A cheap new Citroen EV is on the cards, but the EU is standing in its way

A sub-£15,000, European-built electric car is tailor-made for Citroën, says the brand’s design chief who vows to be at the forefront of this new vehicle type.

In mid-December the European Union fired the starting gun on a new ‘subcategory’ of electric cars under 4.2-metres-long, and Citroën’s head of design Pierre Leclercq says his company is “ready to shoot” with a proposal.

“This is obviously [something] we’re working on,” the design chief told Auto Express during a long conversation at a Buckinghamshire venue. “If we talk about a car that is smaller and more essential, [that] means you can bring mobility to people for a much more accessible price, and that would be an exciting project to put on the street.”

The experienced Belgian designer – who kicked off Citroën’s eye-catching design language with the Oli concept – confirmed that Citroën’s owner Stellantis has a project team working with the European Commission on the ‘M1E’ subcategory. And his designers have proposals on the drawing board; as part of their current advanced design work they’re conceptualising vehicles out to 2032.

A new EV could slot into the range above the Citroen Ami quadricycle but below the e-C3, which measures 4015mm-long and costs £19,995 before its £1,500 electric car rebate. That’s the space formerly occupied by the C1 hatchback, Citroën CEO Xavier Chardon told Auto Express a few days later in Paris. 

“This is part of our DNA, and you don't have to go back so far in history. The C1 was quite a successful car. It was less than 3-metres 40, so quite compact and up to five seats,” he said. The C1’s natural habitat was around town though it had sufficient power for motorway runs: “we believe that [it’s] important to find [this] again, this logic at a [low] price point,” said Chardon.

Citroën is the Stellantis group’s value brand – the car world’s Aldi or Ikea, muses Leclercq – which makes it a front-runner to deliver an M1E-car. “If [any] brand is legitimate on such a project, then we're going to look at Citroen. That's quite obvious. Let’s see what discussions go forward,” said Leclercq.

The C3’s compelling value stems from its Citroën-engineered ‘Smart Car’ vehicle platform, shared with the Fiat Grande Panda, Vauxhall Frontera and emerging market Citroëns to boost economies of scale. Could this low-cost architecture shrink to fit the baby EV?

“That's a good question,” said Leclercq. “In the advanced phase, we’re trying different things to find solutions.” Differences between the C3 and its seven-seat C3 Aircross sibling include a wider front track, bigger wheel sizes and a longer wheelbase, which shows Smart Car’s inherent flexibility. 

But he warned: “If you want to change one millimetre in the A-pillar you get into millions of euros of testing right away. So we try to be clever in changing height, the complete silhouette, the length, the width but keep a couple of hard points that work for all [cars].”

However the EU’s new M1E classification is still unclear, and it may be that taking expensive radar and camera equipment out of existing cars – such as the e-C3 – is a quicker and more cost effective way to realise an affordable EV than starting from scratch.

Stagnant new car registrations and car makers pushing back against safety and environmental standards that have hiked the price of new models have forced the European Commission’s change of heart. “We went too far in terms of [expensive] driver assistance features,” said Leclercq. 

The new subcategory’s detail is still being hammered out, keeping car makers in limbo for now. That suggests any all-new budget EVs won’t emerge until late in the decade. Nonetheless Leclercq is determined to be at the forefront of the trend. “Some companies can be quicker than others. We don't want to be late,” he vowed. 

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