Citroën ë-C3 Aircross vs Mazda MX-30

The Citroën ë-C3 Aircross is £430 cheaper to buy. The Citroën ë-C3 Aircross is cheaper to charge, roughly £160 a year versus £192 for the Mazda MX-30, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Citroën ë-C3 Aircross comes out roughly £590 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 158 miles for the Citroën ë-C3 Aircross and 104 miles for the Mazda MX-30 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Citroën ë-C3 Aircross goes roughly 55 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 26 minutes in the Citroën ë-C3 Aircross and 36 in the Mazda MX-30, so the Citroën ë-C3 Aircross loses less time at each stop. That makes the Citroën ë-C3 Aircross the stronger long-distance car.

The Mazda MX-30 is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 55 mm narrower than the Citroën ë-C3 Aircross. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 605 mm of total clearance for the Mazda MX-30 and about 550 mm of total clearance for the Citroën ë-C3 Aircross. The Mazda MX-30 also turns in a 0.3 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 90% battery health for the Citroën ë-C3 Aircross and 84% for the Mazda MX-30. That gives the Citroën ë-C3 Aircross a modest edge in retained real-world range. The Citroën ë-C3 Aircross's LFP-type pack tolerates daily 100% charging, while the Mazda MX-30's NMC-type pack lasts longest kept to about 80% for everyday use. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.