2020 Skoda Citigo EV Review

Today James and I are driving one of the best value for money EV's on our market that has a great range, great build and great drive. Built under the VAG umbrella you expect this to be good, and it is, but still comes in under 20k. If you're in the market for a supermini, you really would be missing out if you didn't take one of these for a test drive.

[@derekharrison1110]

It was missing something? Oh I know Florence! Missed her critique! Lol! Great video as always. Thanks.

[@robsmith1a]

Good to hear your views as always. The kind of car that will be great for many people. CCS definitely worthwhile option because of the flexibility.

[@richardeskins]

We love our Mii. Great fun to drive. Not so convinced on the range. Can’t work out why it only takes about 18kWh to fill up a 32kWh battery. Can fit a drum kit in the back! Great review as always.

[@greengrubwoodentoysaustral8452]

Alas! Another model we don't have in Australia. Great little review.

[@krisvandermeulen253]

A very honest and complete review of the Skoda Citigo EV and by extension the Seat Mii Electric and VW eUp !! they are all three even made in 1 and the same factory in some EU-countries, the specs might vary, ie. in Belgium the CCS rapid charge is standard on all models But very sadly the delivery times are getting ridiculous we ordered our Seat Mii Electric on 7th of February and delivrey was noted for 15th this month... but at this moment they can't even predict the scheduling of the production of our car ... damn you VAG-group (VW+Skoda+Seat)

[@RWBHere]

Nice little car for the price. I was saying, 'Cheaper option plus the charger upgrade.', moments before you mentioned the £700 upgrade. That's because we have on-street parking. Maybe post-fit a rear view camera, or at least dash cams too. Thanks for the review, James and Kate.

[@brucekennedy5274]

Another great review. Always enjoy your “keeping it real” style. At last the £20k EVs are appearing. Still a lot of money to buy of course, but at least it’s finally within reach for many people. Smartphone as info-screen has always seemed like an excellent idea to reduce cost - I wonder if you could Jerry-rig a big tablet in there and pretend you’re in a Tesla 🤣

[@chrisgreaves5643]

I’ve stumbled on a secret gem here with J & K’s reviews. The format of doing it as you drive and chat is great. Could it be improved? 3 thoughts: 1. I find the sound level varies between shots meaning I need to tweak the volume. 2. Even more video extracts to illustrate the points you are making as you chat about them (eg show us a clip of the regen selection on this one again as you talk, time the slowing speed on the other regen options - in other words give us as much of the experience as you can). 3. Finally, even more chat - fun to see you bicker a bit as we dont get that with your Cow Wow single reviewer format where any humour seems a bit forced. On this car? I agree with the comment on £15k being accessible - we drive a petrol Citigo which regularly gives 70mpg, so EV version hard to justify at the moment. Overall, great videos so keep them coming.

[@Ro55stw]

Great review and a nice little car

[@matthewbenton1630]

They are surprisingly roomy. I had a go in the E-UP at EV Experience centre in Milton Keynes. It felt almost as large as my golf mk4 inside. There was space for my folding bike in the boot and I measured the diagonal from the boot into passenger footwell at 2.6m - plenty of space to carry a few standard 2.4m lengths of timber.

[@dcvariousvids8082]

Great review!

[@antoniopalmero551]

Cracking little car . Good review , well done guys and keep up the good work. I’d be interested in your review the polestar 2.

[@davidtaylorbfd]

I had a Citigo Monte Carlo for a few years and it is a great car. Good reviews, waiting till EV cars come down to about £15000 then I might get one.

[@superduperawesome6858]

About the regen - can you put any figures to what difference regen makes? Love how non- gimmicky, thorough and consistent your reviews are (no favouritism here!)👏

[@Fergieboi445]

the e citygo is huge for the fact it has so much room but such a big battery

[@djwood62]

Loved the video have there been any problems with rapid charging on longer distances or is there battery management?

[@Aaronage1]

Gonna side with Kate on the regen levels thing. Variable regen works well with flappy paddles but this implementation is a bit pants. It’s basically the same setup as the ol’ e-Golf I drive - I never use the levels because adjusting it with the “shifter” is awkward. I just throw it into B mode and forget about it 😊

[@theanorakchannel2496]

Are you going to do a review of the seat as well? Thinking of buying one or the other as a commutemobile.

[@engasser]

Hope you had a nice couple of days away doing this 💫😄

[@ewheelerfinland]

Remember, that in the UK, most homes have single phase electrics. So the e-UP/Mii/Citigo triplets will only charge at 3,6 kW at home. Mind you, that's still fast enough because the battery is small and the car does stay at home most of the day. In Finland, I also recommended everyone to go for the higher spec, because the difference in the equipment is higher than the price diff. But here all variants have the CCS as standard and also the 3-pin adapter. I always use the full regen, because you can play with the throttle pedal to adjust it anyways. Very nice review and I agree almost 100%! It's rediculously efficient EV and also good on the road, not just city 😊⚡

[@ewheelerfinland]

@Geoff Amey I was referring to the homes where there's no 3-phase. You obviously have, good for you.

[@ZicoTheMysticalWarrior]

@Geoff Amey Not for the Citigo Mii or eUp they all need 3 phase to get 7kW, single phase is limited to 3.6kW and I don't know why it doesn't go to 11kW on 3 phase

[@ewheelerfinland]

@Geoff Amey I'm an automation tech, 25 yrs... I know this very well, but the charger in the Citigo only uses 16 A on single phase.

[@ewheelerfinland]

@@ZicoTheMysticalWarrior The on-board charger on Citigo/e-Up/Mii is only a 2-phase device. Many EV's have them actually. Some have 3-phase and some even 32A (22kW) like new Zoe

[@ZicoTheMysticalWarrior]

@@ewheelerfinland that makes sense thanks. I knew it was limited to 16A I just couldn't work out why it only got 7kW out of a 3 phase supply, obvious when you know why 😆

[@reyalPRON]

quick note on the connection for the fun and go to work. dont need to cable it as it connects via BT :)

[@markmilligan6616]

Did you get to check out various phone make feature compatibility, on the VW site there seems to be a big difference in features between makes of phones I assume the Skoda is the same?

[@payperviewacoustic]

mine is comming this friday

[@avidviewer1]

Thanks for another first class review. Do you by any chance know when these cars will be available to buy (again) or are they really out of production for good? I'm intrigued . . .

[@SteveMorton]

So I specced a VW E Up on VW France. Then I thought let’s see how much different the prices would be for the Seat or Skoda variants of this car. Skoda France don’t have it at all on their website!! And Seat France have some base prices but you can’t configure a vehicle because it hasn’t gone through the full WLTP test yet!!!

[@user-jt1jv8vl9r]

This would make an ideal 2nd car or commuter. My round trip is 32 miles to work. For journeys around town I prefer to walk or cycle.

[@user-jt1jv8vl9r]

I agree that fast charging isn't really essential if you have a drive way as I would be unlikely to use this for long journeys. With a carport and garage I would easily charge at home. Would not spend £750 for fast charging.

[@evolution9774]

A more affordable option is welcome, i would probably prefer to consider a zoe. Although a 2nd hand leaf is more realistic for my current budget

[@TheJAMF]

Is your Clio free from the monthly battery subscription?

[@robburrows2737]

It requires 3 phase electricity to charge at 7.2kWh. Most UK homes are single phase. This is not a problem for us as a 4 hour Octopus Go charge at night fits our routine.

[@whocares264]

great video great car .... leasing prices are ,low so if you commute to london daily your savings will pay your lease over a fossil car ...

[@beckquebeck2449]

I believe Kate was right when she said the regen is too complicated, I own the Mii electric and have to set the regen to my setting every day. It's fine the way they made, but why dose'nt it remember your setting? Same with climate controll, seat warmers etc. there is so many things this car forget when you turn it off. Overall a great car other than this :)

[@alexdalgleish1061]

So roughly 72 miles more than the VW e-up! you took up to Orkney. So would have saved you around 15 mins per charge. So now you'd get to docks hour and a bit before?!

[@georgebarlow3724]

I'm waiting to take delivery of the base model on a 2 year lease. It doesn't have ccs but it doesn't matter as I'll be using it for a small daily commute and I'll charge it at home, and should I very rarely need to go on a longer trip I'll just hire something. Not sure about your lease figures though, as it's only costing me £187 per month

[@ewheelerfinland]

Do you have single phase electrics at your home? If so, remember that the on-board charger only delivers 3,6 kW on a single phase system. But it'll still charge the car over night easily. If you have cheaper night tariffs, then you might have to use a bit of the more expensive sparks also.

[@georgebarlow3724]

@@ewheelerfinland Yes, it's single phase here. The most miles I'll ever do in a day is 100, although usually less than 50, so as you say, even at 3.6kw, there is more than enough hours overnight to recharge

[@ewheelerfinland]

@@georgebarlow3724 :) Nice

[@marcusevjourney566]

Excellent review again, however you seem to concentrate on the fact that to add CCS it is an expensive option. Not once in your Zoe ZE50 review did you mention that CCS is an even more expensive option.

[@energiewender143]

CCS should be standard like the steering wheel is. Imagine paying extra so you can fuel an ICE car within an acceptable amount of time, ridiculous. Especially since the CCS option costs the manufacturer next to nothing - all the expensive stuff is built into the charging station.

[@marcusevjourney566]

Energie Wender I completely agree.

[@plawrance]

Good video as usual. However you forgot about Florence and whether the boot was big enough for the pushchair, how easy was it to get Florence in and out of the car etc. That should be part of all your reviews as really helpful for young couples with a new baby.

[@Jamesandkate]

I agree. Sadly this review was along way from home so we couldn't get her and all the logistics to the location. We'll add it to every vid we can, but sometimes it just not possible. We didn't actually get to test these particular aspects but the car is big inside, I'd say, compatible access to a Zoe, but the boot is much smaller. The buggy definitely wouldn't have fitted.

[@steve228uk]

FYI, this is a citycar/A-Segment not Supermini/B-Segment

[@Group51]

Kate’s right. The regen isn’t easily discovered. Nor B mode. Speaking from Zip Car e-golf experience.

[@greasemonkey1275]

Right? 😂

[@ONhistoryplus]

I never realised this was a supermini class. Thought that belonged to bigger cars like the Zoe. Citigo is more comparable in size to the likes of the Twingo.

[@henryandrews2011]

It's a city care, not in the Polo / Fiesta supermini class

[@SandyRitchie]

Its a great wee car for the market. But needs to be cheaper, when you can snap up a new ZS EV Excite for £1k more it shows what you can get for the money. Although if I was in the market for a small EV I'd get this over the ZS, because its a big car.

[@razvantudose26]

I think it's a great car and it will be the people car if it was 10k cheaper..or the same price of the petrol version( when was on the market)

[@ewheelerfinland]

We had the petrol Citigo and now have the full spec Citigo iV. Price diff between the cars was less than 3k€ here in Finland and you get more equipment with the EV. So the actual diff is less. The car is by far the best value new EV at the moment, even if you just consider the battery and forget everything else.

[@garyallsopp6369]

I test drove the e-Up, and compared to our Smart EQ, I found it a bit ...meh. OK, lots more range & quieter, but it felt bland & sluggish by comparison (even though on paper the performance is the same). If the Smart had more range it'd win hands down for me ... but it hasn't, so on balance the Citigo is better VFM - Can't see why you'd buy the e-Up or Mii though when the Skoda is cheaper for effectively the same car.

[@ewheelerfinland]

I agree on the quality feel of the Smart, but... Almost half the range, no rear seats and more than 5 k pricier? I guess, it's down to what a person values in a car.

[@FFVoyager]

If you add the options the Seat or VW have to the Skoda they start to cost roughly the same. The e-Up has more options as standard, add them to the Skoda and the price gets within a few pounds. Seat seems to offer fewer but has more paint options at no cost.

[@ewheelerfinland]

@@FFVoyager Depends on the country. In Finland, even a fully loaded Citigo is still 1,5 k cheaper than equivalent VW.

[@FFVoyager]

@@ewheelerfinland but is it equipped to the 'same' spec? 🤔. The VW (here) seems to have nearly every option as standard!

[@ewheelerfinland]

@@FFVoyager Based on the spec sheets, yes it is. With all options on the Citigo, it matches the e-UP, but price still cheaper.

[@jonathanmellish4439]

I would like to try one of these for my daily commute, but what do i lose by not having an up to date phone with a small data package, as i seldom use a mobile ? Should i buy a 17 plate Leaf instead ?

[@duncanbeardmore9608]

Jonathan Mellish as long as you have an iPhone or android phone that’s not absolutely ancient this will work fine data is not needed it’s tomtom navigation sent to the phone via the cars media system

[@jonathanmellish4439]

Duncan beardmore thank you. My Samsung is a J series probably around 4 years old so it sounds like its suitable.

[@grahamarnold2591]

THANKS GUYS --JUST GREAT--..GRAHAM

[@R_Time_Now]

I think it, and it’s VW group cousins are great EVs for the price and will hopefully gets loads of people into their first electric car.

[@IdaGSol]

So it's a renamed 5y old Seat Mii. What's to be excited of, or am I missing something?

[@TheFootballDude18]

The battery is double the size

[@michaelenglund]

”Normal mode was best for me”. But why? This is the sort of thing I want to know about.

[@duncanbeardmore9608]

Have you charged on a 7kw home charger? There’s quite a few complaints that they will only charge at 3.6 unless you have 3 phase electrics

[@wermagst]

It's a 2 phase charger. On a single phase it will only charge at 7,3 kW if you have a 32A cable (and of course your charger can deliver 32A). The type 2 cable that is included with the car is only specified for 16 A.

[@brucekennedy5274]

I’m sure it works fine. 7kw charging from a wall on regular domestic electricity supply is the bog standard for home charging in the uk. I’m sure this is no different. EDIT: Oh dear, I stand corrected - if that's the case it's a bit sad. 3.6 should still be just enough for an overnight charge, but it's miserably slow by todays standards. Cost cutting eh?

[@kennyb5283]

We have the 2020 VW e-Up bought 29th June. On our single phase 7.2Kw wall charger the car only charges at 3.6Kw using the supplied 480volt 32amp cable, if you plug it into a 3 phase 7.2Kw or more charging post it will charge at 7.2Kw, who has 3 phase at home - not many. We then took the car to a DC rapid charger only to find the car was charging at less than 20Kw even though the battery was at 35% capacity, it required 2 hours 5 minutes to charge fully using a 50Kw BP-Chargemaster CCS connection. The car is now in at the dealer for investigations into the charging system. Personally I think it’s unforgivable that VW would double the battery capacity and still have it charging at 3.6Kw on a single phase 32Kw home charger when I can plug in my e-Golf and charge it at 7.2Kw. Take note if you are thinking to buy any rendition of this vehicle, VW are being very economical with the truth, Seat and Skoda are probably doing the same.

[@duncanbeardmore9608]

@@kennyb5283 this is what I've been arguing with dealer and the reason after six months of waiting for my car I've cancelled the order . If VW don't acknowledge this issue theyl have a rapidgate type bad press situation on there hands

[@SteveMorton]

This and it's VW cousin are on my list of possible first EV's to buy. Given how few kms I do per year these days, I can't justify spending mega-bucks on a Tesla or similar!

[@nickmartin884]

£20k for a 'tin can' is a LOT of money. For the same money I would get a used BMW i3 - much better build quality and loads of style, much quicker and I believe a future 'classic' car. The tin can will surely depreciate money like there's no tomorrow.

[@hellmekun]

comparing new anything to used ones will always favor the used, at any price point

[@nickmartin884]

hellmekun I’m guessing you haven’t driven the BMW i3......

[@74p]

The fast charging is the main issue with this car. It’s only 40 kW on paper. We just got this car a month ago and already drove over 3000 miles. We have seen CCS charging between 8 and 36 kW. The 8 kW was at 56% SoC. Charging 0-80% in 40 minutes as you say, is far from possible.

[@martinpage9670]

Is the type 2 charging 7kW on the Skoda.....?

[@ZicoTheMysticalWarrior]

AFAIK Only with a 3 phase charger so most home chargers will only give it 3. 6

[@williamfuggle1036]

Nathan M That’s a very good point and is not at all clear on VW group (UK) websites. Also means that the point made by James several times about recharging on Fast chargers only taking 4 hours is wrong (if it only charges at same rate as original Leaf)

[@MrLosabrigos]

Can you create a new KZbin channel that’s behind the scenes when you return home after you’ve done your joint in car reviews showing Kate having a right go at you for disagreeing with her that would be more a real world picture

[@tonyp741]

I love it, what is the range at 70mph? I have this on my next car list.

[@ewheelerfinland]

If the weather is not very hot (AC not over worked), you can easily get above 130 mls on a charge. I just did a road trip with our Citigo, one third 75 mph, one third 65 and one third varying between 45-55. We got above the WLTP reading with the air con on AUTO

[@theta2170]

Considering the RRP of this, £250/m lease is not a good deal. You’ll end up paying about 50%. Lease prices across the EV market are an enigma.

[@DrMatthewhannah]

Agreed, I was surprised by that as well, it seems too much. I am paying less than that a month for my eGolf and that is a significantly more expensive car

[@gavinferguson]

@@DrMatthewhannah the dealers are losing so much on servicing and repairs.

[@wermagst]

😲 You guys are getting robbed. I ordered mine for 140€/month (3 years, 17500 km/year, includes a 3000 € government grant). Now that it has been increased to 6000 €, I'm down to 57 €/month. I know people who pay more for a mobile phone plan.

[@theta2170]

@@wermagst It seems lease prices in greater Europe are a little more favourable.

[@tvandbeermakehomergo]

£120 a month for me on lease, with insurance included, feel I practicly stole it!

[@notguiltystyle]

May I ask where you got this deal?

[@tvandbeermakehomergo]

@@notguiltystyle NHS fleet solutions

[@ontopoftheroof]

In the UK, with it's way better safety, the MG ZS would be the better choice. A city car without emergency auto brake is a no-no in 2020.

[@ministryofspoons]

I have watch several of you videos now. I don’t understand your obsession with re-gen. When you put your foot on the brake it re-gen’s. If you want to feel the braking effect , just press the brake pedal harder and it will regenerate more. The actual brake pads only come into play when you are all the way down. Maybe I am missing something , or did not understand what it says in the manual. (Not talking about this specific car). Otherwise great review once again.

[@grahamarnold2591]

YOUR MISSING SOMETHING...

[@ewheelerfinland]

The regen effect achieved during press of brake pedal is also adjusted with the regen adjustment, on most cars. So the amount of regen you get before hitting the actual brakes is adjusted also. I just use the max setting and I can easily do one pedal driving in urban areas.

[@chrismwhite]

The regen actually kicks in just by lifting your foot off the accelerator. I hardly need to touch the brake pedal in mine, except sometimes lightly for the last couple of feet at a red light. The (stage-four) B-mode is the only one that makes the brake lights come on because in heavy traffic the effect is almost like an emergency stop.

[@iBackBeat]

sound loudness is much too low.

[@glenreidy]

How many seatbelts does it have?

[@jur4x]

4

[@glenreidy]

jur4x thanks

[@savedfaves]

Not coming to Ireland. No triplets are. Nor Polestar 2.

[@nickmartin884]

I should add that I own an MG ZS EV - like James and Kate - and for the £5k difference, you're getting a LOT more car.

[@garyallsopp6369]

It's a fair point & I was really impressed with the ZS, but some people don't want a car as big as the ZS (Like my wife).

[@nickmartin884]

Gary Allsopp I‘ve got 2 older kids and it’s the family car but just wanted to highlight the ‘value’ argument. At present you can get a virtually new Zoe 40kWh model or a nice used BMW i3 for £20k. I’ve driven both and I think either would be better than the ‘tin car’.

[@garyallsopp6369]

@@nickmartin884 Yeah - I guess it's a subjective thing - Our main car is an Outlander and the MG is too small to replace that and can't tow. Also our Smart is on PCP so monthly, costs less than a second hand Zoe (we downsized from a Zoe) or i3 - You gotta weigh up what suits you I suppose.

[@t5jerry]

eee up, mi off to the citi i go .

[@dorsetengineering]

Small - check, Ccs - check, app support - check, sub 20k - check.... Take my money

[@nigelweir3852]

Sorry I agree with the wife , regen one or two max , four just pointless and confusing

[@ewheelerfinland]

I agree. Using max on ours all the time because you can adjust it on the throttle pedal anyway.

[@wermagst]

It's actually 5 stages, as you can turn recuperation off altogether.

[@ewheelerfinland]

@@wermagst 😜

[@dplummer35]

For the same money you can get a used MG ZS, rapid charge as standard and lots more luggage/interior space.......no brainer?

[@jur4x]

But what if your parking space only fits a super mini? Genuine situation. Not far from my house there is a street where some houses only have a small patch of space in front of the house (built in pre-car era) and they drive Fiat 500 and Seat Mii. Or maybe there is other reason for you to go with a smaller car. Besides, VWFS UK sometimes has awesome deals

[@engasser]

Moot point? Not many used examples on the market presently.

[@grahamarnold2591]

Further production in AUGUST ---ALL 600 IN THE UK DEC---FEB 2020 SOLD.... Folks I charge this car on 240v plug overnight ---at 430am when i leave for work its full.. 24 mile round trip --.. you can park it on a stamp.. win the traffic grand prix everytime-- THE WORD SKODA is massive on the back--already shown that to few AUDI'S.. hey when this arrived at the dealer on the same transporter as a load of Audi's, ALL AUDI sales people came out to see it -- impressed..( as the delivery guy dropped off their Audi's) CHECK THIS OUT--- kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5eUmGyuoZuKlac GO SAFE.

[@whocares264]

nice car .. better than the honda ev and much cheaper ...

[@iansimons7466]

The only thing that is really bad about that car is you can’t spec it with a heat pump nor the vw or the mii. Bad news for 2020 electric cars 🤪

[@ewheelerfinland]

Agree, but it's a very frugal and light small car and I easily manage to get same or below Hyundai Ioniq figures even now. So does it really need a heat pump? It would help preserve energy when the air is cold, for sure, but no, it doesn't actually cry for it.

[@iansimons7466]

I think you misunderstood me my point is ev’s are about efficiency and should it not become a industry standard that all new ev’s are fitted with heat pumps. It’s the mindset of the manufacturers I criticised not the car. Thanks for your comment. 🙏

[@ewheelerfinland]

@@iansimons7466 Well, if you want to maximize the efficiency of every single car produced, yes. But then again, the differences between the cars having heat pumps still differ quite a lot. Like why is it, that ICE-based Hyundai Ioniq and Kona are more efficient than a Model Y Tesla? There's so much more to efficiency than a heat pump. My point of view. We will be seeing a big improvement on efficiency over the next 5-10 years and lots of new smaller models.

[@davehippely4813]

Vquit

[@chrisabbott683]

I think this is well overpriced for a ten year old design. And have a look at the Euro ncap rating.

[@ewheelerfinland]

The EURO NCAP rating for these triplets is brought down only because of the lack of accident prevention systems. The crash ratings are very good. It's a safe car if you have a crash. EURO NCAP values the safety systems worth two stars these days, so any car lacking some (even if a safe car), it'll automatically lose two stars.

[@chrisabbott683]

EWheeler Finland I still wouldn’t touch one of these cars which were designed a decade ago when there are safer, more advanced options available in the class.

[@ewheelerfinland]

@@chrisabbott683 Not at the price range

[@chrisabbott683]

EWheeler Finland I don’t mean EV. I would choose an ICE car if I had to have a car in the sub supermini class.

[@glenreidy]

Shame it only has 4 seat belts.

[@ewheelerfinland]

Doesn't need five. Three adults don't fit at the back. Very narrow but also small car, very roomy for four and parks absolutely anywhere.

[@glenreidy]

EWheeler Finland Shame it doesn’t fit 5 people in. My family’s small car fits five and is handy when taking nana with us.

[@ewheelerfinland]

@@glenreidy For five people, a slightly bigger car is needed anyway. Your current one is obviously more wider so yes, you're right. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of choice in the Golf class pretty soon. Most all manufacturers are focusing their efforts on that class now.

[@briansalay-smith8604]

Alright, where's Florence? She's getting too the age she she can review now

[@themanofmead5273]

“I think you are wrong”. So many possibilities for comedy outtakes here. Clearly not been married for very long as James hasn’t yet learned a woman is never wrong. Arguing with a woman is like reading a licence agreement. Eventually you have to give up and click “I accept”.

[@davidcoro27]

I would rather listen to Kate