[Phantom 510]

The EC3 has the most comfortable ride quality amongst all the EVs within the 20 lakh price bracket. The way it tackles nasty potholes and bad patches really needs to be experienced. A test drive of EC3 really opened my eyes. That 57 PS power output might look low on paper, but it felt just right (due to the 143 Nm torque) during the test drive. I wish it had five proper adjustable head restraints. It's a solid car for mature, no-nonsense buyers who prefers fuss free motoring over gimmicks.

[sjain2054]

Bhopal is a small city. Smaller than other state capitals like Jaipur, Ahmedabad + Gandhinagar, Lucknow etc and also smaller than Indore.

The number of eC3s I see in Bhopal is insane. In the beginning, I thought it might be the same car circling around. I was so surprised and always thought of checking on TBHP about eC3s sales figures to check if it is one of the better selling EVs. I never got around to doing that.

I visited the Citroen showroom for C3 Aircross test drive and the saleperson told me that Citroen sells really well in Bhopal. Obviously, he did not show me any figures but the number of C3s and eC3s I see is pretty insane.

I guess that the Indian consumer is the kind that researches and rewards the good products. eC3 and C3 seem to be products of that kind.

But yes, I see a lot of EVs in Bhopal in general. Tiago, Punch EVs for sure but I can honestly say that I see more eC3s than Tata EVs in Bhopal.

[mathewanil]

These are questions that Wooka asked:

1. Is it a regular lead battery and what about upsizing it - does it have a big enough bed?
2. What's the boot light? How's it motion controlled, please?

The answer to (1) , yes it is a regular lead acid battery. The bed will not take a larger battery without modification of the harness. I think there is some self diagnostics happening in the background or may be the connection to the “my citroen connect” app is slowly draining this battery. I’ll get the battery health checked out the next time I’m at the service station

And for (2). The boot is fairly large and lined by black on the walls and floor. I’ve got a motion controlled rechargeable LED fixed on the inside of the parcel tray. This I sourced from Amazon.

(Systene Muvit Wireless Cabinet Light,8 Inch 36 Led Motion Sensor Under Cabinet Lighting Rechargeable Closet Light With Stepless Dimming,3 Light Modes,Aluminum Alloy Casing,Button Control-Silver https://amzn.in/d/3RSUyh9)

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by mathewanil

Speculation and criticisms, that what I’ve seen over numerous posts in Team BHP about this car that was launched about a year ago. Hi, I’m new to Team BHP and here is what I think of the Citroen eC3 after 3 months of ownership and clocking nearly 5500 kilometres. I was in the market for a second car for daily commutes to work and an occasional weekend run. And I did the TDs like most buyers with a limited budget of around 13 L. The only contenders in the market were Tiago EV, MG’s Comet and Citroen’s eC3. I drive an average of 1200- 1500 km a month with daily commutes of 30 km to work and some local weekend trips.

Excellent ownership review and details. Thanks for keeping the thread updated as well.

My use case is similar to yours without the boot requirement. Looking for a small footprint EV to drive nearly 20-30 KMs a day (average) in Mumbai with heavy traffic. Mumbai is synonym to a lot of great things however the traffic and parking challenges are not among those.

After your usage of eC3, with the current state of EV alternatives and pricing, will you still consider the same car? I liked eC3 however the acquisition cost is way too high and defeats the purpose to move from an ICE to EV. I have another Diesel DSG car which takes care of my highway trips so need very specific to the city commutes. Almost certain that Comet fits the requirement (ignoring the small tyres) I would like to know more about eC3.

On road pricing for reference:
Comet Excite FC: ~8.5L
eC3 Shine: ~13L

[Comrade]

I think eC3 makes perfect sense as City car. I recently hired Blu-Smart cab and the driver was all praise for the car's efficiency and reliability. I really liked the space & comfort of the rear seat.

However, I did not like how cheaply the interiors were designed! It was a well-put-together car without any squeaks and rattles but the automobile designing has moved on from the cheap monotone plastics of 90s with exposed screws & bolts. It did not feel like 13.26L - 13.56L car that Citroen is asking for Shine variant, especially when compared to how Tata or MG interiors feel in comparison. If Citroen is offering considerable discount (10.99L), then the car may be worth considering. Also, Citroen should just offer the recently refreshed/upgraded features from it's ICE lineup on eC3 and correct Shine's pricing to 10-11L.

Apologies @mathewanil, if I hurt your feelings but thats my personal opinion of Citroen's interiors.

[mathewanil]

Thanks @VWAllStar for asking. I do agree that the eC3 is priced higher than the competition. However I bought this car a year back when I had to choose between the Comet, Tiago and the eC3. Would I buy the same car today with the alternatives available? Probably not. The shrinking service network is worrisome. Thankfully my car has had no major glitches, rendering it inoperable, nor has it been towed to a service centre for repairs. I guess a bare bones car has some advantages where only a few things can go wrong.
Although, I must say that Citroen has got its basics just right. I still love it’s driving dynamics, steering control, suspension and its (much maligned) high voltage battery system without liquid cooling.

Would I choose the Comet? I certainly would not. It’s fidly on highway runs and I do a lot of those. My Odo is nearly 17,000 today on the eC3 and I’ve fast charged my car 83 times on numerous intercity drives. I certainly would like the option of travelling to places about 250 km from where I stay on my electric car. These were not possible with the Comet as it did not offer fast charging. And having no boot and no spare wheel was something I cannot afford, not to have in a car. I might seriously consider the new MG Windsor with a little increase in my budget today.

The Tiago I gave it a miss due to the reliability of TATA after-sales, a small boot, and no spare-wheel, and I’m glad with that decision. So would I buy a TATA Punch instead today? I certainly will not for the same reasons listed above. Would I “upgrade” to a higher model of Tata? No, not unless they get their act together, solve their glitches, weed out poor-performing parts, have a tight QC, go all out to make their products reliable (and not just good looking) and try hard to serve their customers.



@ Comrade, I certainly agree with issues of pricing, lack luster interiors and the general lack of oomph when you get inside the car. And yes, Citroen has to do a lot more to make their cars palatable for the public.

However, I'm old school. If you show me a car which has a well tuned engine( or motor), a smooth transmission, great steering control, behaves well around corners, brakes without a fuss, a tight suspension, a spare wheel, good seating, fantastic all-round visibilty and reasonable air-conditioning, I’m sold. Everything else is just noise!

I rather have no “ dual- zone” climate control, sun/moon roof, flush door handles and a display on the steering wheel in my car as long it will not leave me or my family stranded or bother me with glitches that the service guys or I cannot solve.

I would also not want to be bothered about slow charging my car after every 4 FC cycles. And I'm sure I’d feel deflated if my HV battery needed replacement with just a few thousand Km on the Odo

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by mathewanil

Thanks @VWAllStar for asking. I do agree that the eC3 is priced higher than the competition. However I bought this car a year back when I had to choose between the Comet, Tiago and the eC3. Would I buy the same car today with the alternatives available? Probably not. The shrinking service network is worrisome. Thankfully my car has had no major glitches, rendering it inoperable, nor has it been towed to a service centre for repairs. I guess a bare bones car has some advantages where only a few things can go wrong.
Although, I must say that Citroen has got its basics just right. I still love it’s driving dynamics, steering control, suspension and its (much maligned) high voltage battery system without liquid cooling.

1. Me being in a Metro City (Mumbai) have only 1 dealer and service center. Just like you, even I am worried that I will be at their mercy as local mechanics would not dare touch an EV yet.
2. I keep getting a feeling that Citroen would go the Fiat way. Excellent cars but poor marketing and after sales service network.
3. The car eC3 is been praised heavily for the ride quality and it matters to me. A passionate owner of eC3 being dubious about their service and probably not buying the car again today, is concerning for prospective buyers.

Originally Posted by mathewanil

Would I choose the Comet? I certainly would not. It’s fidly on highway runs and I do a lot of those. My Odo is nearly 17,000 today on the eC3 and I’ve fast charged my car 83 times on numerous intercity drives. I certainly would like the option of travelling to places about 250 km from where I stay on my electric car. These were not possible with the Comet as it did not offer fast charging. And having no boot and no spare wheel was something I cannot afford, not to have in a car. I might seriously consider the new MG Windsor with a little increase in my budget today.

1. Comet seems good to be driven within Mumbai where there is bumper to bumper traffic and average speed not above 30 KMPH. However I agree, I would be stuck to only one use case with the Comet as it may not be safe enough to be driven on highways.
2. The problem with Windsor and my need is that the car is HUGE and the range is neither here nor there. The size and range are conflicting to call it a city car or a highway car.
3. I have an Ameo Diesel DSG for highway drives and it is a pleasure to drive that car for long distances.
4. DC FC on eC3 is such a brilliant option over many other once a lifetime usable feature.

Originally Posted by mathewanil

The Tiago I gave it a miss due to the reliability of TATA after-sales, a small boot, and no spare-wheel, and I’m glad with that decision. So would I buy a TATA Punch instead today? I certainly will not for the same reasons listed above. Would I “upgrade” to a higher model of Tata? No, not unless they get their act together, solve their glitches, weed out poor-performing parts, have a tight QC, go all out to make their products reliable (and not just good looking) and try hard to serve their customers.

The same reasons why Tata Motors EV isn't pulling a chord in me. From a price point of view they have the products fitting all requirements. However, the negative reviews on their Quality and Service are big deterrents. My biggest requirement from a car is that it has to be reliable, fuss free ownership and help make our lives easier.

Originally Posted by mathewanil

However, I'm old school. If you show me a car which has a well tuned engine( or motor), a smooth transmission, great steering control, behaves well around corners, brakes without a fuss, a tight suspension, a spare wheel, good seating, fantastic all-round visibilty and reasonable air-conditioning, I’m sold. Everything else is just noise!

I rather have no “ dual- zone” climate control, sun/moon roof, flush door handles and a display on the steering wheel in my car as long it will not leave me or my family stranded or bother me with glitches that the service guys or I cannot solve.

I would also not want to be bothered about slow charging my car after every 4 FC cycles. And I'm sure I’d feel deflated if my HV battery needed replacement with just a few thousand Km on the Odo

Same are my thoughts and requirements from a Car. I wish Citroen does some thorough market research and brings the price of the eC3 down by atleast 3 Lakhs.

I wanted to keep a question separate. What is all the fuss about no liquid cooling BMS in the eC3. As a lay man, it worries me that with our increasing temperatures, will that be a safety concern? An established car company wouldn't be stupid enough to play with lives, there must be some details around the decision to go with such a setup. If you can help clearing this important point.

[mathewanil]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

3. The car eC3 is been praised heavily for the ride quality and it matters to me. A passionate owner of eC3 being dubious about their service and probably not buying the car again today, is concerning for prospective buyers.



I wanted to keep a question separate. What is all the fuss about no liquid cooling BMS in the eC3. As a lay man, it worries me that with our increasing temperatures, will that be a safety concern? An established car company wouldn't be stupid enough to play with lives, there must be some details around the decision to go with such a setup. If you can help clearing this important point.

@VWAllstar, to be fair, So far, the service I’ve received from the service points at Chennai and Bangalore has been outstanding. The service engineers are polite, well mannered and certainly know their car. Glitches which were mostly software related in the initial ownership of my car had been solved by updates at the service center during routine servicing. The only time I did have to take in my car for an unscheduled visit was when it failed to fast charge at Bangalore. The guys at Whitfield went over and beyond ( stayed late beyond working hours) to sort out a software glitch and had my car running in no time. Poor marketing and shrinking service points is indeed a worry. I know first-hand from my dad’s experience of owning a Palio in the 90’s.


CITROEN introduced this car without active liquid cooling. A lot of speculative comments online did not help and to make matters worse the initial owners did complain in loss of speeds during fast charging especially in peak summers.

This battery with a blade design is passively cooled by airflow and certainly it cannot do that efficiently when parked. I would think that the failure to address this issue by “reassurance” from the company was a poor marketing strategy.

I'm probably their poster boy who has actually given a detailed ownership review including my FC experience across seasons. My charging speeds have remained consistent throughout my one-year ownership of the car and I do carefully log in the fast charging data (in a spreadsheet) after every fast charge session of my car. The numbers have never shown a dent in FC speeds across seasons. The SOH of the battery has remained 100% at my first service and I’m due for my second service in about 2 months.

The few ownership videos online from nearly a year ago talk about its hassle free ownership experience. Citroen is guilty of not being able to read the Indian consumer. The Bassalt will come out in its e-version about 6 months from now and they will have to pull up their pants and go all out in marketing and reach out to their prospective customers.

[mathewanil]

How do you wish a car on its birthday? I have been mulling over this issue for the last one week. I remember this day last year ever so clearly. There was an anticipation of a new car coming home, the trepidation of whether it would get here without trouble, and whether there would be hassles with service and so on. The dealership from Chennai got a driver to send my Citroen eC3 home to Vellore, and it reached here at 1:00 am, the morning of 17th October last year. Although worn out from the highway drive, it looked and smelled new. I charged the car overnight with the on-board charger and drove to work with my colleagues the same morning. I remember the first day of the car because it was the only thing on my mind the entire day. Boys and their cars!

A year later today, 17700 km on the Odo, I am grateful for this new addition to my family. Quiet and charming, frugal to run, and zero maintenance throughout the last year. No alarming glitches, never stranded anywhere, no “High – Voltage error,” and no Fast-Charge issues during these 366 days. Also, it has been my companion on many solo drives to Bengaluru, Puducherry, and Chennai. And what a mate it has been! Superb dynamics, silent (being an EV), great speakers, and fantastic at handling good and bad roads.

So, returning to my original query, how do people celebrate a great one-year companionship with a car? Champagne, a cake, or even an oil- change, maybe? But my teetotaller buddy does not need any of this, not even the Oil. So, I gave my eC3 a bubble bath, washed down its windows till all the smudges disappeared, buffed the panels with my hands till they appeared shiny new, and vacuumed its interiors until there were no more specks on its black carpet. Sure, it is inanimate and has the same fixed expression since I brought it home, but I swear, I thought I saw a little smile when all that TLC was over.

I wish you many more great years with us. Happy Birthday!

[Jazzybala]

Congratulations, Anil, on your first anniversary!! Your posts on the eC3 have been very informative to all of us in the forum with regards to its performance and utility.
My thanks for that.

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by mathewanil

Sure, it is inanimate and has the same fixed expression since I brought it home, but I swear, I thought I saw a little smile when all that TLC was over.

Attachment 2669411

Attachment 2669412

We too can clearly see the smile. It is the reflection of the love, care and dare I say obsession of the owner. Keep it up.

[gharika]

Perhaps replace the orange highlights with green from the numberplate as a birthday present, will look more I line.
Some other color that goes with the green plates will be nice too, orange is too odd.

[Mukunthan91]

Congratulations. What's the actual range you are getting in city and High way conditions?

[mathewanil]

Originally Posted by Mukunthan91

Congratulations. What's the actual range you are getting in city and High way conditions?

In the city my consumption is around 140 watts/km, that amounts to about 210 km to empty. On the highways my consumption is around 150 to 160 watts/ km, with my kind of driving between 85-105 km/hr (with reasonably aggressive accelerations) that would be around 185 to 195 km to empty.

Very sedate accelerations, watching the power band mark and keeping it below 3 dots can juice out many more miles. My best has been 108 watts/ km or 270km to empty.

[mathewanil]

Originally Posted by gharika

Perhaps replace the orange highlights with green from the numberplate as a birthday present, will look more I line.
Some other color that goes with the green plates will be nice too, orange is too odd.

I admit the orange highlights looked good till I got the green number plates🤦🏽. It certainly clashes with the overall scheme of things now. I’ve decided to leave it now🙁.