Citroen e-Relay Review 2024

Citroen e-Relay At A Glance

3/5

+Useable 139-mile range with the larger battery, standard 50kW rapid charging, cheaper than most large electric vans.

-Not converted in-house so feels aftermarket, basic interior, sluggish low-speed performance.

Electric vans are now more viable and necessary than ever, and Stellantis has been leading the charge. Core brand Citroen already has two battery-powered commercial models - the e-Berlingo and e-Dispatch - on sale, and now the largest of the bunch, the e-Relay, has gone on sale. 

What's unusual here, though, is that while the two smaller electric vans have been developed and manufactured entirely in-house by Citroen, the e-Relay is effectively a third-party conversion. Partially completed diesel Relay vans are taken from the regular production line and shipped to Turkey, where they are fitted out with electric motors and battery packs by an EV specialist. 

While that's fine in essence, it has resulted in some rather unusual (and disappointing) quirks - more on that in the later sections.

We can only assume the relative age of the Relay (the design has been around since 2006) meant it wasn't cost-efficient to develop an electric version in-house, but Fiat's platform-sharing e-Ducato is an in-house design. That was done prior to the formation of Stellantis, however. 

Still, let's talk facts. the Citroen e-Relay is the basically identical cousin of the Peugeot e-Boxer, which is also converted to electric power in Turkey. Both are powered by a 120PS electric motor sending propulsion to the front wheels. 

Lithium-ion battery options are a cheaper 37kWh version or a 70kWh version. The former manages a claimed range of just 73 miles, while the latter promises a much more useful 139 miles. Citroen spokespeople themselves struggle to name many use cases for the smaller battery version, so it's the 70kWh model that'll make up the lion's share of sales - and that's the one we've tried. 

The Citroen e-Relay is available in three body sizes (L2H2, L3H2, L4H2), plus L4H2 window van and chassis cab options. Because the electric motor sits where the engine would be, and the battery pack is neatly packaged under the load bed floor, the e-Relay's cargo volume is unaffected at up to 15 cubic metres. A payload of up to 1,150kg is competitive, too.