Audi e-tron Sportback vs Citroën ë-C5 Aircross

The Audi e-tron Sportback costs £45,835 more than the Citroën ë-C5 Aircross. For that premium it adds 50 litres more boot space, 143 kW more power and a 3.2s quicker 0-62mph time. The Citroën ë-C5 Aircross is not just cheaper - it also offers 45 miles more WLTP range. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Citroën ë-C5 Aircross comes out ahead overall.

The Citroën ë-C5 Aircross is £45,835 cheaper to buy. The Citroën ë-C5 Aircross is cheaper to charge, roughly £184 a year versus £232 for the Audi e-tron Sportback, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Citroën ë-C5 Aircross comes out roughly £46,075 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 231 miles for the Audi e-tron Sportback and 224 miles for the Citroën ë-C5 Aircross - effectively matched, and both well below their WLTP figures because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV.

The two are within 1 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 465 mm of total clearance for the Audi e-tron Sportback and about 464 mm of total clearance for the Citroën ë-C5 Aircross. The Citroën ë-C5 Aircross also turns in a 1.3 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Audi e-tron Sportback and 84% for the Citroën ë-C5 Aircross. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.