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Back in 2020, the options for full-electric power were growing in the sector for really large MPVs. Here was Citroen's take on this concept, the e-SpaceTourer. In 50kWh form, it won't go particularly far on a single charge, but it'll seat up to nine, help you move house or function as an executive minibus. All without using a drop of fuel. Here, we look at the earlier 2020-2023-era models.
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Detailed ratings
Luxury Full Electric Cars
History
At the beginning of the 21st century's third decade, one of the EV sectors gaining BEV models was that for large People Carriers. This wasn't really because manufacturers thought this to be much of a potential growth area. It was more because really big MPVs are always based on the kind of mid-sized vans that car makers, pressurised by governments, are starting to offer in full-electric form these days.
By 2020, the Mercedes Vito, Peugeot Expert, Vauxhall Vivaro and Citroen Dispatch LCVs could all be had in full-EV form. So their MPV counterparts (the Mercedes V-Class, the Peugeot Traveller, the Vauxhall Vivaro Life and the Citroen Space Tourer) also got the BEV treatment. The Peugeot, the Vauxhall and the Citroen were essentially the same underneath, sharing the same Stellantis Group powertrain; it's the Citroen model, badged the 'e-SpaceTourer' that we look at here in its earlier pre-facelift 50kWh 2020-2023-era form.
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What you get
Apart from the badge work and the charging flap, it'll be difficult for your neighbours to spot that you've switched your big MPV to full-electric power. This big Citroen is clearly van-derived, but the looks are modern and not too LCV-like. This MPV comes with medium-length (4.95m) 'M' and long 'XL' body lengths.
What about inside the 8 or 9-seater cabin? Well up-front, you open the wide driver's door and step up behind the wheel to find yourself in a remarkably car-like interior. Changes to create this all-electric version were few. There's a driver selector toggle where the gear lever would normally be and you get a power flow gauge instead of a rev counter in the instrument binnacle. That's about it.
To maximise passenger capacity, you get the dual front passenger bench that would normally be fitted in a Dispatch van. The fascia's focal point is found with the centrally-situated 7-inch colour touchscreen. It includes a 'Mirror Screen' feature, so you can duplicate your smartphone's display onto the monitor via either the 'Apple CarPlay' or the 'MirrorLink' 'Android Auto' systems.
What about the rear passenger compartment? Well the battery installation didn't compromised passenger or cargo space in any way. All the rear seats can be removed to reveal a van-like cargo area, but they've heavy and awkward to lift and you'd need a big garage to store them in. The second row, as on all van-based models, is accessed by a sliding side door. Inside in the middle of the cabin, you'll find an outer single seat paired with a two-person bench. It's all a bit minibus-like, but you get ample knee, shoulder and head room. As for the third row of this e-SpaceTourer, well the outer passenger-side seat lifts and tilts forward to aid access, something further aided by the provision of higher roofline than you'd find in something more car-like - say a Ford Galaxy.
Once you're in and seated on the three-person bench, you'll be reminded just why medium-sized vans make such a great starting point for a properly large family-sized MPV. Instead of being crammed in cattle-class, as you would be in even the largest car-based People Carriers, there's more than enough space here for arms, legs and heads.
What about luggage capacity? Well the space you get with all three rows of seats in place obviously varies depending on the body style you've chosen. With the mid-range 'M' body shape, there's 627mm of length from the back of the third seating row to the tailgate, which means you get 700-litres of cargo space up to the level of the load bay cover - or as much as 900-litres if you were to load to the roof. With the top 'XL' body shape, you'll have an enormous 1,060-litres to play with up to parcel shelf level - or up to 1,500-litres if you were to load to the roof.
A lot of the time of course, you'll be using this Citroen with only five seats in place. If on the 'M' model, you fold the third row backrest onto the seat base, you'll increase loading capacity to 1,100-litres - or 2,300-litres if you were to take the third row chairs out entirely. The 'XL' variant with the third row taken out could offer up to 3,100-litres of capacity up to roof level.
Finally, let's cover the capacity you'd get when you only need the front two seats. In the 'M' model with second and third row backrests folded onto their bases, you'd have 2,000-litres of space up to parcel shelf level and 3,000-litres up to roof height. If you were to entirely take the second and third row seating out, those figures would each rise by 1,200-litres. To give you an idea of ultimate carriage potential across the e-SpaceTourer range, in an 'XL' model with just driver and front seat passenger in place and all the rear seats removed, the total potential capacity would be a removal van-like 4,900-litres. That's a lot more than you'd get in many sizeable vans.
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What to look for
As with other big MPVs, check for child damage inside and alloy wheel scuffs outside. And of course you'll want a fully stamped-up service record. What else? Well we've heard reports that the infotainment system can be glitchy and various customers have had electrical issues, including non-engine electrical faults relating to the air conditioning and warning lights. Check that the air conditioning works and that the pixels on the centre display are all good. Also check for rear bumper scrapes. Finally check that the Bluetooth pairs reliably with your phone handset. As we said, electrical glitches are relatively common, so make sure everything electrical in the car works and double-check that there are no unexplained warning lights on the dashboard. Citroen's infotainment touchscreen software can sometimes cause the monitor to freeze or fail completely. A software reset may solve the problem, but some owners have had to replace the entire unit, which is not a cheap operation.
The drive battery in used e-SpaceTourer models should have quite a bit of life in it, unless you happen to be looking at one of the very earliest '20-plate versions. When the battery is on its way out, you'll obviously find that it won't go as far on each charge - and when it starts to run low on charge, you'll find that the car will particularly start to struggle going uphill. When it gets old, the lithium-ion battery used here can suffer from the ionised liquid in the battery freezing certain cells; those cells are then unable to receive charge.
Before going to all that trouble though, make sure the issue really is the battery. If the car won't charge, it could be a problem with your home electrics (or those at the public charge point you're using). Check the charge light to make sure that electricity really is going through the charge port. And make sure there really is charge in the socket you're using to power from - plug something else into it to see - say, your 'phone. If that charges OK, it could be that your charging cable is demanding too much power, so try another power source. Another problem could be that the circuit may have tripped due to a circuit overload. Or perhaps there could be a problem with the charge cable: this needs to be cared for properly. Repeatedly driving over it (as previous owners may conceivably have done) will damage it eventually. Make sure you do a charge-up before signing for the car you're looking at. When you do this, make sure that when you plug in to start the charge cycle you hear the charge port and the cable locking and engaging as they should; that's all part of the charger basically confirming with the car's onboard computer that everything's good to go before releasing power. But if the charging cable fails to lock as it should, then that won't happen. If there is a failure to lock, the issue could be actuator failure, caused by a blown fuse.
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Replacement parts
(approx based on a 2021 e-SpaceTourer excl. VAT - autopartspro.co.uk) A pair of front brake pads are between £33-£64 depending on brand. A pair of rear brake pads are between £30-£62. A pair of front brake discs start in the £66-£70 bracket; rears are between £37-£72. Pollen filters cost around £8-£36 and wiper blades cost around £7-£11.
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On the road
There's a drive-mode selector that allows drivers to switch between ECO, NORMAL and POWER modes. There's 136hp on tap and there's also a 'B' option that ploughs extra energy back into the battery, offering more resistance while you're slowing down. Top speed is just 84mph.
Big People Carriers are largely used for suburban duties, which is just as well because this car's not much good for anything else. A huge heavy People Carrier relying on a battery designed to sustain an electric supermini was never going to travel very far between charges and, sure enough, this early e-Space Tourer's 50kWh battery pack takes this Citroen only 136 miles between charges. So you're going to need to think hard if you're going anywhere more than 60 miles or so away, unless you've the time for a potentially lengthy recharging stop before your return journey.
Because the e-Space Tourer supports up to 100kW rapid charging technology, an 80 per cent charge will take just 30 minutes. This EV People Carrier also features a 7kW on-board charger as standard. A full charge from a 7.4kW domestic Wallbox takes 7 hours 30 minutes. With the alternative 11kW wallbox, you can reduce that to four and three-quarter hours. For peace of mind, the lithium-ion battery pack in this model comes with an eight year/100,000 mile warranty, for up to 70% of the initial battery capacity. To get close to the quoted 136 mile range figure, you'll need to engage 'Eco' mode frequently - which reduces power output to 80hp.
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Overall
Potentially, the e-SpaceTourer is an excellent product. We like the way that the battery powertrain has been built into this People Carrier without any compromise to interior space. It's quiet and well built, looks contemporary and is well equipped. The elephant in the room though, with this early 2020-2023-era model at least, is the 136 mile driving range, which for quite a few families and business folk, simply won't be enough for a vehicle of this type. If that's an issue and you otherwise like this Citroen, try and stretch to the 2024-era facelifted version which offered a 75kWh battery option.
If you can live with the 50kWh version's range though - as some city based families and business users might be able to - there's potentially a lot to like here, though it's less easy to see why you'd choose the Citroen version of this design, rather than the near-identical Peugeot e-Traveller or Vauxhall e-Vivaro Life models also on sale in this period. If the range and the deal is right for you though, this big French MPV might be worth a look.
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