Citroen C3 Aircross review - MPG, running costs & CO2 emissions

With a reasonably lightweight body and small, efficient petrol engines, the Citroen C3 Aircross should prove competitively cheap to run. It’s a bit behind the Dacia Duster, though, with both the pure-petrol and mild-hybrid versions of the C3 Aircross emitting slightly more CO2. Fuel economy matches the Vauxhall Frontera, with the petrol and Hybrid C3 Aircross versions returning around 48mpg and 53mpg respectively.

There’s also the e-C3 Aircross with an electric motor if you don’t want any tailpipe emissions at all. Unlike most EVs, there isn’t a big price hike to get into the electric version, partly thanks to the fact Citroen has kept the size of its battery to a relatively small 44kWh. This means it can only manage 186 miles of range, but a larger battery is likely to arrive later that can hit 250 miles. Quite a few rivals offer a battery size of around 55kWh.

To keep costs down, the C3 Aircross also makes do without a heat pump, so the difference in driving range between winter and summer could be a bit more noticeable. A 7.4kW on-board charger is standard, and it can be upgraded to 11kW for a reasonable £360 for those with access to a high-powered AC charger. Using a public DC fast charger, the C3 Aircross can recharge from 20% to 80% in 26 minutes at a peak of 100kW – in other words, while it doesn’t have blazing charging speeds, its relatively small battery is nippy to replenish.

Citroen has also included ‘E-Routes’ software that helps to plan your trips, providing details of where to charge, and even live information about how busy the chargers are.

How efficient is the Citroen C3 Aircross in the real world?

We’ll know more when we test every version of the C3 Aircross on UK roads, but at its international launch the e-C3 Aircross showed us a projected driving range of 150 miles after some spirited testing.

How much will the Citroen C3 Aircross cost in tax?

Petrol and electric versions of the C3 Aircross will cost the standard annual VED (road tax) rate from year two when registered from April 2025. However, the e-C3 Aircross will cost just £10 in the first year, compared with £440 for the Hybrid and £520 for the petrol. Company car choosers will also be incentivised to pick the e-C3 Aircross, thanks to its significantly lower Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) liability. 

What will the Citroen C3 Aircross cost to insure?

Insurance groups haven’t been confirmed yet, but the Citroen C3 Aircross is affordable, only has modest performance and packs plenty of safety kit – factors that typically bode well for cheap premiums.