Citroen e-C4 delivers a comfortable ride while appealing to the practical-minded driver

When we first drove the Citroen C4 we were impressed by its wild styling as well as the high comfort offered by its soft springs.

Could this e-C4 build on the traits of the C4 with the quiet and smooth operation of its all-electric drivetrain?

Funky thing

On the design front, there's not a lot that visually separates the e-C4 from its combustion-powered stablemate.

Up front and along the sides, the fog lamp surrounds and the accent pieces on the lower body panels are here finished in blue. The front doors have also gained a blue 'e' to set it apart from the C4.

And of course, the tailpipes of the C4 are also omitted here.

This means the Citroen e-C4 doesn't look too different from the regular C4, but if you're a fan of the wild styling of the crossover and hatch that's probably a good thing: There's less to pull visual attention away from the bold head light design or the sloping roof at the rear.

Sensible cabin

While the exterior of the Citroen e-C4 may look dramatic and unusual, step into the car and you'll find that the driving experience is far more ordinary.

The layout of the controls here should be familiar to those coming from a car of any other marque.

The car utilises an in-trend rocker switch for its gear selector on the centre console, and there's physical buttons and rotary switches for quick changes to the air-conditioning settings. 

And the buttons to activate the adaptive cruise control are even located on the steering wheel instead of being on a separate and hard-to-see stalk like in the C5 Aircross.

As in the combustion-powered Citroen C4, the 5.0-inch digital instrument cluster is a tad small, but that's something you'll easily get used to.

Perhaps the one single feature that stands out here is how light the steering is when you're just crawling along, but even this will weigh up quickly once you've gathered some speed.

With just 130bhp and with a total weight of 1,561kg, the Citroen e-C4 doesn't feel particularly fast, and its official century sprint time of 10.8 seconds confirms this fact.

The 100kW Build Your Dreams (BYD) Atto Three and the Cat A Ioniq Five we tested not so long ago both post sub-10 second sprint times.

Easy ride

It's not a car for the eager driver and it's not afraid to make this known with a steering that is devoid of feel. But if you're looking for something that will cosset you from the stress of driving, you'll find the e-C4 more agreeable.

On the go, you'll be able to simply glide over all sorts of road imperfections thanks to Citroen's Progressive Hydraulic Cushion suspension technology. Having said that, the e-C4 does fall short of the accomplished ride we saw in the C5 Aircross.

It's not quite as settled as the Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) at low speeds, picking up more than its fair share of road imperfections, and feels insufficiently damped to arrest unwanted movement for comfortable cruising at high speeds on the highway.

We managed an energy consumption rate of 5.2km/kWh over the three days which we had to car, which means you should be able to get a range of 260km between charges, quite a bit less than the 363km range that Citroen claims the e-C4 will accomplish.

The firm's Advanced Comfort Seats, which come with wider centres and offer plenty of cushioning with just a bit of support at the thighs, make the Citroen e-C4 easy to climb in jump out of, but you'll want make sure you keep an eye out when your children hop out of the vehicle: The wide door sills here can become a trip hazard.

Easy electric

At $191,999, shoppers eyeing this Citroen e-C4 will most likely cross-shop this car against the S$194,800 Hyundai Ioniq Five in "Exclusive" trim - another car which blurs the line between hatchback and crossover, and also comes with a distinctive exterior, although the Ioniq Five does come with a larger 58kWh battery.

But if distinctive looks and a plush ride what you're after, the e-C4 might just prove to be an appealing option.

ALSO READ: Car review: Citroen e-Dispatch electric van is thoughtfully accommodating

This article was first published in sgCarMart.