Citroen C5 Aircross SUV Hybrid 2021 | 'ELECTRIFIED future'??

The PSA conglomerate is busy electrifying all its mid-sized SUVs, so the Citroen C5 Aircross gets that tech too. Like its group's stablemates, it can be recharged from a home wallbox in under two hours and it offers a decent full electric driving range, here WLTP certified at 34 miles. Like all C5 Aircross variants, this one majors on comfort, courtesy of the brand's progressive hydraulic cushion setup. Citroen may be rather late to this party, but at least it's trying to bring something new. The C5 Aircross, launched in 2018, has sold steadily in the mid-sized five-seat part of the SUV sector, but it needed a few more headlines. This plug-in hybrid variant provides a few of those, incorporating as it does a cutting-edge electrified powertrain. Citroen has tried to build this into the car without compromising its other comfort-orientated attributes and, as usual with the brand, there's a strong emphasis on value and innovative design. This car shares its PHEV engineering with three PSA group cousins, plug-in hybrid versions of the Peugeot 3008, the Vauxhall Grandland X and the DS7 Crossback E-Tense. This Citroen won't be the first car you'll have thought of if you happen to be looking for a mid-sized plug-in SUV, but it might well be worth including on your wish list. This electrified variant comes with a powerful and adaptable powertrain, which sees a PureTech 180 stop-and-start petrol engine and an 80 kilowatt electric motor, combining with a specially designed E-E88 automatic gearbox to offer up the equivalent of 225 horsepower. At the wheel, you get three driving modes, with the one you'll be using most being the hybrid setting that chooses the best mix of electric and petrol propulsion to suit your driving style whilst optimising efficiency. The alternative settings are either Sport, and that's where the car combines the power of the electric and petrol motors to offer livelier performance, and Electric, where the car uses only the battery-powered electric motor, resulting in an ultra-quiet and smooth drive with zero exhaust emissions and offers a WLTP range of up to 34 miles. There is also a mode that allows you to reserve charge for later in your journey. Otherwise, things are very much as they would be in any other C5 Aircross. This car's key differentiating point is the way it glides over bumps. That ability comes courtesy of the progressive hydraulic cushion suspension system. Now, this two-stage setup features a couple of hydraulic stops on each side of the car, one for compression and the other for rebound. For major uneven ground impacts, the hydraulic stops work with the springs and shock absorbers to avoid jerky movements and unpleasant bouncing. Thicker, softer seat padding, that also embellishes the whole impression of comfort, and double-laminated front windows and engine-based soundproofing play their part in reducing cabin noise. There's very little to visually give away the fact that this variant is a hybrid, apart from hybrid badging on the front wings and on the tailgate. If you do want to be more overt about this car's electrified remit, you can specify an anodized blue color pack as an option. If you're not especially familiar with the C5 Aircross, you need to know that it shares the same EMP2 platform as the PSA Group's other mid-sized SUVs. This Citroen is 4.5 meters long and it's 1.84 meters wide with a 2.73 meter wheelbase, so it's a touch bigger than cheaper cars in the class like Nissan's Qashqai and SEAT's Ateca. The brand's signature air bumps make an appearance just above the lower side seals, but they're toned down here. Time to take a seat inside. As with most modern Citroens, what you find here is a mixture of interesting design, a few cheaper plastics and some clever electronics. Oh, and these lovely seats, these are of the generously proportioned Advanced Comfort variety. They feature particularly broad bases, foam that's 15 millimeters thicker than usual for extra support and extra quilted padding. The result is a feeling of cosseting Gallic luxury. The instrument binnacle is another cabin talking point. Conventional dials have been completely replaced by a standard 12.3 inch color screen, which is fully configurable and customizable. Now, Citroen fans will note a retro touch in the form of the rolling speedometer that's similar to that used on the old 1980s era Citroen BX. Just about everything else you'll need to know can be found on this eight inch center dash capacitive touchscreen, which delivers everything you'd want. The usual DAB stereo, phone, navigational and smartphone mirroring functions, plus Wi-Fi, a connected apps package and various specific EV screens. It would be better if it wasn't burdened with ventilation controls, though. At the rear, that lengthy wheelbase translates into a cabin that feels significantly larger than that of most models in this class. As in an ordinary C5 Aircross, you get what Citroen claims is the most modular rear bench arrangement in the segment. It's certainly very versatile. It's made up of three individual sliding, reclining and folding seats. Each of them can recline in five positions from 19 through to 26.5 degrees and slide back and forth over a range of 150 millimeters to improve either rear luggage space or legroom. Not that you really need to improve legroom, that generous 4.5 meter body length means there's plenty of that. A few PHEV competitors can match the size of this C5 Aircross model's luggage space area either, the extent of which depends on the position of the sliding second row bench. The 460 liter capacity is 120 liters down on what you'll get in an ordinary C5 Aircross, though, and that's thanks to the battery placement beneath the cargo area base. You do get an underfloor compartment to store the charge cables in, though. Push down the split folding rear bench and there's up to 1.9 meters of cargo length on offer. The C5 Aircross SUV hybrid, which is priced from around £35,000, can be specified in two well-appointed trim levels, Flare and Flare Plus. All models feature standard equipment, including Citroen Connect Nav with a three-year subscription to TomTom Live Traffic, active blind spot monitoring, active lane keeping assist, the active safety brake system, front and rear parking sensors, and a 180 degree color reversing camera. In addition, Flare Plus models boast a half-leather interior, an electric driver's seat, a motorized hands-free tailgate, active cruise control, and 19-inch Art bi-tone alloy wheels. Other standard features include keyless entry and start and a frameless auto-dimming electrochrome rear view mirror with a blue LED electric driving mode indicator. Plus, there's a 7 kilowatt onboard charger for the 13.2 kilowatt hour lithium-ion battery and a mode 3 charging cable with a type 2 connector. Buyers can specify big car features like a 360 degree camera system and a park assist setup. Plus, you can, of course, add in things like keyless entry and a reversing camera. Camera-driven safety kit, well, that also includes adaptive cruise control with stop and go, collision risk alert, coffee break alert, driver attention alert, traffic sign recognition, and highway driver assist. Also, intelligent beam headlights. The combined petrol engine and electric motor produces CO2 of just 32 to 33 grams per kilometer and fuel efficiency of up to 168 miles per gallon on the combined cycle. Those are WLTP certified figures, of course. You'll need to fit a home charging 7 kilowatt wall box to make the most of this car. Citroën partners with Podpoint to provide this, and customers will be eligible for a £500 government OLED grant towards installation. Once this is in place, you'll be able to recharge the car in under two hours. Using the MyCitroën app, customers will be able to activate deferred charging, and that's to take advantage of lower electricity tariffs and preconditioning, and that's so the cabin can be cooled or warmed before you enter the vehicle. As for when you're out and about, well, Citroën has partnered with Polar, the largest and best performing public charge network in the UK, to offer UK customers buying a new C5 Aircross SUV hybrid a six-month free subscription to the Polar service that offers a good availability of charging points. Every C5 Aircross comes with a three-year and 60,000 mile warranty. The first two years of that aren't subject to any mileage limits, but the third year, which is taken care of by your dealer, is limited to 60,000 miles. Insurance is Group 32E for the Flair and Group 33E for the Flair Plus, and company drivers will be tempted by the fact that this PHEV sits in a 10% benefit-in-kind taxation bracket. We're always happy to see a product that tries to bring something a little different to its market segment, and that's why we rather like this C5 Aircross in its more standard forms. If you can find the significant price premium which is necessary to get this plug-in hybrid version, then there's also plenty to like here, too. The electrified stats are very class competitive amongst crossovers of this type, but you could argue that they'd be replicated by equivalent versions of the Peugeot 3008, the Vauxhall Grandland X, and the DS 7 Crossback, which feature the same engineering. The progressive hydraulic cushion setup of this Citroen, though, gives this particular SUV something a little different. You really can feel an improvement in the way that it eases over tarmac undulations. It's worth a test drive, then, as a possible starting point for your electrified future.