Dacia has a circa-€25,000 car almost ready for launch and Volkswagen has one in the pipeline, but right now it looks as if Citroen has stolen a significant march on both competitors with the launch of the new EC-3.
Irish prices for the Citroen E-C3 have not yet been finalised and won't be for some time, but Citroen Ireland is aiming to have the car listed as near as possible to the intended €25,000 European price when the car arrives here in the late summer or autumn of next year
If it doesn't manage to do so, it will almost defeat the whole aim of this project and detract from the car’s intended unique selling point - its price.
Citroen is promising a lot with this car. It will be driven by a 44 kWh battery which, the company claims, is capable of delivering up to 320 km’s on a single charge.
However, the car is unlikely to reach that target in real world conditions rather than ideal ones. It should, however, manage to cover much of the average driving cycle that city-based drivers will experience. The motor will produce113 horse power.
The car looks attractively designed, with a taller and more boxy profile opted for. It’s 1.57 metres high, with a large windscreen and the interior is being described as being "lounge"like. There will be more headroom than in that of the model it replaces and ground clearance has also been increased.
It features a head-up display screen in front of the driver, with a 10.25 inch colour infotainment screen. Citroen has fitted the car with advanced comfort seats and a comfort suspension set up.
The boot won’t be all that big though with available capacity of 310 litres.
Standard equipment includes emergency braking, driver attention alert, speed limit recognition and an automatic parking brake.
Incidentally, Citroen is also planning an even cheaper electric car due for launch in 2025. It has a claimed range of 200 kilometres and the company is aiming for a European price tag of €19,900.
