Citroen e-SpaceTourer review

The Citroen e-SpaceTourer is the ideal vehicle for someone who needs to take a lot of people a decent distance, and doesn’t want to be hassled with the noise and fuss of an internal-combustion engine.

The e-SpaceTourer is a sister vehicle to the Peugeot e-Traveller minibus, and comes in two forms – Business costs £45,600 (after the government plug-in car grant), and Feel will set you back a post-grant £46,250.

A 50kWh battery brings a range of 143 miles, and you can recharge it using either a three-pin wall socket (slow), a 7.4kW home wallbox (0-100% in 7.5 hours), an 11kW workplace wallbox (0-100% in around five hours) or a public rapid charger (up to 100kW), which will give you an 80% charge in around half an hour.

The clue is in the Business trim name, because it’s aimed at commercial users. It can carry up to nine people, although the seating can be configured in a very short period for your own needs.

Feel, meanwhile, is available as a five-, seven- or eight-seater. It is aimed at large or extended families, groups and those who like to travel with friends. The sliding seats allow you to change the interior for optimum boot volume or more legroom for those who want it. The seats have reclining backrests and can each be folded down to form a flat ‘shelf’ (front passenger seats as well as Rows 2 and 3), making it possible to transport the most bulky objects for leisure or home use in no time at all.

There’s a new MyCitroen smartphone app that allows you to monitor charging remotely, pre-warm the car, find your e-SpaceTourer in a car park, and tell you when its next service is due.

Citroen has also formed a partnership with PodPoint in the UK for the supply of wallboxes either at home or work. Better still, there’s an extended five-year warranty on these for Citroen customers.

The Business version will be ideal for use as an airport taxi, with its ability to carry many people on short trips.

The Citroen e-SpaceTourer is no plodding bus, either, because it has a top speed of 80mph from its 100kW electric motor. The drive can choose between three drive modes. First up, Eco lessens the power of the air-conditioning system and reduces the motor’s power output to 60kW to maximise range. restricts acceleration and reduces heating and air-conditioning power in order to maximise range, Normal allows the motor to produce 80kW and is a balance between Eco and Power, which allows the motor to produce its full 100kW for driving enjoyment and overtaking.

The motor recovers energy under braking or during deceleration. Two energy recovery modes are available to the driver – ‘Standard’ for a feel close to that of a conventional engine, ‘Enhanced’ for increased deceleration when releasing the accelerator pedal. This latter mode is accessible via the ‘Brake’ button on the gearbox control.

UK e-SpaceTourers will be 4.95 metres long, and will have a 3.27-metre wheelbase. Five-seat models will have 2,381 litres of luggage space available when all five seats are filled.

We have yet to drive the Citroen e-SpaceTourer but will let you know what it’s like as soon as we do.