Skoda Citigo i-EV

REPORT 2

£22,815 OTR/£23,595 as tested/£285pcm

WHY IT’S HERE

Does an EV have to be pricey to be good?

DRIVER

Tom Harrison

MANUFACTURERS MEASURE THE EFFICIENCY OF THEIR CARS USING something called the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP). For petrol and diesel cars this gives you fuel consumption and CO2 while for an EV it gives you range and energy efficiency.

WLTP is miles more accurate than the old NEDC test, but it still isn’t perfect. Some cars are better than others, but best practice is usually to take the manufacturer’s claimed range and subtract maybe 15 per cent, thereby giving you the kind of distance you can expect to cover between charges. Though obviously range still varies massively depending on how fast you drive and the weather. EVs are the opposite of ICE cars, more efficient in town than on the motorway, and they hate the cold.

Which makes it really difficult to answer the question “how far does it go on a charge?” But we’re gonna give it a go. Skoda claims the Citigo does 160 miles between charges, which is more than the Honda e or Mini Electric, but behind the Peugeot e-208 or Renault Zoe. We’ve done a little over 1,000 miles in our Citigo, charging the battery to 100 per cent and running it low as we dare, and the conclusion is thus: driven ‘normally’ on a mixture of roads, it’s good for around 140 miles. Not bad at all.

Here’s how it goes down. When you’re into the red on the battery gauge, with maybe 20 miles left in the tank, the Citigo automatically pops you into Eco mode, limiting power and restricting the air conditioning. BUT you can still switch it back into Normal mode. Halfway through the red, with just 10 miles to go, the Citigo locks you into Eco+ mode. That’s not much fun – the bongs urging you to stop and charge get more insistent, the air conditioning is totally deactivated and you’re limited to 60mph.

Most Citigo E-iV owners will never do a 140-mile trip in one go, of course. But, hey, it’s nice to know you can. Right?