiming to attract converts to EV driving who have already looked elsewhere but found ‘too many compromises’ particularly over a lack of usable space or refinement.

Despite the lower range, it still offers an engaging drive and the cossetting comfort of the ‘Standard Range’ e-C3 which exceeds 200 miles.

Generous standard equipment on the new Urban Range includes a 10.25 inch central touchscreen, a smartphone docking system, gloss black roof bars, LED headlights, heated and electrically-folding exterior mirrors, steering-wheel mounted audio controls, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and air conditioning.

Key information is displayed in a form of ‘head-up display’ which is shown – not through the windscreen – but in a screen that stretches across the top of the dashboard immediately below the windscreen.

And there is a traditional physical pull up hand-brake.

Safety features include active safety brake and lane departure warning, hill-start assist, anti-lock brakes with an electronic stability programme (ESP), speed sign recognition, cruise control and speed limiter, driver attention alert, rear parking assist, automatic high beam headlight switching, and hazard light activation during heavy braking.

The French car-maker with its UK headquarters in Coventry, explained the thinking behind bringing in a new shorter-range and cheaper model, noting: ‘It’s perfectly suited to drivers who mainly drive in town or around suburbs – the school run, shopping trips, commuting.

‘This version isn’t aimed at regular long-distance motorway drivers. 

‘The point of the Urban Range powertrain is to unlock electric motoring for an under-served section of the market. 

‘These are regular daily users in towns, cities and villages across the UK who want to step up from electric to petrol but at an accessible price, with the features and space they expect.’

‘With a new, even more affordable price point it offers plenty of range for urban and suburban drivers.’

All in all it’s a welcome and value-packed addition to the Citroen line up.