Battery problems were revealed by consumers
In the growing EV field, the number of EV lovers is also increasing. Electric cars and their performance are high-quality builds.
As you know, electric car manufacturers offer several options with their top-of-the-line EVs and frantically compete with one another. At some points the companies make it more confusing as they make more products that compete with their products.
So how can we choose the most effective from these? Are the prices, features, and specifications enough to pick the most desirable? It is impossible to choose any one product as the best just because the companies promise that it is the best. Before buying a product, we must check the reviews given by the same product users after their experience since buying the car.
And here in this article, we also present the ownership review of one of the highest-quality electric cars on the market. In this article, Citroen EC3 EV user Mr. Kiran shared the review after his 6000km experience within two months of buying the car.
Let’s take a look at what he has to say about the Citoren EC3 electric car.
The Highlights
This article addresses a major battery heating issue faced by an early Citroen EC3 customer. Citroen EC3 is an affordable and value-for-money electric car available in India. It’s a direct competitor for Tata Electric Cars which is another leading electric vehicle manufacturer in this field on the current growing companies list. But customers face some issues with this electric car. Know what the issues are and the overall customer experience with the Citroen EC3 electric car in this article.
The eC3 is the all-electric Citroen C3 cross hatchback. The eC3 looks like its ICE counterpart from the outside, save for the charging port located on the fender. On the inside, you get an upgraded drive state controller that replaces the manual gear lever. An electric motor that makes 57 horsepower and 143Nm has been mounted on the front axle of the Citroen eC3. Its ARAI-certified range is 320 kilometers. It faces only competition from Tata Tiago EV.
This is what Kiran has to say
According to Kiran, he brought his Citroen EC3 EV two months back and it was the first peak of its commercial launch. Within the first week itself, he was the fourth or fifth customer in Hyderabad who had purchased this car. Since he brought this car, within these 2 months he has driven more than six thousand kilometers till now. This means he understands everything about this Citroen EC3 EV according to him. Additionally, he mentioned that he has traveled a lot both inside and outside of the city with this. As mentioned before it’s a direct competitor to Tata electric cars and sits right between Tiago and Nexon Prime.
Drive Quality
As a starting point, we can drive the quality of the product. Kiran says he will rate this particular car’s ride quality best in the segment. It doesn’t want to turn left or right, it just wants to be in a straight position.
Suspension
Kiran says the Citroen EC3 EV suspension is very effective. It has a very damp suspension, which Citroen is known for.
Range
Citroen is offering a 29.2kilowatt battery in this car at this price point and it claims to have a range of 320 kilometers. We ask how much it’s showing in his display and in real-time how much it is giving. Kiran’s answer was, “On the instrument cluster it shows me a range of 230 kilometers on a 100% full charge. But it pretty much meets whatever the instrument cluster is because I can easily get more than 200. Whatever the driving conditions, unless you are intentionally stressing the car out. In a normal driving scenario, we easily get more than 200km. Even 220-230 is easily possible, including with AC. If you want to do hyper mailing without AC it will give you more than that.”
Performance
When asked about the performance and top speed of the Citroen EC3 Kiran said that the performance is more than adequate, especially in the city. It’s not as torque as a Nexon EV because it doesn’t have a sports mode or something like that. There are only two modes: a CT mode and an economy mode. In economy mode, it will decrease acceleration even further but give you a better range maybe 5-10km or something like that.
In terms of instant pull torque, it is not punchy as a Nexon EV or Tiago EV. Even the Tiago is a bit punchier. However, if you compare it to another ICE car, it’s more than equity. So, this is more for range-oriented cars. It’s good to do that, as people will say they prefer range over instant pickup and torque in this specific price range. Kiran says this particular power is more than enough.
Charging Time
With the 3.3-kilowatt charger included, it takes 11-12 hours. So, we should change it to midnight. If you have a high-capacity wall box charger it consumes 3.4 kilowatts and charges in 9 to 10 hours.
Main Issue with Citroen EC3 Electric Car
Citroen claims we can do continuous fast charging with this car, but that’s the main issue that the majority of customers mention. In this case, Kiran also mentioned this in detail.
In Kiran’s words, the Citroen has only a passive cooling system, which makes fast charging difficult. In Tata cars, we have 2 cooling systems, as an active liquid cooler will cool down the battery there.
But here at Citroen, we have only a passive cooling system that is air-cooled. And this car battery depends on the air coming from the outside into the battery. Only when the car is running, whatever air it is getting, is being used to cool down the battery. So, it is very passively cooled.
And Kiran added that it’s sufficient for a normal driving scenario where you’re just driving and charging it at home with a normal AC charger. But the problem arises when charging at a higher outdoor temperature, using a DC fast charger. Because when you’re using a DC fast charger the battery heats up a lot. As it gives an output of 20 plus kilowatts in for the battery, obviously the batteries will tend to heat up. So, at that time there is no cooling system that stops the battery from heating up.
So, what will happen while using that charge is that initially, it will start at 20 kilowatts above charging speed, which is very efficient. But later as the temperature raises it will come down to 18, 15, and 13 or something like that. And if the battery is heated too much, it cuts off the charging mechanism, and it does not take power at all.
Elaborating on the issue
Kiran says he encountered this issue in his personal experience of two long drives with his Citroen car. He has covered more than 6000 kilometers. Most of his extended rides took him to his hometown, which is 100km away from his home. So, he’ll recharge his car there overnight and return, no problem. In the event of a long drive of more than 200km or 300km, the issue would show up. When he was traveling in normal cool weather and stopped to charge the car in one hour the car reached 95% charge without any issue. But when he went back to his destination in the afternoon and tried to power the car it charged for 20-30 percent and then stopped generating power. He tried to charge it again but it showed him an error code on the charger. In one instance, he canceled his trip midway.
While these issues were shown the instrument cluster showed me a battery symbol indicating there was a battery overheating issue and the car should not be started. And I had to refer to the manual to understand what happened the first time I experienced this. So, the battery overheated while DC fast charging, and the temperature outside was not normal during the day,” Kiran said.
Citroen’s Response to the Issue
When he reported the issue to the brand, they were also confused and didn’t have a complete idea because the car was a brand-new model. And even their service team had no idea, so they said they would provide roadside assistance to him. Which was not at all necessary as it was just a waste of time. However, even though they didn’t know fully what he was saying, they asked him to send a complete written message to their helpline email address. He sent them a mail and they replied stating they are checking this and will resolve it.
Kiran says the car issue is hardware. It’s not a software issue, so they can’t solve the current issue with a software-based solution. When the car is running the battery cools down. However, when you’re charging and the car is not running, and the battery is heating up and not taking charge. In the case of the Citroen EC3 Electric Car, these are the main issues.
More Issues with Citroen EC3 E-Car
Kiran’s experience with his Citroen car in the initial days was that the vehicle suddenly stopped in the middle of nowhere or gave him error codes for no reason. Later when he complained about it to the company they said it was a software problem, so they asked him to come to their service center to have a software update. After a couple of software updates 95% of those issues have been resolved and he is not having any issues. There is only one issue he faces, which is the issue with battery heating that was mentioned earlier.
Headlights Performance
Kiran says the headlights were not sufficient for his personal use. For him, the luminosity is very pronounced in this. Consequently, he changed the headlights to LEDs. In the first 1000km service the employees asked him to change them and to put that so to put the stock lights back. But he argued with them saying he didn’t cut wires. He just replaced the lamps. Now after replacing it is sufficient but in the beginning with the default lights, he felt the Luminosity was not at all sufficient, especially for long rides and night journeys.
And when asked about the mirrors he said they are neither motorized nor automatic foldable. They are just basic manually adjustable mirrors. But in the petrol variant, there’s an all-new model Shine, in which you can get all these features. You’ll get motorized control and everything like that. You’re not auto-fold but motorized. When you wash or clean this car again, you have to re-adjust everything mirror every time, which is a bit of a hassle.
Built Quality
Kiran says, “Frankly speaking we can’t compare a Tata Nexon with this Citroen EC3, as this car has its advantages and disadvantages. The global endcap rating or anything safety-oriented doesn’t have any rating but they expect it might get a 4 star at least. So, build quality wise and metal thickness wise it’s not comparable to Tata.”
He adds, “It is the same case at the back, so you won’t get any rear wiper washer or defogger. So, again in the Shine variant, you’re getting all these features in the petrol version. Whenever that variant comes to the electric version we might see all those features.”
Boot Space
There are approximately 400-450 liters of boot space. Kiran believes it is sufficient. The boot is shaped so that you can place a good amount of luggage. The main advantage of this particular car over a Tata Tiago is the spare wheel. In Tiago you have a battery instead of a spare wheel, so, here you having a spare wheel is one big advantage. And the boot space is more than adequate for this vehicle size.
User Rating for Citroen EC3
Based on these positives and negatives of the Citroen EC3, Kiran shared his rating within two months after he bought the car.
He rates a solid 7.5 out of 10, not more than that. He explains, “Because, as we discussed before, it has a major issue that needs to be rectified. If I had to consider the car as a commuter, excluding the DC fast charging issue, I would give it a solid 8 or 8.5 because mechanically it is very efficient. The suspension, ride quality, infotainment system, speakers, and boot capacity, everything is very reasonable for this price. Located exactly between Nexon and Tiago, it is a very convenient location. So, at this particular price, it is very reasonable and even though some might argue it is not, actually it is very good.”
He added that if anyone considering this car has long trips, travels, or long commutes, he wouldn’t recommend it to them. He would give it a 7.5 out of 10 as a complete car, as he mentioned before.
About the Citroen EC3
Powertrain, Range & Charging
The Citroën eC3 has a 29.2 kWh battery that powers an electric motor mounted on the front axle. This motor produces 57 horsepower and 143 Nm peak torque. With this performance, the eC3 accelerates from 0 to 60 km/h in 6.8 seconds and reaches a top speed of 107 km/h. It also offers two different driving modes, Eco and Standard, as well as regenerative braking capabilities.
The Citroën eC3 has an ARAI-specified range of 320 km and two charging options. The first is a DC fast charger that charges the battery from 10 to 80 percent in 57 minutes. The second is a 3.3kW onboard AC charger that also supports CCS2 fast charging. The eC3 can also be revived using a home charger and takes 10.5 hours to recharge from 10 percent to 100 percent.
Variants & Features
Like the ICE-powered C3, the eC3 EV will come in two flavors, Live and Feel. The equipment is the same as the gasoline model. A higher-spec model comes with a 10.2-inch touchscreen, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a four-speaker audio system, and a height-adjustable driver’s seat.
EC3 is also connected to vehicle technology via the MyCitroen Connect app. Equipped with 35 smart features that allow you to see your car’s charging status, location, driving behavior, location of the nearest charging station, and more. Safety equipment includes dual airbags and ABS with EBD.
Warranty Details
The French automaker offers a 7-year and 1,40,000 km battery warranty. We also offer a 5-year/1,00,000 km warranty on the electric motor and a 3-year/1,25,000 km warranty on the electric hatchback itself, with Citroën offering extended warranty options for the vehicle, electric motor, and battery.
Final Thought:
A user review revealed that there were major issues with batteries as a result of user reviews. As the user mentioned, this has been reported to the company and they are working on it. To conclude, we can hope that the company will soon come up with a solution that makes the product more efficient, as promised. This will give us a better product.
More information can be found in the video below
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