Citroen e-C4 review: running costs & insurance

There's a lot to be said for choosing an electric car like the e-C4 as your next family runabout. It is still more expensive to buy than its internal-combustion-engined sibling (£8,000-£10,000 depending on spec, to be exact), but the potential savings are great – no fuel to pay for, and the possibility of vastly reduced charging costs at home, plus lower servicing costs, zero road tax and, for company-car users, very low BiK (Benefit-in-Kind) tax.

Citroen e-C4 insurance group

Entry-level e-C4s are rated in group 23 for insurance, though mid-spec trims are actually in the lower group 22 – likely due to their longer list of safety kit, which includes a radar-assisted Active City Brake system. The top-of-the range ë-Series model and its more powerful electric motor sits in group 24, however.

Whichever one you go for, however, you’ll most likely enjoy lower premiums than if you’d opted for one of the Citroen’s siblings; the Peugeot E-2008 (groups 25-27) and Vauxhall Corsa Electric (groups 24 and 25) are both likely to be more expensive to insure. These are relatively high for cars of this size, but reflect the extra costs of repair that technology-packed cars may incur.

Warranty

The e-C4 is covered by Citroen's standard three-year/60,000-mile warranty, plus an eight-year/100,000-mile guarantee for its battery. This isn't quite as impressive as those offered by the likes of Kia (seven years/100,000 miles) and Hyundai (five years/unlimited miles), but still plenty to cover the usual three-year length of a typical lease.

Servicing

Citroen's Car Plan programme lets you spread the cost of maintenance. Generally, an electric car will require servicing less often than a petrol or diesel equivalent thanks to having far fewer moving parts, and that applies here. The e-C4 has an interval of two years or 16,000 miles, whichever comes first, so you can expect to spend less on maintenance.

Road tax

You don't have to pay any road tax (VED) on an e-C4 until 2025 thanks to its zero-emissions status, and it's exempt from the London Congestion Charge until 2025, too.

Depreciation

The Citroen e-C4 is a pretty expensive car, so you’d hope it’d hold a good slice of its value until you plan to sell it on. Unfortunately, it doesn’t fare too well in this department; buyers can expect the e-C4 to retain as little as 36-37% of its value over three years and 36,000 miles. The MG ZS EV will only retain slightly more, although the slightly more expensive Jeep Avenger will hold onto roughly 55% of its initial asking price over the same period, making it cheaper to buy new overall. Still, heavy depreciation means the Citroen e-C4 can be had as a bargain on the used car market.