Citroën C4 Hatchback (2020 - ) review

While the sticker price for the ë-C4 electric version is high, running costs for this one will be the lowest of the lot, with zero VED (or ‘road tax’), Congestion Charge or Benefit In Kind for company car drivers. Your repair and servicing bills will also be lower. However, most people are still expected to buy the diesel or petrol models. Of the various trim levels the entry one, Sense, does what it says on the tin, with a great list of standard equipment making this the most sensible choice for most budgets.

Traditionally French brands get a bad press when it comes to reliability. While they are not quite out of the woods nor are they half as bad as everyone thinks, beating many other brands in customer satisfaction league tables. For example, Citroën’s sister brand Peugeot ranked first in the JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study and Citroën finished ahead of BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Toyota. That should mean that the woeful reliability record of the previous-generation C4 markedly improves this time. Plus, as we’ve said, go for the electric version and there are fewer moving parts to go wrong.

The C4 has a slightly raised ride height over a traditional hatchback, which helps with forward vision. All models get lane keeping assist and driver attention alert. From the mid-level - Shine - you get auto braking, which has improved to sense pedestrians, as well as working after dark. There’s also adaptive cruise control and a rear parking camera on offer as you go up the levels. All pretty standard fare.

This remains Citroën’s focus and the C4 is a very comfy hatchback, with wide supportive seats and lots of headroom. Given the C4’s sloping roof at the rear, the headroom for backseat passengers is impressive, as is the legroom. The boot is the same size as a Golf’s and has a two-level floor - raise it and it provides a flat load space with no boot lip. The best version, if this is your priority, is the electric ë-C4, which carries that low battery weight to its advantage, creating a smoothed-out, authoritative ride that spells quality.

Citroën is part of the PSA Group alongside Peugeot and Vauxhall and the infotainment system found in all three brands has never been a favourite, thanks to fiddly graphics and complicated interface. The screen is now nice and wide, though, and sits smartly in the dash with, thankfully, some shortcut buttons below for the air-con and so on. There are enough USB ports to go around, too. Journey up the trim range and you get wireless phone charging, a head-up display (although it’s projected via one of those mini pop-up glass screens, which can be hard to focus on) and a tablet stand for the front passenger.

Choose from the 1.2-litre petrol engine with either 100, 130 or 155 horsepower, or the 1.5-litre diesel with 110 or 130 horsepower. There are manual and automatic gearboxes - the higher-powered petrol and diesel get automatics as standard. Or, of course, there’s the ë-C4 electric version, which in our opinion is the pick of the bunch for the way it drives, despite being the most expensive to purchase. The ë-C4 has the equivalent of 136 horsepower and a maximum rage of 217 miles from its 50kWh battery, although on a motorway that will plummet by at least a third. The car does, however, support rapid charging which means zero to 80 per cent in 30 minutes at a fast public charging station. Charging at homethe car will charge in just over seven hours, and you get a PodPoint smart charger and Type Two charging lead thrown in.