One of the automotive industry's most eccentric marques is looking to capitalize on growing Gallic demand for greener motoring by imbuing its no-nonsense family car with battery power.
The Citroën Berlingo, like the Renault Kangoo, Mercedes Citan and Fiat Doblò, is a compact MPV that takes the most practical aspects of a van and combines them with the crucial creature comforts found in a typical family sedan. The result is an increasingly affordable, cult hit of a car that's been taking to European roads in growing numbers over the past 20 years.
And Citroën hopes that by ditching the usual diesel or gasoline engine and placing a battery pack on either side of the rear axle -- good for 106 miles of range on a single charge -- the car will become more appealing still.
Thanks to the vehicle's van-like proportions, the Berlingo is a perfect candidate for electrification and batteries don't impinge on cabin space; and because they're positioned so low down, the car will have a lower center of gravity and therefore better road holding.
Citroën says that the electric motor generates 67hp and 200Nm of torque, meaning it's only half as potent as the current top specification Blue HDi model (120hp and 300Nm torque), but that electric motor will mean it pulls away much more quickly, making it perfect for navigating inner cities.
Recharging the batteries shouldn't be too much of a hassle. With a dedicated fast charger, the car has a 50% range again within 15 minutes and is 80% charged within 30 minutes. However, the company is banking on owners using the car to cover the European average of 60 miles a day and then leaving it to slowly recharge overnight.
The new car arrives as sales of plug-in vehicles in Europe, be they of the hybrid or full electric variety, climbed a further 14% over the course of 2016 to hit 222,200 units or 1.3% of total light vehicle sales in the region.
During that time, France, the home of Citroën, has surged up the league tables to become the third biggest market in Europe for electric and hybrid cars -- over 35,000 were sold over 2016 -- and more importantly, one of the few EU countries where pure plug-in electric cars are more popular than plug-in hybrids.
Therefore there should be a built-in cultural demand for this particular car when it goes on sale this spring.
The new car arrives as the company's biggest direct competitor, Renault, currently Europe's leading EV maker, announced it has leased its 100,000th electric vehicle battery.
