Citroen e-C3 Aircross Review & Prices

The Citroen e-C3 Aircross is, in a nutshell, a slightly larger version of the regular Citroen e-C3. While the petrol-powered C3 Aircross can be had with seven seats, that’s not an option for this EV variant, so you can consider it a bit like an estate car version of a regular hatchback - though it can’t carry any more people, it has more space in the back seats and a bigger boot.

Like the regular C3, it’s also remarkable value, coming in at less than £23,000 - making it cheaper than any other electric car of this size. It’s like shopping at the cash ‘n’ carry, where you can get big packs of all your household favourites for not very much money - the flip side is, they’re often slightly less desirable than the name brands and might taste a bit funny if you don’t readjust your expectations.

The first thing to adjust is your expectations of the e-C3 Aircross’ electric range. While other electric SUVs are increasingly bringing 200 or even 300+ miles of range to the table, for the e-C3 Aircross that figure is just 188 miles according to official tests - about 11 miles less than the smaller, lighter e-C3.

Citroen e-C3 Aircross: electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 188 miles (WLTP)
Efficiency: 4.3 mi/kWh
Battery size: 44kWh
Max charge speed: 100kW
Charge time AC: 0-100% in 6 hours (7.4kW)
Charge time DC: 20-80% in 26 minutes (100kW)
Charge port location: Left rear
Power outputs: 113hp

However, even though that number is pretty unimpressive, there’s a lot about the e-C3 Aircross that makes up for it. First, the practicality. The C3 Aircross is still a small car, despite its chunky-looking SUV proportions and raised ride height - but it’s only 10cm longer than a Volkswagen Golf hatchback.

Despite this, you get nice spacious rear seats with plenty of room for adults, and a 460-litre boot - for reference, a regular family SUV like the Nissan Qashqai has 504 litres of space.

There’s a lot to like about the interior of the e-C3 Aircross, too. Though it’s undeniably built to a price, Citroen’s been very clever in how it uses materials - a nice-feeling steering wheel and some neat fabric trim across the width of the dash mean it feels more expensive than it is. You get a fairly basic touchscreen infotainment system, but wireless smartphone connectivity comes as standard, so you can bypass it.

To drive, the e-C3 Aircross feels a lot like the regular e-C3 - it’s just a little bit bigger and heavier. Citroen has fitted its clever ‘Advanced Comfort’ suspension which does a good job of ironing out bumps in the road, but the extra weight over the standard car does mean it’s not quite as comfortable.

If you want a roomy, cheap, electric SUV, your options are few and far between. Alternatives include the closely-related Vauxhall Frontera Electric, which feels more conventional than the e-C3 Aircross - that might be to your taste, though. There’s also the Hyundai Inster, which offers better range and a flexible interior for a bit more money, or the BYD Dolphin, which has a similar amount of rear seat space but in a standard hatchback body.

If the e-C3 Aircross is the one of these cars that catches your eye most, check out our best Citroen e-C3 Aircross deals here. You can see our other Citroen deals, or get a great price on a used Citroen for sale here. And remember that Carwow’s the place to be if you’re selling your old car, with our customers getting a better price on average than they were offered in part-exchange.

With prices kicking off at just under £23,000, the Citroen e-C3 Aircross is one of the most affordable electric cars on sale today. It’s around £1,000 more than the regular e-C3 hatch, so it’s really up to you whether you want the extra space of the Aircross, or the smaller dimensions and slightly better driving range of the regular e-C3.

Trim levels are nice and simple - they’re called Plus and Max. Plus models come with wireless smartphone connectivity, climate control, LED lights and a full suite of safety kit, so they’re hardly Spartan inside, but you’ll want to step up to Max trim if you want items like blind-spot monitoring, heated seats and built-in sat-nav.

Comfortable over bumps - but the tradeoff is that it's not much fun in the bends

In town

The e-C3 Aircross feels very similar to the regular e-C3 when you’re driving it, so for more detail make sure you read our review of that car. In brief, though, the e-C3 Aircross’ fancy ‘Advanced Comfort’ suspension makes short work of most lumps and bumps around town. It has a hydraulic element a bit like famous Citroens of old and while it doesn’t have the ‘magic carpet’ ride that its predecessors were famed for it certainly makes a regular small SUV like a Renault Captur feel very stiff over potholes and speed bumps.

The electric motor’s modest output of just 113hp doesn’t feel like a problem when you’re just pootling around at town speeds, and you get good visibility thanks to the raised ride height. It’s a shame that the regenerative braking can’t be amped right up like it can in most electric cars, so you don’t really get a pronounced ‘one-pedal driving’ mode.

On the motorway

The e-C3’s wimpy motor does mean it’s a bit more of a struggle to get up to speed than it is in most alternative electric SUVs, and that’s especially likely to be the case if you’re making the most of that roomy boot and back seat.

With a top speed limited to just 89mph you won’t be making tracks on the German autobahn either, but that won’t bother you on the UK motorway network. In truth, it doesn’t feel any less suited to the motorway than a small, entry-level hatchback does - except when it comes to stability. The e-C3 Aircross has quite high sides, making it susceptible to crosswinds and buffeting from larger vehicles, and it jitters about on rough surfaces. It’s not dangerous, but it can feel a little unsettling compared to lower, sturdier small cars.

On a twisty road

The e-C3 Aircross has light steering and a reasonable amount of grip in the corners, but it’s a long way from ‘fun’ - the steering may as well be a video game controller, as it feels lifeless and like it’s barely connected to the front wheels.

As with the e-C3, that’s unlikely to matter to most people, as you’ll probably prioritise the e-C3 Aircross being a doddle to drive in town over it being the last word in sporty handling on a twisting B-road. But if you do want an electric car that’s satisfying to drive, consider the rear-wheel drive MG 4 EV.

A bigger boot than the Citroen e-C3 and roomy back seat - shame there's no seven-seat option

In the front seats, the e-C3 Aircross is indistinguishable from the regular Citroen C3. That means you get smart ‘Advanced Comfort’ seats, which look flat but actually offer a lot of support. They adjust reasonably well for drivers of all sizes and feature height adjustment, which still isn’t always a given on a cheap car - and the steering wheel adjusts for height and for reach too.

Storage for small items is okay with decent-sized door bins that will fit a large bottle of water. What looks like a shelf on top of the dash is actually where the passenger airbag comes out, so don’t put items up there - but you do get two big cupholders in the centre plus a spot to put your phone. On top-spec Max models, this has a wireless charging pad.

Space in the back seats

There’s more room in the back of the e-C3 Aircross than there is in the regular C3, and it has a slightly more laid-back seating position as a result. Though you won’t mistake it for a limousine any time soon, two six-foot adults can get comfortable with plenty of leg and headroom.

It’s not any wider than the standard car, however, so it remains very cramped for three adults to sit abreast on the rear bench. ISOFIX points are present on both outer rear seats, and are nice and easy to get to, while the upright seating position and big square windows give a good view out.

It’s worth noting that, while the petrol and hybrid C3 Aircross comes with the option of seven seats, this all-electric e-C3 does not.

Boot space

With 460 litres of room the e-C3 Aircross has more space than any electric car of this price - apart from the closely-related Vauxhall Frontera, which matches it. Compared to the Dacia Spring (308 litres) Leapmotor T03 (210 litres) Renault 5 (326 litres) or Hyundai Inster (280 litres), it’s positively cavernous. Even more expensive cars don’t come close, and you’ll need to look at something like a Hyundai Kona Electric before you find more storage space.

Fold the seats down and you get 1,600 litres to play with, and an adjustable boot floor allows you to balance overall cargo area with having a totally flat floor.

Once again here you’ll find that the e-C3 Aircross is identical to the other cars in the C3 range. The cabin is cheap, but it feels like it’s been screwed together properly, which isn’t always a given in cheap cars where corner-cutting can feel very obvious.

The cheaper materials are cleverly used in places where they won’t matter, while the things you touch - the steering wheel, the column stalks, and the portion of the dash closest to you - all feel nice enough. The fabric covering for the dashboard is a particularly nice touch and lifts the interior in a way cheap black plastic can’t.

Instead of a glitzy digital screen the e-C3 Aircross displays its driver information in a thin strip just below the windscreen. Here you’ll find easy-to-read LCD instruments, though nothing like a full-screen map as you might get on more expensive cars.

It’s hard to fault the central 10.3-inch touchscreen, though. It has a simple operating system that works well, and it’s sharp and clear. And though the functionality is a little basic, it has everything you need - built-in sat-nav comes on the top-spec Max model, but all versions get wireless smartphone connectivity through Apple CarPlay and Android Auto so you can bypass Citroen’s infotainment system easily.

With just 188 miles of range in official testing the e-C3 Aircross is unlikely to become your family’s new favourite road trip companion. In warm conditions, covering mixed mileage but without much motorway, we saw an indicated range of about 140 miles.

It’s perfectly suitable for people who do short, regular journeys and are able to charge up regularly at home but not much more - if you want a cheap electric car that goes a long way, you’ll need something like an MG4 Extended Range.

You can also expect the range to dip more in winter, because no version of the e-C3 gets a heat pump for more efficient heating in cold weather. Every version of the BYD Dolphin does.

The e-C3 Aircross can top up at a maximum rate of 100kW, which isn’t very fast but is perfectly adequate given the car’s small battery. Citroen claims you can top up from 20-80% in just 26 minutes from a public charger. A full charge at home will take around six hours, though you can upgrade to faster 11kW charging if your home supports it, which will bring that time to around four hours.

The e-C3 Aircross, as a fully electric car, pays the lowest rate of first-year road tax, and slots into the lowest tax band for company car use.

The e-C3 Aircross hasn’t yet been crash tested by Euro NCAP, and neither has the C3 or e-C3 on which it’s based. The Indian-market C3 underwent crash testing in its local market and performed poorly, but Citroen has strengthened the European model and added better safety equipment.

However, it’s still based on a set of components designed to be as cheap as possible in developing countries, so when it is tested you shouldn’t necessarily expect a full five-star rating. You do get all the mandatory safety equipment fitted as standard, which works well enough and is easy to disable when needed.

Citroen’s days of poor reliability would seem to be behind it with its excellent performance in the latest Driver Power owner satisfaction surveys. The e-C3 Aircross is based on components designed for developing markets, and so should prove pretty sturdy, and as an electric car it has even fewer moving parts than normal to go wrong.

Citroen offers a three-year, unlimited mileage warranty, plus up to eight years of warranty on powertrain components - that’s the battery and electric motor and their associated parts.