Citroen C3 Petrol Vs Electric - Should You Buy The eC3 (Electric)?

Let’s start with the price comparison to find out how much value the eC3 has to deliver to break even the cost of ownership.

Citroen C3 Petrol Vs Electric - Price Comparison

The Live variant of the C3 petrol costs Rs. 5.98 lakh while the Feel variant with the normal petrol engine costs Rs. 7.20 lakh. It carries a Rs. 1.22 lakh premium over the base model.

The eC3 or the C3 electric Live variant costs Rs. 11.50 lakh and the Feel variant costs Rs. 12.13 lakh. These prices are Rs. 5.52 lakh and Rs. 4.93 lakh higher than the comparable Live and Feel variants of the C3 petrol.

Note: Check out the list of Electric Cars in India

Citroen C3 Petrol Vs Electric - Performance, Feature Cost Comparison

The eC3 gives you the convenience of driving it like an automatic transmission as it doesn’t have a multi-speed manual transmission. Moreover, it has 28Nm higher torque arriving at much lower, near-zero RPMs and this helps with the drivability and initial acceleration. It also offers telematics for live vehicle diagnostics to help Citroen representatives with proactively figuring out any issues.

On the other hand, the C3 petrol has a higher power output and 10mm better ground clearance than the C3 electric.

According to our in-house algorithm, the eC3 has an advantage of  Rs. 78,500. So, now, it only needs to justify the price jump of about Rs. 4.15 lakh to Rs. 4.74 lakh (depending on the variant).

Citroen C3 Petrol Vs Electric - Fuel Cost Comparison

The C3 petrol has a mileage figure of 19.80kmpl while the eC3 has a mileage of 10.96kmpu (km per unit or kWh of electricity). The mileage figure of C3 electric is based on the range and battery capacity of the eC3 (range/battery).

Note: Check your car’s fuel cost with Fuel Cost Calculator India

We see that the eC3 will save you almost Rs. 4.0 for every kilometre you drive compared to the C3 petrol. 

Citroen C3 Petrol Vs Electric - KM-To-Breakeven And Verdict

At this rate, you’ll have to drive the eC3 Live base variant for 1,20,000km to break even. With the eC3 Feel variant, you’ll have to drive the car 1,05,000km to recover the higher upfront cost of the electric car over the comparable petrol model.

These are very high km-to-breakeven figures to justify buying the eC3. Moreover, these are after factoring in the convenience of an automatic transmission and additional features and torque. If you only care about lower running costs, then the km-to-breakeven figure will become even higher.

By the time you cover this distance to make it a financially viable option, you’ll run out of warranty for the battery pack and the overall vehicle. So, we don't think that C3 buyers should consider upgrading to the electric eC3 to lower their ownership costs.