Citroën’s 2CV is back - it’s electric, and it’ll cost less than £13k

The new Citroën 2CV concept is here and it's already turning heads. At 3.76m long it’s shorter than both the original and the new Renault Twingo, and it slots in between the Ami quadricycle and the C3.

Citroën says the production car will arrive at the end of 2028, 80 years after the original, with prices from around €15,000 (about £12,700).

The low price comes from the EU’s incoming “E-car” rules, a new class of simpler, cheaper small EVs that’s still being negotiated. Citroën is aiming for a weight of around 1,000kg, which points to a small battery however official specs and range figures haven’t been confirmed.

Cost-cutting is baked into the design rather than bolted on afterwards. The glass is flat, because glass that curves one way is cheaper than glass that curves two. The black rear end is moulded straight into the tailgate and never painted.

There’s a roll-back fabric roof, an exposed cowl and wipers, and the production car will get steel wheels (18-inchers, on special Michelin tyres) instead of the concept’s plastic-covered ones. The concept has no opening windows, but the production version will get roll-down ones up front and pop-out units at the back.
 

Inside, there’s no dashboard at all. A barrel-shaped pod carries a single-spoke steering wheel, a gear selector and a small e-ink screen, with speed and warnings reflected onto a slim bar under the windscreen. Then it gets properly silly.

The door bins have egg-shaped storage, the brake pedal has a tortoise on it and the accelerator a rabbit, and the motor imitates the original’s flat-twin wheeze while the horn parps cheerfully. Where the centre console would be, there’s a removable wicker basket, and a detachable portable speaker called the “Radioën” (yes, really) completes the set. The tartan fabric and hanging lanterns probably won’t make production as standard, but Citroën reckons they could come back as accessories.

Plenty is still unknown, including how the E-car rules will handle motorways and what the safety and comfort compromises will be. Citroën’s design lead Antoine Gaillot-Drevon insists the car is “super-credible” and not a wild concept, and Stellantis design boss Gilles Vidal says they’re “very serious about all this fun”.

If Citroën can get this to market without sanding off the charm, it could be a avery important small car of the decade. At the very least, it’s the only one with a tortoise on the brake pedal.