Maybe not, but I gather there's a huge cluster of chargers near Avebury Amesbury, where you wouldn't need long to top up enough kWh to make sure you'll get there.
And outside of winter and/or if you moderate your speed a little, you might get there non-stop.

Edit: I just checked a comparison of WLTP vs EPA (see https://www.lifewire.com/ev-ranges-explained-5202261 )
This table appears on the page, and given that EPA ratings are reasonably realistic, you might get away with it.
(for a different car obvs. but figures happen to be close)

NEDC	WLTP	EPA
223 miles	177-193 miles	153 miles

 

Maybe not, but I gather there's a huge cluster of chargers near Avebury, where you wouldn't need long to top up enough kWh to make sure you'll get there.
And outside of winter and/or if you moderate your speed a little, you might get there non-stop.

Edit: I just checked a comparison of WLTP vs EPA (see https://www.lifewire.com/ev-ranges-explained-5202261 )
This table appears on the page, and given that EPA ratings are reasonably realistic, you might get away with it.
(for a different car obvs. but figures happen to be close)

NEDC	WLTP	EPA
223 miles	177-193 miles	153 miles

They are at Amesbury, on the A303, at Solstice Park, some way away from Avebury. Mix of Tesla, Gridserve and Instavolt chargers. There are enough there that there is usually free slots.

 

I'd guess it's a No. The specs are only just higher than a Leaf40, by about 10%. You can hope that it's a more modern design and therefore more efficient, but then again it's Stellantis!
A Leaf40 will struggle to do over 100 miles in the winter at motorway 70s.
Can you rent one or do an extended test drive? That's the only way to find out really.

 

The Citroën isn't available yet, but thanks for the insights.

 

On the other hand, I reckon it'd be do-able with a modicum of care in my BMW i3, and that's a slightly smaller battery, around 42kWh gross capacity, 38kWh usable (or therabouts). Interestingly, the EPA range is also 153 miles. Really, it's marginal in cold and uncertain weather and would depend on things like headwind, rain, etc. As has been said, plenty of chargers around but less so as you get deeper into Somerset. (I go that way regularly.)

 

We are all speculating but if it's a true usable 44kwh, you don't mind ending your journey on very low SoC and you are able to drop down to 65mph occasionally if things look tight then I'd think it should be doable. It's only an average of just over 3 mi/kWh, which should be achievable in almost all conditions by a small car like that really. OTOH, if it turns out to only have about 40kwh between indicated 100 and 0% and you are keen to spend the whole journey pinned to a true 70 (72-3 on the clock) then it might be more difficult.
You need to wait for some real world systematic tests to be completely sure.

 

NO heat exchanger
WLTP range 199 miles

Resistance heat (no heat pump) will cost very roughly 10 winter miles in a small car. That's about what I saw in the i3s. Only the Max trim level has pre-conditioning.
Consumption at 70mph is a complete unknown. We can hope the e-C3 is better than LEAF.


If I had to guess, worst case wind, cold, wet the Max might make it and the Plus won't.

 

Most of us don't have enough adrenalin to drive down to tiny margins. Perhaps it's something to do with having suffered delays and diversions on previous journeys.

Surely you'll be needing a toilet break and a coffee anyway? Have a charge while you're at it.

 

Surely you'll be needing a toilet break and a coffee anyway? Have a charge while you're at it.

Maybe not.

135 miles mostly at 70mph is about 2 hours which is also the recomended break interval.

 

Drive at 65 and arrive 5 minutes later?

I tend to chill on motorways in winter drive at 60-65
Get around 200 miles from an mg5 and build in an extra 10-20 mins to my journey time

 

Due out this year, the Citroën ë-C3 specs are as follows:
44 kWh battery
NO heat exchanger
WLTP range 199 miles
Is it realistic to expect this car to drive 135 miles in winter conditions at 70 mph (M4, M3, A303 London to Somerset)?

I do a regular 160 mile Derby <-> Winchester non-stop trip in my Ioniq 38.3 kWh usable EV. 2/3 is duals, 1/3 m'way.

WLTP for your car is 199 miles. ev-database reckons the e-C3 has 44 kWh usable, 45 total.
WLTP for mine is 193 miles. ev-database says I have 38.3 usable, 40.4 total.

These 2 cars sound similar. Chances I have better aerodynamics, as the battery isn't located under anyone's feet, but in the boot & partly under the front seats.
I do this in winter at 10C temps at lorry + a couple of mph speeds, generally waiting until a suitable gap on the duals before I overtake. Motorways I can do steadily. I reckon on arriving with about 20 miles remaining, so around 180 mile maximum, always wise to leave a reserve in case of detours etc.

But I have a heatpump. Selecting Heating at the start reduces my range by 8 miles, and this is accurate, and my heating runs around 600W for 3 hours, so appx 1.8 kWh gone on heat = appx 4.5% my battery = 8 miles appx.
Without heatpump I'd perhaps lose 3x this, so around 5.5 kWh gone. So for you that would leave 38.5 kWh. You're going to lose more like 25 miles range I reckon.

I'm managing 4.5 m/kWh driving like this. Your battery is 1.15x larger but assuming similar range, I estimate you'ld get 4.5/1.15 m/kWh = 3.9 m/kWh. With 38.5 kWh available, gives predicted range 3.9 x 38.5 = 150 miles.

So you should be able to do your 135 mile trip with 15 miles in hand, heating on, in 10C temps, driving just-faster than lorries.
Can't see you managing it at 70 though. Aerodynamic losses go up as square of speed, so you may find the trip ends up longer if you drive faster, but then have to take time out to do a top-up.

Prevailing wind tends to be from the West, so chances are this will hit you on trip leaving London. A 10 mph headwind means your 60 mph cruising speed hits you like a 70 mph speed in calm weather, so you'll have very little margin. Best advice is start out slowish, say 60, and see how your remaining SOC goes. GOM in Stellantis cars is reckoned poor, so don't trust it if you are pushing the limits!

 

I do a regular 160 mile Derby <-> Winchester non-stop trip in my Ioniq 38.3 kWh usable EV. 2/3 is duals, 1/3 m'way.

Great Scott, this is gold dust! Eye-wateringly nerdish, yes, but gold dust nonetheless!
I'm not sure how I feel about doing lorry speeds + a bit - that's 60 mph on a motorway. One feels exposed - plus it calls my virility into question 🤣. That's quite a compromise to have to accept... Seriously, though, as this 135 mi run is a fixture in my lifestyle, maybe I should look at an EV with a slightly bigger battery: higher purchase price, but less faff. Added to which I don't have a personal charge point/off-street parking, so all that pre-trip preparation business would come off the battery.

 

Probably not, Amesbury probably the best bet, lots of flaky charging options west of there(mer chargers the other side of Cranborne chase probably the next best option, depends where exactly your heading on the a303

 

Very much this! ^ ^ ^

Beyond Amesbury you are very much in "Beware, Dragons lie here!" territory, until you get to the SW of us (we're smack in the middle of Cranborne Chase).

 

I wouldn't even consider a new EV with that kind of battery capacity. If you need to do that 135 mile journey regularly in Winter it's going to be a pain when you need the heating (and AC demisting) on max.

Can you charge at home, or are you using public charging?

If you really have to get a new EV (salary sacrifice scheme for example), then there will be better options for a similar price: MG4 SR or LR, MG5 LR, ZS EV LR, etc.

But if you don't have to buy new, there are much better nearly-new EVs with better range for less money that will still be under warranty. Any of the MG Long Range models, Kona, Niro, and BYD Dolphin. Even larger EVs like the Omoda E5 will be only slightly more than a new eC3 if you buy a 2022 / 2023 car.

 

'Yes', with caveat. If you discover you can't at 70, just slow down a bit. The difference in journey time between that and doing it at 60 will be nearly nothing (in real traffic).

 

If you don't mind living without a warranty, something like this three year old ID3 should easily do the journey at 70 MPH, or maybe there and back at money saving expert speeds?

 

Now there's a thought 👍

 

TBH, I'd be buying a different car. No point in pushing the ragged edge of range in a city car when there are plenty of others to choose from.

Only worth considering if this is a very occasional trip and the car is a very good fit for every day use.

 

Instead of buying a new e-C3 with a battery smaller than you would desire, why not buy a second-hand EV? There are many great deals out there now. An ID.3 with a 58kWh battery would handily make a journey like this, for instance (I can do ~170-180 miles in my car in winter.)

 

If the "why not" is lack of warranty, remember that you can buy an annual extended warranty for about £300.

 

In terms of battery capacity, there are quite a few e-C3s listed on Autotrader and the capacity is listed as 44kWh gross, 39.6kWh useable there which would be a further knock against it for this use case!

 

The official capacity of the battery is 140.4Ah. Max voltage is 3.65V, and max power at full capacity is 159300W and ratio between max power and max capacity is 3.59/h. That puts the raw capacity somewhere around 44.4kWh. Though when looking at the e-C4 batteries this process gives me pack voltages that are way too low. If I could find the number of cells in series I could cross reference.

Battery data is here: Battery Report Citroen

 

Tx, but according to Citroën, the Useable Capacity is 44.0 kWh (others put it at 43.7 kWh). Not that that makes any difference to my particular use case scenario!

 

A 58kWh ID.3 like mine would easily do the journey described in winter. Even without pre-warming the car while it is plugged in. There are lots of good-value used EVs that would make long-distance trips considerably easier than an e-C3, but they are all a bit bigger than an e-C3.

 

Many cars come with 'approved used' or similar warranties for a couple of years (there are some 2-year old ID.3s with normal mileage around and roughly £16k). Or you could buy one of the brands that have a long warranty.

The Zoe forum is the obvious place to look at how extended warranties have worked out; these are old enough that they have started to have issues, and there have been some expensive failures. My impression is that people generally think having the extended warranty is worthwhile.

 

..... these are old enough that they have started to have issues ...

Nearly wet myself there. Cereal spat out all over the keyboard.

All Zoes had problems from new! 'Youth' was no defence to cover up Zoe's problems.

I bet the number that never had any warranty work is as close to zero as is statistically relevant.

 

Re the used vs new EC3 debate, you can get used 58 kWh id3s for 10K cheaper than a new EC3 eg this one. So the difference could be pumped into a savings fund for a big mechanical issue, and if the car doesn't need it at the end of its life you have won a mega holiday.

Or there are used id3s with manufacturers warranty for less than a new EC3.

Or a long range 77 kWh version with warranty for the same price as an EC3. And it has 'bluetoot'!

I've read that the id3 is proving reliable if you're willing to put up with less than perfect infotainment. I don't know what the ec3 infotainment is like, but it is Stellantis so it would need to be a big improvement over an e208 infotainment.

Of course buying used means you're sitting in a seat which a complete stranger, or many complete strangers, has/have sat in for many days. Best not think about that too much...

 

a/ I dont buy used cars ( unless pre-reg or real demo)
b/ Wont buy a german car

 

Personally I'd take a 2nd hand Kona/Niro 64 kWh over a new e-C3, particularly if the budget extends to the update version recently out. And surely it does? New e-C3 is going to depreciate heavily over the first year; a 1-year old new-model Kona/Niro 64 will already have depreciated a bit, making it a better buy in my book. This should be a fully-sorted EV, as H/Kia have learnt the bearings lesson from the Mk1s & fixed this. H give a 5 year wty unlimited miles I believe, K is 7 years but limited to 100k miles. Do check, but I think this is considerably better than other mfrs. latest version may/may not have the heatpump, but with an excellent range to begin with that's not an issue here.

If the e-C3 is only about 39 kWh usable, that's going to cripple it in winter. Knock another 20 miles off the range - Ugh.
Have Stellantis sorted the terrible winter efficiency with this model? I'd want to hear some real-world figures from experienced user before going near one.

 

Yes I agree, once you think second hand there are a number of good choices with the range, Kona/Niro v good

Stellantis made a number of efficiency improvements to the e208 so more recent ones are much better than the early e208/CorsaEs that gave the reputation of poor winter efficiency. You'd hope these improvements would be in the eC3.

Watch out for subscriptions on Stellantis apps - which can be crap anyway. Hopefully they've moved away from using 3G.

 

Yes I agree, once you think second hand there are a number of good choices with the range, Kona/Niro v good

Stellantis made a number of efficiency improvements to the e208 so more recent ones are much better than the early e208/CorsaEs that gave the reputation of poor winter efficiency. You'd hope these improvements would be in the eC3.

Watch out for subscriptions on Stellantis apps - which can be crap anyway. Hopefully they've moved away from using 3G.

The big changes to the eCMP cars that improved long distance efficiency don't directly apply to the eC3. They were the final drive and heat pump control changes. They have since changed the motor on the new larger battery eCMP cars that gave a further improvement. However, the eC3 uses an entirely different motor and has no heat pump. That said you would hope, all else being equal, that the new motor is more efficient than one from 6 years ago. On the converse, the eC3 is definitely designed to be even more of a city car than the e208. The challenge is that the 'smart' sub-platform of the eCMP is so new there isn't really any real world data.

As for the infotainment, the facelifts to go toe the eCMPv2 cars changed that system completely. Now has a 4G modem, OTA, and the ability (at least nominally) to do more things remotely. I don't know if it is any good, objectively, but it is different.

 

The reason it's generally bad form is important too. Above 80% charging for most cars is so slow it's a waste of everyone's time.

 

I guess if the OP is planning to use DC charging for a weekly 'fill up' a bit like you would at petrol stations, then that makes a stronger case for a much larger batteried car - eg Kona/Niro 64 kWh or id3 77 kWh, as then you could charge to 80%ish and hopefully that's still enough for the 130 mile journey. The DC charging curve means the last 20% is generally much slower, could take 30 mins or so, which is a long time to wait if queuing EV drivers are giving you the evil stare or aggressively tut tutting.

Battery degradation with rapid charging is another subject to launch a thousand threads - but with a bigger battery you'll be able to loose some capacity as well over time and still hopefully make the 130 mile journey without having to tailgate juggernauts .

 

Hers my experience of owning an eC3 since February 2025...
Grrrr.. plagued with software and electrical issues, it finally gave up the ghost outside and MoT station..I kid you not..

200k miles and 14 different faults ranging from traction control failure to "apply handbrake" whilst driving at 20mph.. rear view cameras coming on whilst driving forwards at 30mph but the drive control saying I'm in reverse.. charging is hit or miss and generally only lets me charge at home using smart charging after 2330hts using an Ohme charger and octopus ( not using the Citroen app as it won't update) the infotainment crashes all the time powering down when using android auto...

Ooh and the regeneration braking doesn't work until the battery is lower than 95% driving with a full battery feels like you're using cruise control as the car doesn't slow down until you apply the brakes... Not 😃 great

My overall thought is the electronics are beyond the manufacturer...

 

Hers my experience of owning an eC3 since February 2025...

200k miles

Wow.

So, assuming you have been driving 12 hours a day, with 3 lots of 4 hours off for a rapid charge and a sleep, that's an average of 256mph.