Better than Tiago EV? [Video]

Citroen has entered the mass segment car market in India since last year. After his flagship C5 Aircross, Citroen introduced his C3 hatchback to the Indian market. After all, the future is electric. Citroën has not disclosed the vehicle’s price, but has said that bookings will begin tomorrow. We spent some time at our test track in Chennai with the all-new eC3 and here are our thoughts on the newest electric vehicle on the market.

What are the advantages of the Citroën eC3 compared to the Tata Tiago EV?

There are a few things the all-new eC3 does better than the Tata Tiago EV. Although I haven’t driven the car in real conditions, I’ve found several things the eC3 does better than the newly introduced Tata Tiago EV.

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• Bootspace: The eC3 has 315 liters of luggage space, significantly more than the Tiago EV’s 240 liters.
• Spare tire: The Citroen eC3 has full size tires in the trunk. The Tata Tiago EV is only available with an in-trunk puncture repair kit.
• comfortable: Based on the regular C3, the most comfortable hatchback in its segment, the eC3 maintains top comfort. It corners fast without body roll.
• Spacious: The Citroën eC3 is the widest car in its segment. That means a lot of space inside the car. Three people can comfortably sit in the back seat.
• range: The battery capacity of the Citroën eC3 has been increased to 29.2 kWh, which according to Arai is rated at a range of 320 km. Tiago EV Long Range gets his 315 km range tested by Arai.
• No wallbox charging: The Tata Tiago EV requires a wall box charger at home to charge the car, but the Citroën eC3 does not require such a wall box charger. It can be charged by plugging directly into a 15A outlet.
• Drive mode selector: The Tata Tiago EV gets a free-running rotary dial that doesn’t glow brightly in the sun. The Citroën eC3’s toggle drive mode selector is much better.

Which is better Tata Tiago EV or Citroen eC3?

• Visual separation: While the Citroën eC3 and C3 hatchbacks don’t differ in appearance, Tata has added enough differences to distinguish the Tiago EV from the Tiago ICE version.
• Rear seat lower thigh support: The eC3’s battery is placed on the floor, so the floor is slightly raised. This has reduced the eC3’s lower thigh support. The Tata Tiago EV’s battery is located in the trunk and under the back seat.
• Cruise control: The new Tata Tiago EV is equipped with a cruise control system, but the eC3 does not have such a feature.
• Regenerative braking: Tata Tiago offers three levels of regenerative braking that can be manually selected. Citroen eC3 only offers a single battery regeneration level.
• Infotainment integration: The Tata Tiago EV gets a smaller 8.0-inch infotainment screen, but better integration of electric vehicle-related features. Meanwhile, the Citroën eC3’s 10-inch screen remains exactly the same as the standard hatchback.
• Battery options: The Tata Tiago EV allows customers to choose between two battery options to create an affordable variant for their customers. The eC3 has only one battery option.

Citroën eC3: Does it look different?

At first glance at the car, you can’t see any difference in the eC3 compared to the standard version of the B-segment hatchback. The most common change is likely due to the air-cooled battery rather than the one with the grill removed. Citroen also doesn’t use special color highlights to distinguish his EV version of the hatchback from the regular standard car.

It would be difficult to distinguish the Citroën eC3 from the standard car. But you can find new dual-tone colors exclusive to the eC3, as well as new badging on the car. The right front fender also has a new lid that opens to reveal the car’s charging port. It’s all about the difference. The size and design of the aluminum wheels also remain the same.

Under the car, the ground clearance has been slightly reduced. There is a difference of 10mm compared to the standard specification of the C3 hatchback. The ground clearance of the eC3 is 170mm. I haven’t driven the car in real conditions, but 170mm is quite a lot of ground clearance and won’t be a problem in the worst road conditions.

Citroën eC3: new cabin?

not exactly. The cabin also inherits all similarities with the standard version of the C3 hatchback. So much so that even the boot space remains the same. This is a big problem for EVs as most manufacturers put the battery pack in the trunk to reduce trunk space or replace the spare tire. The eC3 offers a sizeable full size spare wheel.

Starting in the back seat, the all-new eC3 is no less and no more compared to the standard version. It’s the widest car in its segment, so there’s plenty of shoulder room. The floor is raised slightly to install the battery pack on the floor. It may not be a big change, but the support under the thighs feels a bit less compared to the standard version of the car. Otherwise it remains very comfortable. He has two fixed headrests and the power window switches are also located in the center console.

Big difference from the front. Since it is electric, there is no manual shift lever. Instead, Citroën has put a nice-looking toggle his switch that brightens the mode. I really like the toggle drive mode.

Up front is a small monochrome instrument cluster that displays a lot of information such as battery level and range. You’ll need to cycle through the information using a stick in the instrument cluster to find the exact percentage of battery. I missed it at my first chance, which is why I said I can’t find the battery percentage in the video.

The 10-inch instruments are exactly the same as the standard car. No electric vehicle-specific modifications have been made to this instrument cluster. However, Citroën has introduced a new app for both his iOS and Android. The app offers over 35 features and also displays your driving score. Unfortunately, I was able to test the app as well.

The steering wheel remains the same, with buttons on the left turned off and a few buttons on the right to control the phone and infotainment system.The eC3 lacks cruise control. Also, the manual climate control system remains the same. Lots of space to store your small items.

Overall, the Citroën eC3 is well-equipped, but I would say we really need to know the price, which will be revealed later.

Citroen eC3: Powerhouse

The all-new Citroën eC3 has an electric motor at the front. The maximum output is 57PS and the maximum torque is 143Nm. There’s also a separate ECO mode, but I’m not sure how much power it produces in ECO mode.

The battery pack arranged on the floor is 29.2 kWh. According to ARAI, it is an air-cooled lithium-ion battery pack that can achieve a cruising range of 320km. However, in real-life conditions, the range is around 200-250 km if you pay attention to the accelerator.

Citroën eC3: How’s the driving?

Comfort is the highlight of the Citroën eC3, like all other Citroën vehicles. The flying carpet effect is still there. However, there were no potholes as the test course was only driven on the test course. The center of gravity is much lower now that the heavy battery takes up more floor space. It’s especially fun to drive around corners. The Citroën eC3 was confident going through corners at over 100 km/h.

According to Citroën, the eC3 can go from 0-60 km/h in less than 7 seconds. we tested the same. You can watch the video to see how it turned out. Full marks for Citroen for handling, stability and comfort in an electric hatchback.

The eC3 gets regenerative braking, but you can’t change the level. It will likely add more functionality in the future, but for now it remains a single brake regen. Around the middle, if there is no traffic, you can run with one pedal. Also, I didn’t feel the crawl mode on the eC3 while driving. However, Citroën says it can perform crawl speeds of 6 km/h. Since these are prototypes, there may be glitches in the units we were driving.

Citroën eC3: Should You Buy?

The Citroen eC3 is a great package overall. As a city car, it’s fine, and you can take it with you on weekend trips if you have a charger on long-haul routes. The only determinant of eC3’s success is its price, which is likely to be announced in the coming weeks. We expect Citroen to maintain competitive pricing and challenge the long haul of the Tata Tiago EV, but our estimates see the car starting at around Rs 140,000. What do you think of the new Citroën eC3? Let us know in the comments below.

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