Citroen e-Spacetourer review

If you want an electric vehicle – whether it's something small and sporty or vast and practical – you're spoilt for choice these days. Take one glance at the Citroën e-Spacetourer and it’s clear which of those size extremes we’re talking about here.

For a start, you can seat up to nine people inside, or you can remove all the seats (if you’ve got somewhere to store them) and turn the e-Spacetourer into a big, carpeted electric van. That shouldn’t come as a surprise because, behind the big windows and body-coloured bumpers, all Spacetourers are based on the Citroën Dispatch. 

While the closely-related Vauxhall Vivaro-e Life is available in two sizes (medium and large), the e-Spacetourer is available in only one length. You do get a choice of a couple of different trim levels, though, and you can also choose how many seats you want. Citroën also gives you a smattering of other options to choose from if you require a bit more luxury.

The e-Spacetourer's rivals include not only its Vauxhall-badged cousin but also the Mercedes EQV. Spend a bit more and you could have a Tesla Model X, although that futuristically-styled MPV can only seat a piffling seven people. 

For buyers looking for a traditional diesel engine, the Citroën Spacetourer offers even more space. If you can live with seven seats, similar van-based MPVs including the Citroën Berlingo or traditional MPVs such as the VW Touran should be on your shopping list too. Of course, you might also choose a seven-seat SUV instead – the What Car? Award-winning Peugeot 5008 for example.

Should the Citroën e-Spacetourer be on your shortlist, then? In this review, we’ll tell you what it’s like to drive and to live with, as well as which version we think you should choose.

Don’t forget, whatever make and model of car you go for, our free What Car? New Car Deals service is on hand to take all the effort out of the process while making sure you get a great saving on the price. It's the place to find excellent new electric car deals.

The Citroën e-Spacetourer's power comes from a single 134bhp electric motor that's fed by a 50kWh battery pack hidden below the floor. With a couple of people on board it feels reasonably sprightly on city streets, but it takes its time getting up to motorway speeds. A full load makes it feel even more sluggish and takes a big chunk out of the range, too.

Speaking of which, it’s capable of travelling for up to 143 miles between charges according to the official WLTP tests, but the true figure is likely to be a lot less in real-world driving. Although we’re yet to try it out in our Real Range tests, we struggled to get near 100 miles of range during our motorway-heavy test routes. If you’re looking for a car to use regularly for long journeys, a traditional petrol or diesel alternative might suit you better.

Putting the e-Spacetourer into Eco mode softens its acceleration and limits the air conditioning, but its impact on consumption is actually minimal. There’s also a B mode that maximises the effect of the regenerative braking system, which tops up the battery as you slow down. In this mode you can, in effect, drive the e-Spacetourer using just the accelerator pedal, and when you do need to use the brakes you’ll find them reasonably progressive. 

Road noise isn’t bad considering it's based on a van, but there is a lot of suspension noise over ridges in the road and lots of wind roar at motorway speeds. You won’t get as much of either if you choose an SUV, such as the Peugeot 5008, or an MPV that isn't based on a van, such as the VW Touran.

Those two rivals, and many more for that matter, ride better as well. The e-Spacetourer doesn’t often feel truly settled; it thumps over smaller ruts and bumps, fidgets over road imperfections and gets really bouncy over bigger undulations in the road. Passengers with delicate tummies beware – even riding up front won’t necessarily stop you feeling queasy.

Another area in which the Citroën e-Spacetourer loses out to rivals such as the 5008 and Touran is in its handling. The steering is quite slow and requires lot of arm twirling in tight corners or around car parks, and is a touch heavier than we’d like. It is at least accurate, though. Still, this certainly isn’t a car you buy for its agility, with lots of body lean in fast corners and its sheer size making it quite a handful in the city.

The Citroën e-Spacetourer’s interior is pleasant enough, but you don’t have to look far to reveal the car’s workhorse origins, with hard plastics covering most surfaces (they are easy to keep clean, though).

You get sat-nav and smartphone mirroring as standard with both trims, although the small 7.0in touchscreen infotainment system is a bit laggy. At least there are shortcut buttons for most functions on either side of the screen and you can also control some functions using buttons and rotary dials on the steering wheel. Sat-nav is optional regardless of trim.

The instrument cluster includes a small driver’s information panel that shows the most vital driving metrics, and instead of the rev counter you get with petrol and diesel Spacetourers, there’s a power meter to show how efficiently you’re driving.

Slide yourself up into the driver’s seat and you’ll tower over most SUVs. That high driving position, coupled with the thin windscreen pillars, makes checking that the road is clear at junctions a doddle. Parking is a little tricky, though, because the nose droops out of sight, making it difficult to judge where the front of the vehicle is. 

The Citroën e-Spacetourer is also pretty long, but help is at hand in the form rear parking sensors that come as standard on all trims. Front parking sensors and a rear-view camera are both on the options list and are well worth considering.

Everyone gets plenty of room to stretch out in the Citroën e-Spacetourer. It's wide enough that the driver and front passenger are in no danger of rubbing elbows, and there’s plenty of adjustment for both front seats, so finding a comfortable position is a piece of cake. It helps, too, that the pedals, steering wheel and seat are well-aligned.

Three adults will fit very comfortably in each of the two rows of rear seats, and getting in and out is easy, too, thanks to big doors on either side that slide open to reveal a big aperture. These also allow easy passenger access in tight parking spaces. 

Each of the seats can be moved forwards and backwards, so leg room can be adjusted to suit everybody on board. Meanwhile, if you need a mobile nursery, there are enough Isofix mounting points for six child car seats.

As well as numerous handy cubby holes in the dashboard, each front seat has a storage net for your odds and ends, and door bins that are almost big enough to sleep in. The boot isn't quite as generous; unlike the regular Spacetourer, the electric version comes only in the shorter length.

As a result, luggage space is a little tight unless you either slide the rear seats forward or remove them altogether. Doing the latter creates a truly gigantic load area, but you'll need to work out where to store the heavy, bulky chairs.

Be careful to leave a large space behind the car when you park, though – the long tailgate is hinged from the top and needs plenty of room to swing open.

The Citroën e-Spacetourer is priced lower than the rival Vauxhall Vivaro-e Life, but it’s worth noting that the latter is available in a bigger size and with more equipment. Plus, next to the more luxurious but hugely expensive Mercedes EQV, the e-Spacetourer looks like an absolute bargain. If you can do without electric power, there are far cheaper options out there, including diesel-powered versions of the Spacetourer.

You can recharge the e-Spacetourer’s batteries pretty quickly; an 0-80% top-up takes as little as 30 minutes if you use the kind of 100kW charging stations that are slowly becoming more common at UK motorway services. A domestic 7kW wallbox charger will complete a full charge from empty in 7.5 hours.

There are two trim levels available. Entry-level Business models give you air conditioning, cruise control and electric windows, but we'd spend a little more to upgrade to Feel trim for rear temperature controls, rear carpets and a few other niceties that make it feel less like a taxi.

Disappointingly, automatic emergency braking (AEB) is reserved for the options list, but it doesn’t cost too much to add. You’ll also have to pay to get lane-keeping assistance and blindspot monitoring. The regular Spacetourer received a five-star Euro NCAP crash test rating, although that was under older, less strict guidelines.

The Citroën e-Spacetourer wasn’t covered in our latest What Car? Reliability Survey but Citroen as a brand finished a mid-table joint 16th place. That’s well ahead of Vauxhall and Mercedes.

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