Citroen e-C4 review

Not a bad cabin, this. It’s attractively styled, feels solidly constructed and the front seats are very comfortable indeed. You get a 5.5-inch digital instrument cluster (nice and clear though feels a little basic) and 10-inch touchscreen (though because the climate control temps are always displayed down the side, the useable area is actually a bit less) as standard, while underneath you’ve got a set of dedicated buttons and knobs for the air conditioning and heated seats. Under that there’s a couple of USB ports, the wireless phone charger (if specified) and good storage.

IS THE INFOTAINMENT EASY TO USE? 

Mixed bag here: it’s far better than something like an ID.3’s, but the OS itself still leaves a little to be desired, and takes some getting used to. Still, it’s all helped immensely by having proper steering wheel buttons and those dedicated controls for the air conditioning just underneath. 

The screen is nice and high in the driver’s eye line, but, again, it’s a bit of a stretch to prod and swipe your way through menus. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, should you wish to use that interface instead, which if you’re anything like us, you immediately will.

IS IT PRACTICAL? 

The e-C4 gets the same 380-litre boot as found in the regular C4, which is just five litres less than a Volkswagen ID.3, and 1,250 litres with the seats folded down. So, about on par with its main rivals in its sector, but less than the e-C4 X’s 510 litres. There’s also storage underneath for your charge cables, though it’s a single-piece floor, so you have to empty the boot to get to them. No ‘frunk’ here. 

The sloping roofline means the e-C4 doesn’t score too highly when it comes to headroom, while the seats are reclined 27 degrees further backwards in the X to maximise room (not that you’d notice), but there’s just about enough for taller adults. We found legroom to be adequate enough too.

There are also two gloveboxes – a drawer for your owners’ manual and then a more conventional one underneath. Though like in a lot of French cars, it’s mostly occupied by the fuse box. Top spec models also get stuff like a ski hatch for easy access to the rear and for loading longer objects, plus a retractable iPad mount on the dashboard for the front seat passenger. Niche.