The Citroën ë-C4 X Electric might not be the company’s first foray into the EV sphere, but it does represent an attempt to blend the two key strands in its current design strategy. On the one hand, there’s the inevitable and imminent shift to pure electrification across the range. On the other, there’s the integration of a slightly more eccentric approach to design, signified here by the ‘X’ designation but also represented by the dainty AMI and the innovative OLI concept.
We’ve already driven – and praised – the C5 X, a big hybrid crossover that impressed with a winning mix of practicality and eccentricity, recalling the big Citroëns of old (the halcyon days of automotive design for many nostalgic creatives). This is the electric version of the C5 X’s smaller sibling, the ë-C4 X.
Here’s where it gets confusing. The ë-C4 X is a more rugged and slightly stretched version of the existing ë-C4, which shares a shape with the standard C4. You can only get the ‘X’ version with an electric drivetrain, unlike the C5 X, which is available as regular ICE and hybrid. It’s a shame that all these names and numbers get so muddled because these days Citroën builds a brilliant product but is tripping itself up with this approach.
In principle, the new ë-C4 X Electric aims to occupy a similar niche to the larger C5 X, a car with the raised ride height of an SUV combined with a rather more elegant profile. In practice, it falls slightly short. Idiosyncratic elegance is Citroën’s jam, or at least it used to be, but the ë-C4 X looks more like a jacked-up standard saloon car than a bold new archetype. We have a problem with practicality being sacrificed in favour of style, especially when what’s deemed to be practical is actually rather more stylish.
There’s little to fault in the driving experience, which delivers a smooth electric drive, nicely balanced and with up to 222 miles range. In practice, as with all EVs, you should shave off 10 per cent of this total for the use of fripperies like aircon and heating, plus another 10 per cent is lost when the battery is only charged to around 80 per cent to give it a longer life. As a result, the near-guaranteed 180 miles range means the ë-C4 X falls squarely into range anxiety territory when a longer trip is attempted.
All-in-all, the ë-C4 X feels unnecessarily compromised. It doesn’t have a strong, idiosyncratic character that allows you to overlook faults, nor does it perform so well that you cease to care about its looks. Similar mix-and-match cars like Škoda’s Enyaq Coupé iV and the Renault Arkana suffer from the same kind of identity crisis; grand tourers that don’t inspire a grand tour. Personal transportation is high stakes; we’re sure Citroën is capable of pushing the envelope a little bit further.
Citroën ë-C4 X Electric, from £31,995, Citroen.co.uk
