Glimpse Citroen’s future with this mad Cxperience concept car

This is it: the Citroën Cxperience concept. Concept car bingo cards at the ready, because this one’s got the lot. But first, yes, what about that name?

Citroen Cxperience. Or ‘CXPERIENCE’, as Citroën would rather we shouted. How to pronounce it, we wonder? ‘See-experience?” “Six-perience"?

Either way, Citroen’s keen to point out you’re not eyeing the new C4 or C5, minus proper mirrors and crumbs in the cupholders. The Cxperience is supposed to show Citroen’s new design direction for an entire family of cars, taking the Cactus’s boxy-chic style and giving it an edgier, techier flavour.

Check out those floating roof pillars and slimline headlights. No Airbumps here – Citroen’s going aggressive, with 22-inch rims and a hacked-down 1370mm roof height. We particularly appreciate the concave rear window as a nod to the classy old C6. And see those front flaps in the bumper? They’re a moveable aerodynamic device for balancing drag against cooling.

Not that there’s anything so vulgar as a snorting engine to cool, mind you. The Cxperience is in fact a plugin hybrid, using a 200bhp petrol engine mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox, plus an 80kW electric motor to deliver, maths fans, 250-300bhp in total. The zero-emission battery range, meanwhile, is claimed to be 37 miles, and it’ll recharge in 2.5 hours. 

And so to the cabin. It’s very Cactus-esque, with its squared-off steering wheel and flatscreen displays,  but here Citroen’s gone to town with a 19-inch screen, negating any extra buttons inside. Wireless smartphone charging is housed in the centre console, and the rear seat passengers get their own tablet for tweaking air-con and on-board entertainment. How antisocial.

Pretty much every concept car box ticked then, from crazy seats to cameras replacing mirrors. Question is, do you like Citroen’s plan for the future, or is even this not mad enough for France's most outside-the-box carmaker?