Citroen e-C4 X Review

Citroen is famous for building cars that don't fit into conventional moulds. The e-C4, for example, combines traditional five-door hatchback practicality with the style of a coupe-SUV, to create an excellent entry-level family car.

Then there's the Citroen C5 X plug-in hybrid. It's an interesting cocktail, as it mixes shots of estate and saloon car with one-part SUV, creating an interesting alternative to a Volkswagen Arteon Shooting Brake eHybrid or a BMW 330e.

Now, Citroen is combining these two genre-bending but nevertheless appealing models to create the e-C4 X, which the company will tell you fuses the 'elegant silhouette of a fastback with the modern look of an SUV'. 

Citroen e-C4 X Range, battery and charging

There are few surprises under the skin as the e-C4 X uses the same mechanicals as the e-C4. So that means it has either a 50kWh battery pack and 134bhp electric motor or a 154bhp motor and a 54kWh battery. Both have the ability to charge at up to 100kW on a DC rapid charger, meaning a 0-80% rapid charge will take around 30 minutes. 

The e-C4 X can travel 222 miles with a full 50kWh battery, Citroen claims – three more miles than the regular e-C4 on account of its more slippery shape. Realistically, though, that 222 miles will be more like 200 in everyday driving, and in colder months or on motorway runs around 180 would be likely. The bigger battery and motor are more efficient; together with the extra cells it means the X stretches its official range to 260 miles.

Practicality and boot space

The back seats are where the e-C4 X starts to differ from the e-C4 hatchback, because while kneeroom is exactly the same, headroom is improved thanks to the rear seats being angled further backwards. Coupled with the extra comfy seats, it makes the back of the e-C4 X a seriously relaxing place to sit. Mind your head, though, as you have to dip your head when you’re getting in to avoid that low roofline.

At 510 litres the boot is  absolutely huge and even beats cars like the MG 5 estate car. The rear seats fold and split in a 60/40 fashion for even greater flexibility, but the elephant in the room is that the boot is accessed via a traditional saloon car’s boot lid. The lid itself doesn’t open terribly high meaning taller people will have to bend down to load items, and the aperture isn’t particularly tall either, although it is usefully wide.

Citroen e-C4 X Interior, Design/Styling & Technology

Styling is always a subjective thing, but we here at Electrifying feel the standard e-C4 hatchback is a good-looking electric car, with enough Citroen quirkiness to feel different without being too odd. The e-C4 X takes the front half of the e-C4 hatchback and adds a longer, lower roof and a large rear-end; it has the same wheelbase as the hatchback, but the extra length comes from that rather sizeable booted area.

That boot is accessed via a traditional saloon opening – in other words, the e-C4 X is a four-door car with a separate boot, and not a five-door car with a hatchback tailgate. That makes it rather unusual in the UK as Brits haven’t been fans of four-door saloons (other than premium executive cars like the BMW 3 Series) for a long time – it’s a very southern European, middle-Eastern and South American kind of thing. While Citroen has worked hard at integrating a large rump on the end and adding a more swoopy roofline, it’s a challenging looking car, we feel, and won’t be purchased because of its looks but rather the extra space that’s been created because of the body alterations.

It could well be purchased for its super-comfy seats, though. Up front, the e-C4 X pinches the e-C4’s plush-feeling interior, complete with natty storage places and features such as a tablet holder in the dashboard. The tremendous front seats also feature extra foam padding for support; it’s a feature of many modern – and classic – Citroens and gives them a really lovely, unique selling point for drivers who value comfort more than sporting pretensions.

Just like with the regular e-C4 hatchback, there’s a decent haul of technology that’s thrown in as standard. All cars get a large 10-inch touchscreen that’s relatively easy to navigate and operate, looks rather smart and, happily, important controls like the heating can be tweaked with large knobs underneath the screen. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is standard equipment, too. Citroen also offers a smartphone app that gives the usual access to pre-conditioning and delayed charging.

Citroen e-C4 X Motors, Performance & Handling

It won’t come as a surprise to learn the e-C4 X uses the same motor set-ups as the e-C4 hatchback. That means a 134bhp or a 154bhp electric motor powering the front wheels, giving a 0-62mph time of 9.7 seconds and a top speed of 93mph.

That acceleration time will be plenty fast enough for most people, but the e-C4 X is not one of many modern EVs that can sprint away from traffic lights with alarming speed. It’s moderately quick and is more interested in delivering a comfortable ride for its passengers.

The suspension features Citroen’s clever ‘progressive hydraulic cushions’ and, without wanting to bore you with a technical lecture, differs from the types of suspension you find in most other cars. Suffice it to say the ‘progressive hydraulic cushions’ do an excellent job at stopping potholes and bumps from spoiling the ride, and the e-C4 X wafts along in a style you’d expect from a very expensive limousine. It is a bit floppy in the corners, mind you, but the e-C4 X isn’t trying to be a sporty EV in the first place, especially with its rather numb steering.

Running costs and pricing

On account of its supposedly sportier shape and larger boot, Citroen could have charged a premium for the e-C4 X, but it hasn’t. Pricing is pegging exactly in line with the regular e-C4 hatchback, so entry-level YOU! models get LED headlights, 18-inch alloys, a 10-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, keyless entry, a heat pump and a raft of safety kit comprising Active Safety Brake, Speed Limit Information, Lane Keeping Assist, Forward Collision Warning and Driver Attention Alert. 

The mid-spec Max adds a rear view camera, adaptive cruise control, in-built sat-nav for the touchscreen, upgraded sound system and tinted rear windows. Range-topping ë-Series cars get Alcantara upholstery, heated steering wheel, head-up display, wireless smartphone charging pad, and even a hidden iPad drawer that pulls out of the dash and turns into an iPad stand for your front passenger. And on the outside there's a two-tone roof, 'dark chrome' exterior pack. It's only the ë-Series which comes with the choice of the small or large batteries. 

Verdict

In many ways it’s refreshing to see a new electric car launched that isn’t an SUV. Citroen bosses have said they intend to pursue a future strategy of producing cars that straddle sectors and don’t fit into conventional forms, such as ‘small SUV’, ‘mid-sized SUV’, ‘estate car’ and so on. Citroen believes this strategy focuses on the needs of the customer rather than the manufacturer. 

It’s a risky blueprint, though. The e-C4 and C5 X have been our first tastes of this new approach, and they have succeeded in being different from the norm but still offering plenty of appeal. The thing about the e-C4 X is that while it does have many of the standard hatchback’s very appealing driving characteristics and interior refinements, it’s essentially a high-riding electric saloon car and not quite the genre-bending car Citroen makes it out to be. If the boot had been a tailgate, it could have offered quite a lot to the UK buyer while also remaining relatively quirky. 

The e-C4 X is primarily designed for markets other than the UK where booted saloon cars are still favoured by customers. While it is priced the same as the standard hatchback, a buyer would really have to crave a larger boot and rear seats that are reclined at a greater angle to opt for the X. We could see the e-C4 X being an ideal car for private hire companies or for drivers working for a certain ride-hailing company, but for most retail buyers we’d recommend the more sensible e-C4 hatchback version instead.