Citroën ë-C4 review

The Citroën ë-C4 could be the electric car for you if you're struggling to decide whether to get a family car, an SUV or a coupé – it can justifiably claim to be all three.

As you might have guessed from its name, the ë-C4 is the electric version of the Citroën C4 coupé SUV and it shares all the same styling cues.

Like its petrol-powered stablemate, the ë-C4 received a mild update for 2025, with tweaked exterior styling and a revised interior that improves on technology and seat comfort. Better still, the list price is lower than before.

Citroën ë-C4 video review

Some buyers will prefer that the ë-C4 is more car-like than most small electric SUVs but despite its sleek looks it still that prioritises comfort. So how does it stack up in against other models you might be considering?

Well, with rivals including the Jeep Avenger and Peugeot e-2008 – or if you have a slightly bigger budget the Kia EV3 and Smart #1 – the Citroën ë-C4 certainly has plenty of competition. Read on to find out how we rate it in all the important areas…

The entry-level Citroën ë-C4 comes with a 134bhp motor and a 46.3kWh (usable capacity) battery. Its official range of around 218 miles (depending on the trim) is better than a Mini Aceman E (192 miles) and about the same as a Peugeot e-2008. However, it’s less than an entry-level Jeep Avenger Electric (248 miles) or VW ID 3 (241 miles).

That’s fine for most journeys, but if you want to go further afield, you might want to swap to the top-spec version’s 50.8kWh (usable capacity) battery. That increases the official range to 256 miles – better, but still a step below the MG4 Long Range (281 miles). The entry-level Kia EV3 manages 270 miles officially.

So the ë-C4 is not the best long-distance electric car – but perhaps it’s quite quick? Well, not exactly. The entry-level model's official 0-62mph time of 10 seconds isn’t particularly impressive, nor is the bigger-battery version’s 9.2 seconds. Both are slower than the entry-level ID 3 (8.2 seconds) and the Jeep Avenger Electric (9.0 seconds).

In saying that, we believe there will be many people content with the ë-C4’s performance, especially around town. It’s only on motorways where we can see a need for more oomph.

If you want a car that's cosseting, the ë-C4 is worth looking at. Citroën has set it up to be quite soft, making for a relatively settled ride over minor imperfections on motorways, while also cushioning you well over bigger ruts and speed bumps around town.

It’s not perfect though. If you hit something with a sharp edge – such as a particularly nasty pothole – it can twang loudly. Because it’s softer, there’s more vertical body bounce along a country road strewn with lumps and bumps than there is in a Smart #1 or ID 3.

Don’t buy the ë-C4 if handling finesse is something you’re keen to enjoy – it couldn't care less about feeling sporty. That’s not to imply it’s skittish – it’s an easy car to drive, with light yet reasonably precise steering and decent grip.

There’s less body lean than in the taller EV3, but the e-C4 is still nowhere near as agile as the ID 3. The Cupra Born is even sharper to drive.

At motorway speeds the ë-C4 is very quiet – it cuts out a lot of the road roar you hear in an ID 3. There’s some suspension and wind noise but it’s not intrusive.

We count brake-pedal feel (rather than ultimate stopping power) in with refinement too, because if you can’t stop smoothly, that’s not exactly refined, right? The ë-C4’s regenerative brakes do leave you with a light brake pedal, but they have enough progression to let you stop gracefully.

“If you're not fussed about sharp handling or super-nippy performance, which I think will be the case for many buyers, the Citroën ë-C4 serves up a fine driving experience.” – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

You sit a little higher up in the Citroën ë-C4 than you would in an MG4 but the driving position isn’t as commanding as in a Kia EV3 or Smart #1. The 2025 update added an extra layer of padding to the front seats to improve comfort, but they could do with more side support to hold you in place better when cornering. Adjustable lumbar support is standard across the range.

The ë-C4 has physical knobs and buttons for controlling the ventilation system. They're much easier to use while you're driving than the fiddly touch-sensitive pads in the VW ID 3 and the touchscreen-based controls in the BYD Atto 3, Peugeot e-2008 and Smart #1.

Entry-level You! trim gets a 5.5in digital driver's display while all other trims have a 7in one. It's generally easy to read but looks basic compared with the EV3’s. Plus, if you have the steering wheel in its lowest setting, it can obscure the section of the screen showing your speed. Thankfully, every trim level except You! comes with a head-up display.

The ë-C4’s wide windscreen pillars can cause problems at junctions. And, as in most cars with swooping, coupé-like rooflines, the view out of the narrow rear window is limited. The Kia EV3 and VW ID 3 are easier to see out of.

To help you out, all ë-C4s come with rear parking sensors, with Plus trim and above also getting a rear-view camera. Top-level Max trim gets front and lateral parking sensors.

Bright automatic LED headlights are standard across the range, and on Max and ë-Series trim car they can automatically switch high-beam on and off so you don't dazzle other drivers.

All ë-C4s have a 10in infotainment touchscreen. The graphics look sharp and modern enough, but we wish its response time was a tad quicker. More physical shortcut buttons would be good too.

Smartphone mirroring (Android Auto and Apple CarPlay) is standard across the range so you can use your phone apps instead of the Citroën software. That’s handy if you go for entry-level You! trim, which doesn't include sat-nav (all other trims do).

With more soft-touch materials, the ë-C4 feels slightly plusher than a Hyundai Inster inside. However, it’s less colourful than that car, and the Kia EV3, Mazda MX-30 EV and Smart #1 feel even more luxurious – and better screwed together. The Peugeot e-2008 interior feels classier too.

“I found the area around the Citroën ë-C4's glovebox quite flimsy. Some pieces of trim even began sagging down at one point.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

While the Citroën ë-C4 isn’t particularly spacious up front, it’s roomier than it feels. The close proximity of the windscreen pillars can leave you feeling a little hemmed in, although six-footers can fit in easily enough.

That’s true even if you specify the optional panoramic glass roof, but if you’re super tall you'll find you have a little more space in the front of the VW ID 3.

There are some thoughtful storage touches, including an area for your smartphone and a tray that slides out of the passenger’s side of the dashboard above the glovebox. You can clip a tablet computer to the tray.

Two adults will fit in the back of the ë-C4 with greater ease than they would in the cramped Mazda MX-30 EV and they’ll have more leg room and space for their feet under the front seats than in a Jeep Avenger Electric.

However, they won’t have as much head or leg room to spare as they would in a Kia EV3 or VW ID 3. The Hyundai Inster is roomier if you slide its rear seats all the way back.

Shoulder room in the ë-C4 becomes tight if you add a middle passenger, and there’s a good chance they'll have to duck, because head room is tighter for anyone using the raised middle seat.

The ë-C4’s rear seats don’t do anything clever, such as slide or recline like the Inster’s. As with most small electric cars, you can fold down the 60/40 split backrests by pulling levers next to the outer rear head restraints.

We were able to fit five carry-on suitcases in the ë-C4’s 380 litre boot. That’s better than the MX-30 EV and Smart #1, and the same as the ID 3, but less than the seven you’ll fit in a Kia Niro EV. 

The ë-C4’s boot floor is height-adjustable with only a small lip to lift luggage over when it’s in its highest position. If you raise the floor it levels out the extended boot space when the rear seat backs are dropped down. There’s some useful under-floor storage for the charging cables.

“If you can do without the Citroën ë-C4’s middle seat and want more seating flexibility, I’d suggest looking at the Hyundai Inster.” – Neil Winn, Deputy reviews editor

When viewed against similar-sized electric cars – such as the Peugeot e-2008 and VW ID 3 – the Citroën ë-C4 seems like a bit of a bargain.

However, if you want your range to be somewhat competitive, you’ll need the range-topping ë-C4, which gets a larger battery. The thing is, at that point the price starts encroaching on rivals that can travel even further on a full charge (the list price nudges above the £30,000 mark).

Both versions of the ë-C4 have a maximum charging speed of 100kW, which allows for a 10-80% charge in around half an hour. A 7kW home wall box will charge it from empty to full in around seven and a half hours.

We’d stick with the ë-C4's entry-level You! trim because it keeps the costs down to a competitive level. It gets plenty of standard kit, including 18in alloy wheels, dual-zone climate control, electrically heated and adjustable door mirrors, rain-sensing wipers and cruise control.

Stepping up to mid-spec Plus trim adds a few extra features, including a larger driver’s display (7in rather than 5in), a head-up display and sat-nav.

Max trim – which is the only option if you get the bigger battery – adds electrically operated, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel.

An EV heat pump is optional on all trim levels to warm up the interior more efficiently, helping to maximise battery range in colder temperatures.

Although the ë-C4 didn’t feature in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey, Citroën as a brand came seventh out of 31 car makers. That puts it below Toyota and Honda but above Ford, Nissan, Peugeot, Volkswagen, Renault and MG.

Similarly, the three-year warranty you currently get is pretty average, and no match for Hyundai’s five-year, unlimited-mileage warranty or Kia’s seven-year, 100,000-mile package.

The list of safety equipment you get as standard across the ë-C4 range includes automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-keeping assist and speed-limit information. Stepping up to Max trim adds blind-spot monitoring and a more advanced AEB system that can detect cyclists. 

Disappointingly, the ë-C4 only gets a four-star safety rating from Euro NCAP, whereas rivals – including the VW ID 3 – get the full five. There were concerns over passenger leg injuries in the frontal crash test, and the potential for the front-seat occupants to collide with each other in side impacts because of a lack of a central airbag.

An alarm and immobiliser come as standard on all versions.

“I think if the larger battery was available with the cheaper Plus or You! trims, the Citroën ë-C4 would be a lot more attractive to buyers.” – Lawrence Cheung, New cars editor

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