Citroën ë-Berlingo: The power box – Our impressions

He is the friend of all those who have a lot to pack – and for whom a station wagon is too tight and a minibus too colossal. Since 1996 already has the Citroën Berlingo – in the now third generation and with more than two million copies sold. Now the high-space beneficial is also available in a purely electric version. And: The power box even turns into a family powerhouse.

Identical in construction to the other Stellantis electric vehicles, there is a battery hidden deep in the ground that lasts for 285 kilometers (WLTP). And if you don’t succumb to the stimulus of acceleration too often, drive as inner-city as possible and save on heating and air conditioning, its 50 kWh in everyday life come pretty close to the laboratory value. Of course, the ë-Berlingo also manages a speed of 135, but dynamics cost distance – old battery driver wisdom. Around 200 kilometers are possible at a comfortable pace.

If you don’t have it so much in your feet, you can also take things into your own hands: When the switch is set to “Eco”, the electronics release a sufficient 60 kW, with “Normal” a decent 80 and in the “Sport” position the full charge of 100. Despite 1.9 tons, the stoppel start is tidy, and 11.7 seconds to the three-digit speedometer also make comparable combustions not in line with them.

Of course, the opposite is more exemplary: Wherever possible, take your foot off the pedal and generate electricity through recuperation. The degree can be selected in two stages, whereby “B” sucks a lot of propulsion, but still gets by without a brake light. But even with the most defensive driving style, the ë-Berlingo eventually runs out of juice. After all: 30 minutes on the DC charger presses 80 percent into the battery, on a wall box you tap a good five hours, on the home socket three times as long. A three-phase on-board charger with 11 kW is standard.

There has seldom been a lack of courage in terms of design in the sign of the double angle. And now and then the line between ingenuity and stretching taste was a fine one. The ë-Berlingo, on the other hand, offers chic, enclosed space without superfluous extravagance, despite a great deal of functionality. Although various types of hard plastic dominate in the interior – in mind children, this also has its benefits.

Apart from that, it’s extremely comfortable. You are enthroned like God in France in front of a beautifully tidy dashboard, you can warm your back and hands if you wish and be guided by the head-up display. Gone are the days when optics took precedence over function. However, they could have programmed a pointer variant for the speedometer into the digital cockpit.

Everywhere you can feel that there is not a van you can sit in, as in previous series, but a car that can accommodate loads and people extremely comfortably. Above all, however, they have families in mind at Citroën. And because the demands can hardly be more different, the square concert is correspondingly polyphonic.

Depending on requirements, the ë-Berlingo comes with a length of 4.40 or 4.75 meters. Three ISOFIX seats holds the back seat, a fourth can be mounted on the front, and on request also in the short version seven people can accommodate – whereby children are clearly in the advantage. Clever details: if you opt for the fold-flat front passenger seat, bulky items up to 2.70 meters long (long version: 3.05 meters) can be stowed on the edge. And the glass of the tailgate can be opened separately.

Behind the usual seating, Citroën‘s room glider packs 775 liters (long: 1050), folded down it’s 2.1 cubic meters (long: 2.7). And: There are more than two dozen ways to stow away. The most imaginative: a shelf running lengthways in the middle under the roof. Despite this – or precisely because of this – you should remember well what you have deposited where..

Even in the basic model, the ë-Berlingo stays in lane, recognizes pedestrians and brakes in the event of danger. In addition, depending on the equipment, there are all sorts of conveniences on offer, such as a reversing camera, distance cruise control, parking assistant and side sensors that warn you before you make ugly dents in your flanks.

Traditionally, Citroën remains at the rather sapome chassis. Which is no harm, because tight competitors – even under the Stellantis umbrella – abound. But even if a high-space station wagon is expressly not intended for the hot hunt in between – the steering should give the feeling that the valance and the front wheels have something to do with each other. And you shouldn’t drive the e-mobile too hard into the curve – almost two tons are definitely striving in the direction of the tangent.

The large sliding doors open at 36.590 euros. For the XL version – currently only in the second highest equipment “Feel Pack” – the French call 41.040 euros up. After deducting funding, only 27 remain for the standard model.020 euros. This is hardly more expensive than a comparably equipped diesel.

Another argument less for the combustion engine..

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