Citroen C5 X recharge while driving

[DS9]

Since seeing the cheap C5x and missing out on it I'm still keen on the idea, and that's due to this forum.

I had no idea the engine could charge the battery, something which for me without home charging is a game changer.

Can I just ask how this plays out? I'm asking because I had my car in last summer for a body repair. Was given a Cupra Formemtor for a few days, the 1.5 with a traction battery... Which was all but dead. The driving experience was horrible. Driving at 20mph the car was revving it's nuts off I presume trying to recharge the traction battery and then the shifts between electric and petrol when they did occur were horrible.

Can I just ask if the same traction battery charging process in the C5x is noticeable at all, or intrusive?

Sloppysod - you also say 40%-50% effect on mpg while this is taking place so does it drop from say 45-50mpg to circa 25-30mpg temporarily? And for how long?

Looking around at the moment there seems to be a lot of C5X's which have stuck unregistered. Lots of 74 plates on the market with the old shine/ shine + designation which I believe was discontinued in late 2023 for the PLUS/Max versions. I'll not be rushing out to buy something which has a 2023 build date.

[Sloppysod]

Can I just ask if the same traction battery charging process in the C5x is noticeable at all, or intrusive?

Sloppysod - you also say 40%-50% effect on mpg while this is taking place so does it drop from say 45-50mpg to circa 25-30mpg temporarily? And for how long?

It all depends on where the e-save option is set. I actually used it the other day, ¾ of the way through a 100 mile journey, I decided that i would benefit from saving 6 miles worth (~24%) of electric power, I had another small trip planned in the evening around town. At start my traction battery was at 1%, less than 5 miles later it was at 24%, however during this distance it did run on electric occasionally, also my overall trip consumption went from 101mpg (@¾ of journey) down to 81mpg (at end of journey). I didn't look at the real-time mpg, but a 20% drop says something about how much extra it takes to charge the battery while driving.

Saying you don't notice the petrol engine starting would be a lie, but it's not intrusive. As I was driving it, rather than being station I didn't notice any difference in engine rpm.

Looking around at the moment there seems to be a lot of C5X's which have stuck unregistered. Lots of 74 plates on the market with the old shine/ shine + designation which I believe was discontinued in late 2023 for the PLUS/Max versions. I'll not be rushing out to buy something which has a 2023 build date

Make sure your looking at the right engine/drivetrains. The 1.2 is getting bad press due to the wet belt and is therefore the resale price is lower, there is a newer mild hybrid version. The are some rare very early 1.6cc only versions, and then the Hybrid versions.

My car suits my needs, it may not suit everyone, the technology is satisfactory, and works better than I expect. I have notice that it has to be driven regularly to keep everything working as it should.

[DS9]

Thanks for that, really helpful to have a real life experience to go off. To be honest 101mpg or 81 mpg is fine for me, someone likely to do around 4,000 miles a year. Good to know it can charge up relatively quickly too....sounds to be about 1% per mile off the example you give. For most of my driving this would be ideal, normally I do 70-200 mile trips, potter around there for a few days (This could be purely on electric in the C5X) and then drive home, having a fully charged traction battery when I get back.

Putting my maths hat on for your figures and rounding to 100 miles and 100mpg, 80mpg, it seems like.....The first 75 miles at 100mpg used 3/4 of a gallon of fuel. By the end of the 100 mile trip you were at 80mpg so the overall trip used 5/4 of a gallon of fuel. So in that last 25 miles you used 1/2 a gallon (5/4 minus 3/4). So even when it is charging it's still doing about 50mpg, and I'm more than fine with that.

I'm well aware of the engine owning the 225hp version, and I before buying it I did test drive the DS9 Rivoli version which has the same setup as yours, 180hp ICE plus the traction battery which seemed to work very well but I can't remember an E-Save function. Good to know there is no noticeable "lurch" or massive engine revs in the C5X while the battery charges.

I'm well aware of the engine choices. The 1.2 I wouldn't touch, heard too many bad stories about it. Mpoint have a 74 reg 1.2L max at the moment for £23k and I wouldn't go there. The mild hybrid version seems expensive on this and the likes of the C5 aircross and is off the table. Shame they ditched the 1.6 180hp version, that was probably the sweet spot.

Then again after seeing this forum and getting info from you I don't necessarily see the 225hp PHEV as being a PHEV anymore even though it is. In my opinion its a non-mild hybrid with the option to plug in if you decide to. It's strange in a way that Citroen have kept this quiet, I have been following the C5X story since I test drove an early demo PHEV in the summer of 2022 and had no idea self charging was possible.

Thanks again, much appreciated.

[Sloppysod]

I feel I need to make sure you understand my driving habits as I don't want you to buy a (any PSA PHEV) and then say "but you said......"

I charge up at home most of the time, occasionally I use public charging, only when it's less than £0.50p/kW, more than that you might as well use petrol.
Those figures i quoted in the last post were from the on board "Guess-o-meter" and I was on 'A' & 'B' roads most of the time at 40-60 mph. I drive most of the time using the regeneration mode and sedated, very rarely using the foot brake above 10mph.
The car will recharge the battery either by regenerative braking, by default, or by the e-save function. This function has to be selected each time your journey starts, it's not a default option.
Pure Electric range differs depending on your driving style, where you drive and ambient temperatures.
Using it 100% without plugging in I no nothing about, but I know some people do use it this way.
Look through the official Citroën videos on YouTube, i think they will help.

This guy tested a number of PHEV's

[DS9]

Thanks for these links. If I did get one and things didn't turn out 100% I'd never come back and accuse etc.

Watching that 2nd link I appreciate some semblence of a scientific method but I do think it all falls down at the end a bit because as far as I can ascertain he doesn't go back to an empty battery. From this I conclude his 54.5 mpg is understating the real mpg.

What he should do is then run the battery back to flat and realise a higher mpg.

[Sloppysod]

What he should do is then run the battery back to flat and realise a higher mpg.

Yes that would have been worthy(ish) information, but basically he has done the two ends of the spectrum.

The interesting bit is his recording on a spreadsheet at the end, yes he mentions the Peugeot, same car different clothes. But the Ford Kuga is an outlier, especially on Electric only! (Oppologies for the "F" word on this from)

[DS9]

Actually I think he did run the battery down to zero, at around 13:25 the battery is showing as 0km.

The Ford is most certainly an outlier

[Sloppysod]

Actually I think he did run the battery down to zero, at around 13:25 the battery is showing as 0km.

The Ford is most certainly an outlier

He started the video at 0%, if you keep an eye on the range and battery level it fluctuates throughout, this is using rengen only. Also watch the speed, blue is running on Electricity and white is on petrol, good example of how drivetrain works.

[YorkCX5]

I snoozed and losed on this.

The car I had in mind was a 74 reg, registered on the last day of February. PLUS spec hybrid. Spoke to the dealer last weds and it was apparently still in the plastic.

Colour was white. Doing the c5x configurator it was £40,405 I think. Advertised at £21,150. Basically half price for a car registered 6 wks ago with no miles.

Its still on auto trader showing as reserved.

Hi DS9, sorry about this, I was just searching online when I saw your post, and it was me that nabbed it!! I woke up early on that Sunday and, as you do, started my Autotrader search for the day, and there it was. I'd been looking at the '23 registered ones, and then this one appeared.

Hope you can find something similar/same - there's one in Birmingham for not a lot more with next to nothing on the clock! I can't believe how many of them are up at so much less than list - a whole batch at Motorpoint now, though not quite sure why they're a tad dearer than the Stellantis dealer ones.

Cheers YorkCX5 (I noticed I got this wrong when I registered, must be because I always used to want a CX).

[DS9]

Hi

Well done, it was a great price. I remember I was away at at holiday park and I think I looked around 11am or noon on the Sunday and it'd gone, so that makes sense. They did an online reserve thing for £99. We were travelling back on the Monday and I was going to go in and take a look with the family.

The motorpoint.co.uk ones are old spec so no good and I have seen the other you allude to.

What do you think of it by the way? I drove the same config in the DS9 a couple of yrs ago and thought it was very smooth.

On the configurator now they are mild hybrid only I see.

[YorkCX5]

Think I was a bit lucky, I didn't think it would hang around long. My paperwork suggests I've snuck in beneath the £40k list price too, so hopefully the tax will just be the £195 or whatever it goes up to.

I'm thrilled to bits with it, mixed driving means that all my town stuff has been just on electric, then other 100-200 mile journeys mostly petrol. I can't really add anything to what others have said about the recharge whilst driving. It definitely functions as a normal hybrid just fine, as even when it says it has nothing in the battery, it still seems to do bits of electric driving. Whether re-charging the 6 miles of e-save whilst driving is worth it or not, I don't really know - probably depends just how stop-start those six miles really would be. But it's economical even on the petrol - I have a light foot these days.

Comfort-wise it's great - the only car I've had which was better was a BX back in the day; but miles ahead of everything I've had since. What it is not, is a Citroen in the mould of DS, CX etc - I don't think it has quite that left-field feeling of Citroen's of old - denies us all that smug feeling of knowing better. But I'm completely mystified as to why they are struggling to sell them at the advertised prices - if you look at what you can get on Autotrader between £20k and £22.5k which has less than 500 miles and PHEV, there's nothing which comes remotely close IMHO. I expect it's the big-Citroen thing, but the 1.6 engine and the Aisin gearbox both seem to be regarded as good well-tested units.

The dog is not impressed though - used to travelling on the back seat of an old GS450h, so relegation to the boot is an unfathomable indignity. It also thinks the hatchback is the mouth of a hippopotamus, so we have to enter through the side-door.

Go for it if you see one you like - maybe they'll drop a few more £, or you could make a cheeky offer now that they're discontinuing it.

[DS9]

So glad to hear you're happy with it.

I expected the super road tax as I looked at this and list was £40,405 and price didnt look to have moved I think from memory since April 2024. Thats another £2k saving though if true.

Funny story with the dog, suppose he's accustomed to going through the rear passenger doors. in my opinion the rear view is the worst, even if one could claim it's got a bit of an old Porsche panamera about it......which is also ugly.

i might stick or twist, will need to speak to the missus.

[YorkCX5]

That Brum one is coming down bit by bit - under £22k now - better colour too. Not sure why anyone would pay more for a white one, I'd have preferred the standard blue given the choice.

Enjoy the DS9 in the meantime, and hope the suspension issue is resolved.

[DS9]

I thought that grey was the best colour. I called them yesterday to enquire and it was all very dodgy. The car was still on AT but they immediately said it had been reserved. Clicking through to the Stellantis website it was showing as reserved. Then they called me back about 20 mins later and claimed it was still available. I just think they were engagement farming to try and sell me a higher priced one.

The first thing is the DS9 has got to go, it's out of warranty this month DS have been more than hopeless, and when I took the car to KWIK FIT a couple of wks ago he noticed that 2/3's on the undertray wasnt there and he just said the car looks to be sitting too low. I also have pics from Jan 2024 showing it's not there when i went to another garage. Why DS have never picked up on this is a mystery, its been in enough times.

I have been looking around and I do agree for the money nothing comes close to the C5x (well there is perhaps one caveat) which i'll get onto. But then it's all about spec. Like I say for the hybrids the PLUS and MAX versions appeal more than late registered SHINE/ SHINE + versions but there is a chance in either option to come in at less than £40k list avoiding the extra £2,100 in tax. To be honest the only real things I'd miss with the lower spec is the real leather seats and the sunroof.

But then there's the 1.2 versions. In the past I'd steer well clear because of the wet belt, but maybe, just maybe the new 1.2's have moved to the timing chain?

I do not know the answer and it's a bridge to cross when I come to it....if I do. But if the change has been made i'd have no problem with the 1.2 with timing chain.

The caveat i mentioned is the Peugeot 408. MPoint have some low mileage 74 reg hybrids around half price. Shorter but with the same wheelbase as the C5X but I'm not sure if the design fully appeals and the ride is firmer (non adaptive) and apparently it can suffer from high speed road noise.

One thing which is a shame is the C5X is being discontinued..... hopefully this may mean they try and flog off old stock cheap sometime soon? or has it happened already? https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/citroen/c ... sales-c5-x

One more caveat.....There is a 74 plate DS9 out there with 8k miles for £26k. I bet thats a lovely car like mine but I don't think i could ever take the chance on one. After the experience I've had with mine I know if anything went wrong DS wouldn't do anything to rectify.

[YorkCX5]

Peculiar, and the price of that one is back up to £22,500 or so now. The PHEV suits me better than the 1.2 would, on all counts; the 1.2's don't seem to be much cheaper, and think the current gearbox may now be different. Good luck with whatever you decide to do, and hopefully you can trade in your DS9 without the buyer reading too much about it on here