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Back in 2020, the e-C4 brought a dose of Citroen individuality to the EV part of the family hatchback segment. The looks had a crossover vibe, the range was a (then-reasonable) 217 miles and the cabin was the most comfortable in the class. If you're fed up with clinical family EVs and want an affordable, charismatic electric family hatch from the 2020-2024 period, here's one that might charm you.
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Compact Full Electric Cars
History
Citroen is a company with a reputation for trying to do things differently. Unfortunately though, the reality is that it's not always been a company able to do things differently from sister brand Peugeot. In the last few decades, a depressing cloak of PSA Group conformity has characterised family offerings from the double chevron marque. But by the beginning of this century's third decade, gradually things seemed to be changing and Citroens were being set apart once more.
First, with details things like Airbump panels and squashier seats. But by 2020, we were at least seeing evidence of more fundamental Citroen-esque engineering. For an example of that, take the subject here, the original version of the brand's first family hatch-sized EV model, the e-C4. It was all-electric - which was significant because back in 2020, electrified versions of Peugeots bigger than supermini-size were usually preferring a plug-in petrol/electric PHEV drivetrain. Citroen owner Stellantis was apparently giving its brands a choice between PHEV and BEV drivetrains for models in this period and Citroen wanted to be different. But how different in this case? This e-C4 hatch was joined a year later by an e-C4 X saloon model. And both sold until late 2024, when the line-up was significantly facelifted. It's the pre-facelift versions of the e-C4 we look at here.
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What you get
Citroen isn't one of those brands who think that a full-EV needs to look radically different from a combustion hatch, so you'll struggle to tell this e-C4 apart from its combustion-engined C4 showroom counterparts, unless you happen to notice the badging or the charging flap. Like other C4 variants, this one confirms that the delineating line between family hatch and compact SUV design is being ever more blurred. Which many folk in search of a compact hatch will think to be no bad thing. There's the option of an e-C4 X saloon body shape if you don't like the hatch.
Inside, the dash gets the kind of big 10-inch centre touchscreen that's in current vogue. And a fully digitalised instrument binnacle. Thankfully, the climate controls are separated out from the screen on the centre stack. The e-C4 is 4.35-metres long, which isn't huge for a Focus-sized hatch, but once inside, space is reasonable on the rear seat. The brand claimed best-in-class knee room - we wouldn't quite agree with that; there's a little more room in the back of a rival Volkswagen ID.3. But it'll be fine for a couple of adults on medium-length trips. Out back with the hatch version, there's a decently-sized 380-litre boot, which is exactly the same size as that of the combustion-engined model. Citroen included a twin-level boot floor for extra convenience.
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What to look for
As usually with family hatchbacks, check for child damage inside and alloy wheel scuffs outside. And of course you'll want a fully stamped-up service record. What else? Well we've heard reports that the infotainment system can be glitchy and various customers have had electrical issues, including non-engine electrical faults relating to the air conditioning and warning lights. Check that the air conditioning works and that the pixels on the centre display are all good. Also check for rear bumper scrapes. Finally check that the Bluetooth pairs reliably with your phone handset. As we said, electrical glitches are relatively common, so make sure everything electrical in the car works and double-check that there are no unexplained warning lights on the dashboard. Citroen's infotainment touchscreen software can sometimes cause the monitor to freeze or fail completely. A software reset may solve the problem, but some owners have had to replace the entire unit, which is not a cheap operation.
The drive battery in used e-C4 models should have quite a bit of life in it, unless you happen to be looking at one of the very earliest '20-plate versions. When the battery is on its way out, you'll obviously find that it won't go as far on each charge - and when it starts to run low on charge, you'll find that the car will particularly start to struggle going uphill. When it gets old, the lithium-ion battery used here can suffer from the ionised liquid in the battery freezing certain cells; those cells are then unable to receive charge.
Before going to all that trouble though, make sure the issue really is the battery. If the car won't charge, it could be a problem with your home electrics (or those at the public charge point you're using). Check the charge light to make sure that electricity really is going through the charge port. And make sure there really is charge in the socket you're using to power from - plug something else into it to see - say, your 'phone. If that charges OK, it could be that your charging cable is demanding too much power, so try another power source. Another problem could be that the circuit may have tripped due to a circuit overload. Or perhaps there could be a problem with the charge cable: this needs to be cared for properly. Repeatedly driving over it (as previous owners may conceivably have done) will damage it eventually. Make sure you do a charge-up before signing for the car you're looking at. When you do this, make sure that when you plug in to start the charge cycle you hear the charge port and the cable locking and engaging as they should; that's all part of the charger basically confirming with the car's onboard computer that everything's good to go before releasing power. But if the charging cable fails to lock as it should, then that won't happen. If there is a failure to lock, the issue could be actuator failure, caused by a blown fuse.
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Replacement parts
(approx based on a 2021 e-C4 excl. VAT - autodoc.co.uk) A pair of front brake pads are between £23-£75 depending on brand. A pair of rear brake pads are between £17-£53. A pair of front brake discs start in the £23-£74 bracket, Rear shock absorbers are in the £83-£100 bracket. Cabin filters cost around £7-£24 and wiper blades cost from around £7.
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On the road
Rather interestingly, this is one EV that doesn't spear away from rest like a scalded cat. That attribute's a bit pointless, it cuts across this car's laid back Gallic demeanour and it needlessly depletes battery reserves, so Citroen hasn't bothered with it here. The e-C4's a bit like Mazda's rival MX-30 in that respect. Not that the e-C4 is slow; the 134bhp electric motor allows 62mph to be dispatched in 9.7s on the way to a maximum you'll never bother with (93mph). What you'll notice more is the relaxed gait. It's inevitably not as light on its feet through the corners as a combustion-engined C4: the weight of the 50kWh battery has to tell somewhere.
Your driving position is somewhere between that of a family hatch and an SUV and you get a couple of pedals, along with a small straightforward gear selector. There's no 'one pedal' driving option, like you get in a Nissan LEAF, but there's an extra B mode, which gives greater lift-off deceleration, so boosting the battery's energy-harvesting efforts so that you can get somewhere close to the claimed 217 mile range figure.
The ride is very comfort-orientated, as you'd expect from a Citroen thanks to the clever Progressive Hydraulic suspension set-up. Here, the car's springs and shock absorbers work in concert with hydraulic compression and rebound stops, which are supposed to slow body movement over bumps and tarmac tears.
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Overall
You might not be quite ready to make the step from family hatch to SUV. You also might not be quite ready to make the step from combustion engine to full-electric. This Citroen e-C4 might make either of these sizemic steps a good deal more plateable to folk wavering on the edge of a crossover culture or a nightly charging regime. You get most of the visual cues associated with an SUV. And enough driving range to make the switch from combustion power to EV realistic enough to consider.
Let's be honest, on the used market all of this isn't going to be enough to allow this car to out-sell the two family hatch EV models it's primarily targeted at, the Nissan LEAF and the Volkswagen ID.3. But the e-C4 has a much more individualistic charismatic feel than either of those two cars. It's a proper Citroen, which means it's interesting, stylish and extremely comfortable. And a proper Citroen is something we always welcome. If you're looking for a wider choice in the EV part of the family hatchback segment from the 2020-2024 period, you should too.
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