| First Drive | Malmo, Sweden | Citroen C-Zero |

Quick fix electric car solution for Citroen as it borrows Mitsubishi's i-MiEV to offer a battery-powered plug-in model in its showrooms.

In the Metal

This car is defined simply as tall, narrow and familiar. If you're thinking Citroen's C-Zero looks like something you've seen before then you'd be right. It's a Citroen-badged Mitsubishi i-MiEV. Like its French cousin Peugeot - which offers its own version called the i0n - Citroen has added an electric car to its range by buying off the peg. That peg is Mitsubishi's, with its 'kei-class' i-MiEV providing Citroen a quick fix to plug in to customers that want an electric model. It's a good looking car, in that slightly quirky, modern city car style that the Japanese excel at. It suits the Citroen badges then, as the French company has a long history of avant-garde design - even if here it's not its own work.

What you get for your Money

Forget equipment like the standard air conditioning, electric windows and such like, as this car is all about its powertrain. It's a plug-in electric vehicle, with a lithium ion battery pack and electric motor powering it. It requires a seven-hour charge to completely fill those batteries - or a 30-minute quick charge to 80 percent if you can find a high voltage power outlet. Its range is about 80 miles in normal use, but drive it hard and you'll worsen that significantly.

Driving it

It looks like Mitsubishi's i-MiEV, but it's a bit different inside. Most notably Citroen has added a more conventional automatic transmission to the C-Zero. Instead of the multi-mode item in the Mitsubishi the C-Zero simply offers you Drive, Reverse, Park and Neutral. The means by which the C-Zero differentiates its power delivery and driving modes is via a two-stage accelerator. Use the first portion of travel and the C-Zero is in Eco mode, though push through and it gives you all of its power. Nothing radical there then. It steers quickly, has a very tight turning circle and its height offers great visibility in town traffic.

Escape the city boundaries and you'll always be aware of the range limitations; it's a brave driver who ventures 40 miles from home in a C-Zero in anticipation of a return journey without plugging in. To drive it feels utterly conventional though, save for the lack of sound from a petrol engine - the faint whirr of an electric motor is the only sound from the drivetrain.

Worth Noting

Citroen has a rather impressive history of electric vehicles, having offered an electric Berlingo van in the past. Given it has sold over 5,000 electric vehicles it is perhaps odd that it has tapped up Mitsubishi for the C-Zero. It does give Citroen a lead in the UK market, but Nissan's Leaf is going to be a very tough rival for the C-Zero and its Mitsubishi and Peugeot badged relatives. Like them the C-Zero feels like a proper car, which compared to the G-Wiz - and other electric offerings currently on sale - is a very good thing.

The C-Zero might be electric and therefore assumed to be green, but to truly drive with a clean conscience you'll need to ensure you're getting your energy from a renewable source. Plug it in without consideration to that and it makes nonsense of the green argument, simply pushing CO₂ output further up the supply chain.

Summary

The C-Zero might be a quick fix for Citroen but it's a credible, plug-in electric car that you can drive now. Well, not quite now, but it'll be in Citroen showrooms soon. It won't be cheap, but leasing options will make it relatively affordable for those buyers wanting a proper car that's electrically powered. Its biggest problem is Nissan's Leaf, which will be in showrooms soon too: it's bigger, has a greater range and should cost much the same.