Our cars Frenchness: Pros & cons
The enigmatic Citroen E-C4 X has got Guy loving and hating. Guy Bird
That there is something French about the Citroen E-C4 X is largely a good thing. Brands need identities and the nationality of any carmaker is often a beneficial factor, especially when that nation is perceived around the world in a mostly positive light. Carmakers associated with countries with despotic dictators and appalling human rights records tend to export less well. Many of us like going on holiday to France because the food is great, the weather – especially down south – is usually better than here and there’s a style, flair and freedom to a lot of the things its citizens design and produce. And French people know how to enjoy themselves. There’s a phrase for it that even those who barely passed their French GSCE will probably know – joie de vivre – but if you don’t, Google Translate will quickly tell you it means the ‘joy of living’. The E-C4 X has a joie de vivre about it. It’s found in its pleasingly swoopy exterior shape, not able to be pigeonholed as yet another crossover, or a crossover coupé or even just a saloon – although it does have four doors, five seats and a boot. This Frenchness is also found within its comfort-oriented interior, with well- padded part-leather heated and massaging seats with distinctive lozenge-shaped grey stitching. As part of the optional £800 ‘Hype Black interior ambience’ pack – which also includes a fancier steering
Optional equipment: Pearlescent ‘Pearl White’ paint (£720)
Hype black interior pack (£800) Universal tablet cradle (£100)
Why we’re running it
To see if Citroen’s electric saloon SUV blend really makes sense day-to-day.
metal wrestling, my slightly slimmer bike with the narrower handlebars did fit inside. But only by manhandling it through the rear doors first and then yanking the other end towards the boot’s edge back and forth until the twisted handlebars eventually ‘belly-danced’ under the fixed, low parcel shelf. In summary, it’s a real pain, which I wouldn’t attempt again, unless I really had to.
wheel and carpet mats – I think it’s a worthwhile addition.
A specific Citroen layer to this Frenchness is in the E-C4 X’s pliant ride, in keeping with the brand’s long- held comfort-biased approach and created by its trademarked Advanced Comfort Suspension system, featuring double hydraulic stops front and rear. The resulting super-smooth gliding effect in motion is tangible to both driver and passengers alike and is a world away from the harsher thuds and crashes over bumps and speed-bumps that stiffer suspension set-ups associated with sportier (and mainly German) brands suffer. But there are downsides to this idiosyncratic French approach to car-
Citroen E-C4 X Shine 50kW battery
P11D price £34,440 As tested £36,115 (OTR) Official range 221 miles Our average consumption 4.2m/kWh Mileage 2631
making, which manifest in different ways on the E-C4 X. Last month I mentioned my concern that its relatively small boot lid and aperture – rather than a hatchback- style tailgate and huge hole – might make swallowing certain bulkier items, like my large-frame road bike, trickier. To reduce stress levels when I wasn’t in a rush, I tried it. After some head-scratching and much
Another odd detail of the aforementioned and otherwise good Hype Black interior ambience’ pack is that it includes four- way electric driver’s seat adjustment but forward and aft movement still has to be done manually. To me, that’s weird. Or the grab handle on the driver’s side head rail which my head bangs into far too often, due to the angle of the ceiling. Or the touchscreen message on start-up that suggests my phone needs reconnecting but seconds later actually doesn’t. Or the Hill Start Assist, which seems to work sometimes but not others. Or even the E-C4 X’s On/Off button, which after my previous long-term test vehicle – the ‘just get in, select a gear and go’ Volvo XC40 Recharge – now seems superfluous. And is hidden by the steering wheel. Maybe some of these small annoyances would have been ironed out before going into production if Citroen’s engineers and designers hadn’t embraced that French joie de vivre approach to life as strongly. Who knows? But overall I still like the E-C4 X more than I don’t and I’m glad it exists. The car world needs more variety.
44 | August 2023 |
www.businesscar.co.uk
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