There is nothing new about the idea of hybrid luxury cars; Lexus uses the technology in a variety of its high-end saloons and Porsche will soon sell a petrol/electric version of its Cayenne SUV, but the latest Citroen is perhaps the most stylish-looking example to date.
Citroen earned a reputation as a trail blazer in 1933 when it launched the Traction Avant, the world’s first front-wheel-drive steel monocoque production car and later in 1956 with the futuristic DS.
The Metropolis plug-in hybrid concept is worthy successor to these two iconic vehicles. The 5.3m long limousine is powered by a 2-litre petrol engine and an electric motor developing 70kW at its peak and produces emissions of just 70g/km.
At city speeds the car is driven entirely by its electric motor, wit th epetrol engine taking over for motorway cruising.
Citroen four-seater electric car
One of the very few first four-seater, all-electric cars currently on sale in Britain is based on the Citroen C1 city car and put together by Electric Car Corporation (ECC) in Bedfordshire.
It costs £16,850 and has a range of 60 to 70 miles on a fully-charged battery.
The car can be charged from a domestic 13 amp socket – a full charge takes 7 hours and costs less than £1.
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