car news desk, Citroën India is all set to launch the eC3 electric premium hatchback later this month. This will be the first electric car from the French carmaker for India and informed sources tell us that the EV will be priced between ₹11.50 lakh and ₹12.50 lakh (ex-showroom). The Citroën eC3 is the electric version of the company’s current premium hatchback C3 and will primarily rival the Tata Tiago EV, which is priced between ₹8.69 lakh to ₹11.99 lakh (ex-showroom).
Currently, the regular petrol variant of the Citroën C3 is priced between ₹5.98 lakh to ₹8.25 lakh (ex-showroom, India), which indicates that the EV variant of the C3 will be over ₹4 lakh more expensive than the petrol variant . Also the car will be 50,000 more expensive than its rival Tiago EV and we feel that Citroën should consider a more aggressive pricing strategy.
In terms of design, the Citroen eC3 looks similar to the regular petrol C3 hatchback, with similar design, styling and color options. The cabin too remains largely similar to the petrol car, but with a few new elements as well. The digital instrument console is a bit different as it gives you all the information you need while driving an electric car, like charge status and range on the left. For the first time ever – courtesy of an electric drivetrain – we see an automatic gearbox that looks premium and reminds you of the bigger C5.
The EV comes with a 29.2 kWh battery pack that produces 56 bhp and 143 Nm of torque. In fact, the EV can accelerate from 0-100 kmph in 6.8 seconds. Citroën claims a range of 320 km on a single charge and as for the charging time, it takes 10.5 hours to charge the battery from 10 to 100 per cent when the eC3 is plugged into a 15A socket.