New £25,000 electric Citroen e-C3 to be unveiled on 17 October
The ë-C3 will be part of a bigger Citroën C3 range that also embraces ICE models
EV will offer more than 186 miles of range and be part of a C3 line-up that will also include combustion power
The next-generation, all-electric Citroën C3 will be unveiled at noon on Tuesday, 17 October, the brand has confirmed.
Autocar reported in June that the new C3 will cost “below €25,000” in Europe. That converts to £21,600, although – factoring in the cost of converting the model to right-hand drive and importing it to the UK – it is expected to hit the road at around £25,000.
This would make the ë-C3 the cheapest electric car currently available in the UK, undercutting the BYD Dolphin (£25,490).
The new model will be identical in its dimensions to the outgoing combustion-engined C3 and have a strong relationship with the ‘CC21’ C3 introduced in India and Latin America last year.
A new video posted to social media reveals that its styling is inspired by the Oli concept shown last year, featuring similar lighting signatures to the forward-thinking pick-up.
Forget everything you know about electric carsNew Citroën ë-C3: all will be revealed on 17th October at 12 PM #ëC3 #CitroënëC3 #Citroën pic.twitter.com/Ue11L6TtMx
— Citroën UK (@CitroenUK) October 13, 2023
The ë-C3 will be “fully equipped” with niceties including air conditioning and electric windows, Citroën said in June, adding that it will be underpinned by a “BEV-native” platform. It added that the new car would have a range of more than 186 miles, but did not reveal further technical details.
Citroën stressed the continuing importance of the C3 to its range. Sales have topped 5.5 million since the model first appeared in 1993 and the company is seeking worldwide expansion.
Citroën CEO Thierry Koskas, who is also sales and marketing chief of the whole Stellantis group, said the new C3 would be offered in a much-simplified three-level range, each of which will have a maximum of five options.
He believes this simplicity will aid buyers who are often confused and frustrated by range complexity and will also streamline the production system at Citroën's factory in Slovakia.
With the new C3 range, Koskas also plans to offer what he called fair price transparency, an attempt to reduce discounting, although he still said the prices would “not be frozen” and there would still be room for some negotiation.
He sees maintaining prices at near-quoted levels as “a matter of discipline”.
There’s no firm news yet on UK prices or launch date, but the ë-C3 is expected to reach our market soon after it's offered in France.
Additional reporting by Charlie Martin
-*Opinion: Citroën leading the charge for affordable EVs*-
The fear in recent years has been that Europe’s car manufacturers would concentrate on building expensive EVs and allow rivals, principally Chinese, first to capture the low-end EV market and then to move into more expensive sectors at their leisure.
Citroën has launched a fightback, and it’s rather a surprise that it will begin as early as October this year.
The forthcoming ë-C3 is a brand-new, affordable and European-made EV coming to reinforce a meagre range of small European EVs, such as the redoubtable Renault Zoe, which it undercuts considerably.
You could hardly think of a move in the modern car market more ideal for spearheading a new marketing 'kick' for Citroën than this, and that’s how the firm intends to use it.
The creators of the legendary 2CV, built from 1948, would be proud.