TURKISH DELIGHT? (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

Citroen's e-Relay is a large Turkish-built EV van that will suit only a very narrow business demographic, thinks Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Reviewword count: 64

Citroen has developed a full-electric version of its largest van, the Relay, by working with a Turkish-based third-party manufacturer and this model shares its design and drivetrain with two key rivals from Peugeot and Vauxhall. With this e-Relay, both driving range and payload are limited, but compared to the diesel version, cargo capacity isn't compromised and charging speeds are relatively fast by class standards.

Backgroundword count: 163

One day soon, Citroen will design and build its own large segment electric van. But that day hasn't yet come. The brand can sell you a really large full-electric LCV - this e-Relay - but most of the work in creating it is of the third party sort. Every e-Relay starts life as a diesel model, then gets shipped to third-party specialists BEDO and a Turkish factory where the EV drivetrain is installed. That's very different to Citroen's smaller electric vans, the e-Berlingo and the e-Dispatch, which come out of Citroen's own factory as full-EVs. This model's close cousins, the Peugeot e-Boxer and the Vauxhall Movano Electric, take this short-cut Turkish route to market as well. But interestingly, the other shared Stellantis Group version of this design, Fiat's E-Ducato, doesn't, completely engineered and built by Fiat itself. So will this Citroen be compromised by this approach? And is it still a creditable alternative in a class recently augmented by newer designs? Let's see.

Driving Experienceword count: 210

If you're expecting the usual surge away from rest that typifies electric power, you won't get it here. The 122hp electric motor struggles a bit with a van this weighty and its torque figure (260Nm) is actually 50Nm less than the entry-level diesel. Hence the rather restricted payload. Citroen no longer offers this model with the smaller 37kWh battery, so just a larger 75kWh power pack is on offer, which takes you 154 miles between charges, though that'll drop a bit if you've a full load out back. And it's significantly down on the 192 mile range you'd get from a comparable Fiat E-Ducato (which has a 79kWh battery). Unlike most EV vans, this Citroen can't offer you any drive modes, so there's no 'Eco' setting to maximise range - and no regenerative braking 'B' option for the single-speed gearbox, actioned by buttons on the dash ('Drive', 'Neutral' and 'Reverse'). On the plus side, this EV model's under-floor battery positioning results in a low centre of gravity, improving cornering and stability even when fully loaded. Top speed is just 68mph for the 3,500kg gross vehicle weight models (the only ones now available). The steering's quite a old-fashioned set-up that's quite heavy at low speeds, but lightens up at faster ones.

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