CITROËN 2CEV

The 2CV Shop

Darren Arthur from the 2CV Shop has brought a prototype electric Citroën 2CV, so new that it isn’t quite finished. That means we can’t drive it, but we know it will work as it uses the electric motor and controls from the eden, the electric Mehari remake that’s built in the south of France by 2CV Mehari Club Cassis.

The 2CV Shop can sell you a new eden, fully homologated and ready to use in the UK, for £26,650. Darren’s dream is to be able to do the same with an electric 2CV, because nearly every 2CV part is available new apart from the suspension arms and parts of the gearbox. The yellow 2cev here is built from those available new parts, but registering it in the UK might involve putting the car through an Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) test.

It’s not quite so simple in the rest of Europe, although the eden people have built two electric 2CV prototypes of their own and also plan to sell the conversion kit.

That kit can now be homologated in France, but the conversion has to be fitted by an accredited expert before the car can be registered there.

Darren’s interpretation uses a new panel in the boot to mount the 11kwh lithium-ion phosphate battery low, where the petrol tank used to be, whereas the French prototypes have the battery higher, on the boot floor. The 2CV Shop car also has a more powerful version of the eden motor, of 27bhp (and 89lb ft) instead of 20bhp. Weight rises by 30kg over a regular 2CV, bringing the weight distribution closer to 50:50: ‘performance’ dampers from the Mehari Club help calibrate the suspension to suit.

Darren reckons the range will be about 70 miles, and that a charge to 90 per cent of battery capacity will take 3.5 hours at 16 amps – so you would need to beef up your household electricity supply slightly from a ring main’s 13 amps.

The 2cev should be a delightful drive, retaining the car’s character not least because the electric motor – originally intended for Zero electric motorcycles in the US – isn’t very powerful. ‘The 2cev is tuned to be sensitive to the original power,’ Darren says.

To begin with, 2CV owners will be able to have cars converted at the 2CV Shop for £16,400. By the end of 2021, Darren will be offering the kit for DIY fitment at around £15,000, although final battery installation might have to be done by the 2CV Shop. Darren points out that the kit is also suitable for other cars… electric Renault 4, anyone?

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‘The 2cev is tuned to be sensitive to the original power’