Citroen e-C3 review

Prices start at £18,845. That’s for the smaller battery in cheapest entry-level Plus trim, and includes the Government's Electric Car Grant £1.5k discount.

Want the bigger battery? That’ll be £20,595 – or a mere £2,100 extra – in the same base Plus trim. Alternatively, if you can stretch to £23,795, you can jump to range-topping Max trim. You can't have this one with the smaller battery.

When it was launched the e-C3 looked incredible value compared to the Cooper Electric, Corsa Electric and e-208, but now the Fiat Grande Panda, Renault 5 and Nissan Micra have landed at around the same price point, the case isn’t as compelling. It’s undercut significantly by the Dacia Spring too. Hmm.

What’s the kit list like? Threadbare?

No actually. Plus models get 17in alloy wheels, black wheel arches, two-tone paint, roof rails, electric heated and folding door mirrors, head-up display, advanced comfort seats, advanced comfort suspension, a 10.25in colour touchscreen with smartphone mirroring, rear parking sensors and cruise control.

Top-of-the-range Max versions additionally get front fog lights, LED rear lights, heated front seats, steering wheel and windscreen, rear privacy glass, Citroen Connected Navigation, wireless charging, and a rear camera. Not bad, right?

But – and we’ve already mentioned this on the Overview, but it’s well worth mentioning again here – there’s a big difference between the Urban and Standard Range. In the former, as standard you only get support for 7.4kW AC charging – unless you fork out £440, which unlocks 30kW DC charging. You've got to really love standing around in service stations to be okay with that.

Moving on. The no cost colour option is light blue, white is an extra £275, black, grey and metallic blue are £645, and metallic red is £745. Don’t be the person who gets it in white, black or grey. Live a little.

What’s the best spec?

Honestly, the upfront cost saving of the Urban Range just isn’t worth it. So our money would go on the Standard Range – we reckon Plus trim includes enough goodies, though we’d be sorely tempted to upgrade for the heated seats, steering wheel and windscreen. Those’ll help the range go further in the winter, as well as make your life easier.