Silent, spacious and... well, insipid: Citroën's electric C-Zero car

Nice concept but still impractical - despite its Japanese heritage

The Reg Verdict

So is it worth it? Well, at one end of the scale you have the “there is no amount of money which is too much to save the planet” view, while at the other you have the “this is a £10,000 car which costs £20,000” view. Making the sums work needs a lot of what-ifs. The first thing is the saving in petrol. Since the vast majority of the cost of petrol is tax, it’s expensive stuff.

All cars are a head Vs heart decision. The C-Zero more than most

Citroën has got it right in not investing the incredible amount of money it costs to develop an electric car. While Tesla makes money on electric cars by producing something which both delivers and taps into Californian fashion, it looks very unlikely that anyone else will.

Indeed, Citroën has experimented with electric vehicles before, with a variant on the Berlingo Van. This did not produce any future electric developments.

For the vast majority of drivers, electric cars are more an interesting demonstration of technology than a practical means of transportation. Which is a shame, as I’m sure old André would have approved of electric cars. ®

¹ Torquenote: Quoted specs and comparisons taken from Citroenet website's specs for the C-Zero (seemingly run by Citroën France) which states “maximum torque of 180Nm [132.76 lb/ft] … from 2,000rpm”, and the Car and Driver website review of the 2005 Lotus Elise (fitted with the 1.8 litre Toyota 2ZZ-GE engine driving a C64 six-speed box) which states 133 lb/ft at 6,800rpm.