Citroen e-C3 Aircross review
Citroen’s comfy little EV is great value, if you like life in the slow lane
Our opinion on the Citroen e-C3 Aircross
Electric drive suits the Citroen e-C3 Aircross well. In such a comfort-focused car, it makes perfect sense to drop the at-times noisy three-cylinder engine of the petrol-powered C3 Aircross and replace it with seamless, quiet electric drive.
It’s not just about the smooth ride – the e-C3 Aircross also has some seriously sumptuous seats. It’s not hugely refined at speed, though, and it does feel a bit cheap inside. We’re happy to let that slide given that the e-C3 Aircross is cheap, as well as practical, even if it doesn’t have the seven-seat option that’s available on the petrol version.
About the Citroen e-C3 Aircross
The e-C3 Aircross is Citroen’s small electric SUV. It sits below the Citroen C4 hatch and above the Citroen C3 supermini in the French brand’s range, alongside the petrol-powered Citroen C3 Aircross. Rivals from other brands include the Kia EV2 and the Renault 4.
While some manufacturers lean towards making bespoke electric cars, Citroen – along with other brands from the Stellantis car-making empire – tends to simply create EV versions of its petrol and hybrid-powered machines. That makes the Citroen e-C3 Aircross easy to understand – it’s a C3 Aircross powered by electricity. It even looks the same.
Used - available now
2023 Citroen
C3 Aircross
39,819 milesManualPetrol1.2L
Cash £8,849
2023 Citroen
C3 Aircross
27,460 milesManualPetrol1.2L
Cash £10,286
2023 Citroen
C3 Aircross
6,900 milesManualPetrol1.2L
Cash £12,499
2020 Citroen
C3 Aircross
23,124 milesManualPetrol1.2L
Cash £9,949There is an important difference between the C3 Aircross and e-C3 Aircross, though, with the location of the latter’s battery pack making the former’s seven-seat option impossible. Which is a shame.
Performance & driving experience
Pros |
|
Cons |
|
Like a lot of Citroen models, the e-C3 Aircross has hydraulic bump stops in its suspension dampers. These are best thought of as extra, smaller dampers to provide better absorption of lumps and bumps in the tarmac.
There are certainly situations where you can feel this system at work. When crossing a large speed bump or hitting a large compression on a country road, the Aircross is very adept at absorbing their severity. However, the ride still isn’t immaculate, because on broken surfaces, there’s a jittery feel which takes the shine off just a touch.
Also, the focus on comfort means that handling is a secondary thought here. The steering is very light, which makes it easy to drive at low speeds, but it’s a bit harder to read what’s going on at the front tyres. With the fidgeting of the ride, it’s almost as if the car is filtering out the sensations you’d like to feel while letting through the ones you’d rather ignore. That aside, the handling is safe and predictable; not hugely grippy, but the front tyres give up long before the rears.
That light steering does make things like three-point turns nice and easy, though, especially given that the e-C3 Aircross has a tight turning circle.
Performance, 0-60mph acceleration and top speed
Only one motor is available in the e-C3 Aircross. Driving the front wheels, it’s good for a modest 111hp and 125Nm of torque. Where you used to get the choice is the battery pack – the Standard Range has a 44kWh battery, while the Extended Range bumps the capacity up to 54kWh.
The Standard Range car takes a leisurely 11.7 seconds to complete the 0-62mph sprint. Because the Extended Range version doesn’t get any more power, it needs a full 13 seconds to do the same.
Fast it is not. But because of the smooth, quiet and seamless nature of electric drive, getting it up to the national speed limit feels like far less of a chore than in the three-cylinder petrol models, which make a racket when pushed.
It should be noted, though, that some rivals are far faster. A Renault 4, for instance, puts out a much more respectable 148bhp, making 0-62mph possible in a brisk 8.2 seconds.
| Model | Power | 0-62mph | Top speed |
| Citroen e-C3 Standard Range | 111bhp | 11.7 seconds | 89mph |
| Citroen e-C3 Extended Range | 111bhp | 13.0 seconds | 89mph |
“Comfort is a clear focus of the Citroen e-C3 Aircross, and electric drive suits it in its quest to be relaxing behind the wheel” - Matt Robinson, contributor.
Range, charging & running costs
Pros |
|
Cons |
|
As is the case with most electric cars, the key to keeping the running costs of the e-C3 Aircross to a minimum is getting yourself on a variable electricity tariff and only charging during cheap off-peak periods.
This should more than make up for the fact that EVs no longer escape VED road tax. Although on that subject, a car of this price is far, far below the £50,000 EV threshold for the Government’s luxury car tax supplement.
Those who don’t need the legs of the Extended Range version won’t be able to save any money by opting for the Standard Range car if buying new, because it’s no longer available.
Citroen’s standard warranty is what we’d consider the bare minimum at three years and 60,000 miles, although it is possible to extend coverage up to eight years and 100,000 miles if the car is serviced at Citroen dealers. There’s also the industry-standard eight years and 100,000 miles of coverage for the battery pack, guaranteeing at least 70 per cent state of charge in that period.
Electric range, battery life and charge time
Officially, the discontinued 44kWh model we drove is capable of covering 188 miles between charges. Our test route, which covered a fairly wide spread of driving – but no energy-sapping motorway runs – averaged out at 3.5 miles/kWh (our calculated rating, as the trip computer doesn’t actually provide an indicated efficiency figure), suggesting a real-world range of 154 miles.
Temperatures were at roughly 15 degrees Celsius during our test, so expect that figure to improve in the height of summer, but drop even more once temperatures fall closer to zero, especially given the lack of heat pump. The Extended Range model’s extra 10kWh of energy results in the WLTP range increasing to 249 miles. A real-world range of 200 miles is a sensible target.
A 100kW rapid charging capability is extremely common among the e-C3 Aircross’s rivals. It’s what we expect for an EV of this price, and it makes for a 20-80 per cent top-up possible in 28 minutes, assuming conditions are optimal.
| Model | Battery size | Range | Insurance group |
| Citroen e-C3 Aircross Standard Range | 44kWh | 188 miles | 16 |
| Citroen e-C3 Aircross Extended Range | 54kWh | 248 miles | 15 |
Interior, design & technology
Pros |
|
Cons |
|
Space has always been an Aircross signature, and here it’s no different. Up front, that’s aided by a dashboard design which is largely shared with its smaller C3 sibling; the two-layer dashboard places climate controls – physical switches, thankfully! – beneath the central air vents, with all of the technology sitting above.
This includes Citroen’s digital display panel, a slim unit which sits above the rim of the small steering wheel, which is flattened top and bottom. It works well in practice; unlike many Peugeots with a similar layout, we had no issues with the wheel obstructing the dials here, and the view ahead is great. A bit of fabric material on the dash does a reasonable job of distracting the eye from one or two hard and scratchy plastics elsewhere.
A highlight of the cabin is the very supportive seats. Citroen’s Advanced Comfort design features a memory foam layer on top of the standard seat cushions, providing a sumptuously soft feel that’s great on longer journeys.
The current C3 Aircross is much more angular and aggressively styled than the rounded, friendly-looking car it replaced. Whether or not that’s an improvement, we’re not so sure. The colour palette is fairly subdued, with up to six colours available depending on the version you choose.
Perla Nera Black metallic is the sole no-cost shade, with Polar White, Bright Blue metallic, Mercury Grey metallic, Montana Green metallic and Elixir Red premium metallic available at extra cost. All are two-tone, with the roof and A-pillars finished in a different hue.
Infotainment, sat-nav and stereo
The C3 Aircross has Citroen’s latest cabin layout, which uses what it calls a “head-up display” positioned above a tiny steering wheel. The slim digital readout provides only necessary information, with the driver able to choose to add more by scrolling through the trip computer functions, which are shown to the right of the readout.
The speedometer is laggy, though, and often skips a few units even when gently accelerating or decelerating. At times this makes it tricky to tell if you’re either exceeding or observing the speed limit.
The C3 Aircross keeps things fairly simple when it comes to its touchscreen set-up, with all versions using a 10.25-inch unit. On the entry-level Plus trim, there isn’t even a built-in navigation system – you’ll need to get the Max trim for that. Both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are compatible, though, so we’d much rather use the processing power of a phone to navigate and connect our music easily instead. The rest of the set-up is simply laid out with clear icons, and the screen is fairly responsive to touch inputs.
“There are some cheaper-feeling elements inside the cabin of the e-C3 Aircross, but they’re mostly acceptable considering the low price” - Alastair Crooks, senior news reporter.
Boot space & practicality
Pros |
|
Cons |
|
While the e-C3 Aircross is very roomy, the electric model does force a slight practicality compromise, and that’s under your feet. In order to accommodate the battery pack, the floor has been raised slightly compared to the petrol and hybrid variants. This makes it feel a little high relative to the base of the rear bench seat, and also restricts foot space under the front seats.
Citroen claims class-leading kneeroom and headroom for this car, however. Without a third row of seats to accommodate in the e-C3 Aircross, the second row has moved slightly further back, granting even more space to stretch out.
Dimensions and size
The e-C3 Aircross is bigger than a lot of other cars in the class, even including its Vauxhall Frontera Electric cousin. There’s a particularly big jump in length if comparing the Renault 4 and/or Kia EV2 to the Citroen, which is also 240mm longer than the car it replaced.
This growth isn’t enough to make it noticeably more arduous to park, though, and it helps the e-C3 Aircross become one of the roomier options at this price.
| Dimensions comparison | |||
| Model | Citroen e-C3 Aircross | Renault 4 | Vauxhall Frontera Electric |
| Length | 4,395mm | 4,144mm | 4,287mm |
| Width | 1,850mm | 1,808mm | 1,836mm |
| Height | 1,660mm | 1,552mm | 1,504mm |
| Wheelbase | 2,672mm | 2,624mm | 2,705mm |
| Boot space | 440 -1,600 litres | 339 - 1,113 litres | 460 - 1,600 litres |
Boot space
Despite the packaging compromises in this EV model, there’s still plenty of boot capacity; Citroen quotes a very generous 460 litres. The seats fold almost flat, and form a level platform with the false boot floor. This also opens up 1,600 litres of luggage space, which is far more than the total volume found in the back of a similarly configured Renault 4.
The e-C3’s Vauxhall Frontera Electric relative has exactly the same total carrying capability, though, and with the rear seats in place, it’s superior by 20 litres.
Reliability & safety
Pros |
|
Cons |
|
Citroen was the disappointment among its Stellantis stablemates in our most recent Driver Power ownership survey. It placed just two spots from the bottom in 28th, a big fall from its 16th-place finish in 2025. Vauxhall and Peugeot, for comparison, were in sixth and seventh place respectively.
Then again, as an electric car, there are fewer moving parts in the e-C3 Aircross, which means less to go wrong. It should further help the car’s cause that it’s one of Citroen’s newer products in the current line-up.
The safety of the e-C3 Aircross is difficult to gauge, because it hasn’t yet been tested by Euro NCAP. All the safety equipment we expect to see in a modern car is present and correct, though, with lane-departure warning, a speed limiter, autonomous emergency braking and a driver-attention monitor among the standard-fit safety gear. The Max model also has blind-spot detection.
Buying, prices and deals
- Best buy: Citroen e-C3 Aircross Collection Extended Range
Although the Plus trim is still showing in the e-C3 Aircross configurator, it looks to have been superseded by the newer Collection grade and this is the one we’d go for. It adds various aesthetic touches. It ticks most boxes, including 17-inch alloy wheels, heated and electrically adjustable plus folding mirrors, climate control, a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system, wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and rear parking sensors plus a parking camera.
Max trim adds a different style of 17-inch wheel, navigation, wireless phone charging, front fog lights and an auto-dimming rear-view mirror. A worthy uplift in kit, but none of those are ground-breaking changes.
We do think the Extended Range battery is worth the extra outlay, though, so our recommendation would be to combine this with Collection trim, which will cost you a little over £25,000.
You can save on the list price by building your new Citroen e-C3 Aircross with the Auto Express Buy A Car service. We also have a range of e-C3 Aircross leasing deals as well as new e-C3 Aircross models in stock right now.
Citroen e-C3 Aircross alternatives
The Renault 4 isn’t quite as practical as the e-C3 Aircross, but it’s a damn sight quicker and provides a slightly more balanced drive between comfort and sportiness. It’s also excellent value thanks to its eligibility for the Band 1 Government Electric Car Grant.
The Kia EV2 is similarly priced at the bottom end of its range, but it has a much higher ceiling. It isn’t as practical either, but is a more premium-feeling product.
The most obvious alternative to the e-C3 Aircross is very close to home. It’s the Vauxhall Frontera Electric, which is built using much of the same components, because both brands are part of the massive Stellantis car manufacturing empire. We prefer the Citroen’s interior, but the Vauxhall is a bit cheaper.
Citroen e-C3 Aircross pictures
Frequently Asked Questions
Citroen's standard warranty covers the e-C3 Aircross for three years or 60,000 miles. The battery pack is also covered by a separate eight-year/100,000-mile plan.
Deals on the C3 Aircross and alternatives
