I’m very happy with Citroën at the moment. Hydraulics are coming back to its suspension designs, the C4 Cactus is progressing nicely, and the maker’s approach to electric cars is unconventional. So here is a 125 mile range electric dune buggy with optional floral seats and an elegant sports steering wheel reminiscent of an early 90s Ferrari. It looks completely ridiculous and is a demonstration of Citroën’s brilliance today.

Now in its third year, the ‘E-Mehari’ obtains a hard top, and other useful features its forebear could only dream of, so works as a vehicle you might actually want long-term – as opposed to something like the Renault Twizy. You won’t be winning any races with it, though, as it barely matches its French..rival, and is outright defeated by the Nissan Leaf (which lately has over 300nm of torque, double the E-Mehari’s). Perhaps the most important feature, though, is this car’s lithium metal polymer battery, providing stable energy in all conditions and marking a real advance in electric drivetrains. It seems at odds with some of the 2018 model year’s feature additions, such as airbags…

This year, you can also forget any worry of kids at the beach mistaking it for their Little Tikes CC, as this particular thermoplastic bodied buggy now has central locking and, I’d imagine, some sort of key that at the very least My First Laptop won’t be able to hack. No red/yellow colour combo’ is available though, but the aqua/orange is quite striking in a way that the Say Yellow shade can’t strike without nausea. Ask your dealer for My Funny Clementine over Into the Blue. Yes, really.

Except you can’t, because it’s for France only! For now the E-Mehari stays in showcase territory rather than serious successor to its 60s forebear or true beach buggy for the hipster masses. Indeed, there’s not even more than 2 speakers to effectively deliver vibes (check out my earlier article on that). Since the more original, less retro DS5 hybrid failed to capture much of an audience, Citroën are understandably taking this market cautiously. Hopefully, though, the €20k list price will attract enough people to spice up the French roads until they come up with an electric Cactus convertible. Now that I would move to France for.

Photography credit to Citroën International.

See http://espuelagrande.com/53/ for an article on supermini audio systems.

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