Citroen e-Spacetourer XL: Hotel shuttle with electric drive tested

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5.31 meter long transporter with 100 kW: Can that work??

Citroen e-Spacetourer XL: Hotel shuttle with electric drive tested-e-spacetourer

One size fits all: That is the motto that the PSA brands Citroen, Peugeot and Opel follow with their 100 kW electric drive. It is used from the small car Peugeot e-208, which weighs just 1.5 tons, to the Citroen e-Spacetourer XL with a weight of 2.5 tons.

We moved the heavyweight and investigated whether 100 kW is enough.

The e-Spacetourer is based like the combustion version (and also the Berlingo that was tested on the same day) on the EMP2 platform. It not only supports combustion and plug-in hybrids, but also electric cars.

While the sheet metal commercial vehicle is called the e-Jumpy, the e-Space Tourer is the leisure variant. The latter is available in two lengths, as a 4.95 meter long M and a 5.31 meter long XL. Both are offered with 50 and 75 kWh batteries. Our test version was the 5,31 meter run with the big battery. A huge car! And painted to match, in black, just like the shuttles that take people from the airport to a posh hotel.

The cockpit is kept quite sober, the instruments are still traditional here, with scales and correct needles – rarely in electric cars. There is also a head-up display based on a small retractable Plexiglas panel. The infotainment monitor is so small that it can be described as out of date. I also find it annoying that there is no storage space to the right of the driver's seat.

Rather sober cockpit

No storage space between the front seats

As known from Peugeot e-208 and the like, there is a button for the three driving modes Eco, Normal and Power, whereby the full 100 kW are only available in power mode (unless you do a kick-down).

As with the other PSA electric cars, there are no steering wheel paddles for setting the recuperation. The B-mode, in which more energy is recuperated, is recommended in urban surroundings. This means that the braking effect is stronger when the accelerator is released, but the beloved one-pedal driving is not possible with it.

Traditional instruments

Gear switch (left) and drive mode selector

When I drive off, the windows are pretty fogged up; it reminds me that an electric car with such a large interior volume is difficult to air-condition. There is heated and ventilated seats in the front, but business people seated in the back will probably have to accept losses in climate comfort: too cold in winter, too warm in summer.

The first few kilometers lead me through a sleepy place north of Paris, where I drive carefully with the giant baby anyway. On the following country road, the 100 kW are also sufficient. I approach the curved motorway entrance with a little too much momentum – the receipt is that I almost slip from the rather contourless seat. If four businessmen in suits had been sitting behind me, one or the other would surely have moaned.

When I accelerate to motorway speed, I notice for the first time that the 100 kW are a bit tight. On the other hand: Usually only the driver is annoyed about the lack of power, while the business people in the back are happy if they are not distracted from talking shop and typing on notebooks.

You get in at the back via two electric sliding doors, which I as the driver can operate with a switch from the cockpit – very practical. In the passenger compartment of the Business Lounge equipment, there are four seats, with two passengers sitting opposite each other. In between you can unfold a table if you want a work surface. Like the seats themselves, the foot of the table can be moved lengthways on rails.

At the rear a huge tailgate swings open, which extends the required parking space far to the rear. In confined spaces, wing doors would probably be more practical. In any case, the trunk hardly holds more than the four airplane trolleys of my virtual business people. If there is more luggage, the passengers have to move a little closer together.

The range according to WLTP of my version is given as 303-308 kilometers, whereby the smaller version M doesn't get much further either. If you only order the 50 kWh battery, you save 6,000 euros, but then a maximum of 215 kilometers are possible. Citroen specifies consumption at just under 28 kWh / 100 km. That calms me down a bit, because my on-board computer showed values ​​around 30 kWh / 100 km. So I'm not that bad of a racer.

When I handed over the car, I noticed a flap on the left rear fender. This is the tank opening, according to the manufacturer. Fuel filler flap on an electric car? Evolutionary biologists would arguably consider such a holdover to be an atavism to name; apparently the body part was simply taken over from the combustion engine.

Charging is in the front left

Left behind: fuel filler flap on the electric car

The electric space tourer is charged via a CCS2 connection on the front left. As is usual with electric cars based on the CMP and EMP2 platforms, charging is carried out with a maximum of 100 kW DC voltage. Then it takes 45 minutes to fill the large battery (0 to 80 percent). In everyday life, the car is charged with 11 kW alternating current, which takes around seven hours.

The driven e-Spacetourer XL in the Business Lounge equipment with the large battery is available from 66,400 euros. The net list price according to the BAFA list is just under 58,000 euros, which means that the car is subsidized with 7,500 euros net. Even after funding, you end up with around 5,000 euros more than the combustion version. As an XL with the same equipment, it costs 54,350 euros. Equipped with a 177 hp diesel and eight-speed automatic, this version is certainly more powerful.

More electric vans from the Stellantis Group:

Citroen e-Spacetourer XL: Hotel shuttle with electric drive tested-e-spacetourer Fiat Ulysse and Scudo: New vans under well-known names

Citroen e-Spacetourer XL: Hotel shuttle with electric drive tested-hotel Peugeot e-Traveler now also with a 75 kWh battery

Conclusion: Quite expensive and a little weak on the chest

You don't have to be a clairvoyant to know that a 2.5-ton truck with 100 kW doesn't drive as fast as a 1.5-ton truck with the same engine. 50 kW more would certainly not harm the e-Spacetourer, but the platform probably doesn't provide that.

But the performance is enough for a hotel shuttle. Perhaps also for a patient head of the family who transports children and holiday luggage to the sunny south. Then you have to make a stop every 250 kilometers, which will then take at least 45 minutes each time. The e-Space Tourer is probably even less suitable than most electric cars for long motorway journeys. But of course it's enough for hotel transfers or the day tour at the weekend.

You can tell from the cockpit that the Spacetourer was launched in 2016. The display equipment is no longer up-to-date, especially in view of the price of over 66,000 euros.

Picture gallery: Citroen e-SpaceTourer (2020)

Citroen e-Spacetourer XL: Hotel shuttle with electric drive tested-shuttle

Citroen e-Spacetourer XL: Hotel shuttle with electric drive tested-citroen Citroen e-Spacetourer XL: Hotel shuttle with electric drive tested-citroen Citroen e-Spacetourer XL: Hotel shuttle with electric drive tested-shuttle Citroen e-Spacetourer XL: Hotel shuttle with electric drive tested-electric Citroen e-Spacetourer XL: Hotel shuttle with electric drive tested-electric

Citroen e-Spacetourer XL 75 kWh

engine 1 electric motor in front (presumably PSM)

power 100 kW (30-minute power: 57 kW)

Max. Torque 260 Nm

Acceleration 0-100 km / h n / a.

Top speed 130 km / h

consumption 26.4–26.9 kWh / 100 km (Business equipment)

battery 75 kWh gross

Electric range 314–319 km (WLTP, business equipment)

Charging port CCS2, up to 11 kW AC, up to 100 kW DC

Charging time approx. 7 hours AC, approx. 45 min DC (0-80%)

length 5,309 mm

broad 1,920 mm (without mirror)

height 1,877 mm (without antenna)

Trunk volume n / a.

Empty weight 2,375–2,514 kg (equipment version Business)

Payload 1,451-1,590 kg (equipment version Business)

Trailer load 1,000 kg (12%, braked trailer)

Base price 58,680 euros (equipment version Business)

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