Citroen C5 Aircross review

This is good. Combustion crossovers easily broach £40k, and electric ones can be way more. Not here.

There are three trims, You!, Plus and Max. The PHEV is in Max trim only. MHEV You! opens at £30,495. The 74kWh electric is another £4k give or take a bit of wriggle for differing tax disc cost. But it'll likely qualify for the £1,500 electric car grant so that'll make it even more attractive.

The PHEV is only £300 less than the pure EV, which makes it truly hard to see the point. You'd only get a PHEV if you had home charging, and if you had home charging you'd be vastly better off with the electric.

Even the company-car tax saving on the PHEV isn't huge; in Max trim a 40 per cent tax payer gets docked £353 a month for the mild hybrid, £232 for the PHEV and a much more palatable £30 for the EV.

The kit levels go like this. You! gets metallic paint surprisingly, and the connected big screen system and wireless charging pad, LED lights all round, and adaptive cruise. Its ADAS consists of little more than the legal minimum auto-brake, and warning systems for driver inattention, lane departure and speed limits.

Plus adds cosmetic touches outside and a wheel upgrade, auto-fold mirrors and the reclining rear bench. Not a vast upgrade for the price step.

Max has the HUD and a much plumper pack of driver assist, full surround cameras, matrix LED headlights, electric driver's seat, heated seats and wheel, and a heat pump for the EV (a £700 single option otherwise).

The MHEV is 121g/km and 43.2mpg. Going for the EV over the MHEV takes you from group 18E to 27E on the 50 point insurance scale.

Warranty is three years, plus eight years/100,000 miles for the battery to 70 per cent state of health.