Citroën CEO: ‘SUV era over thanks to electric cars’
Eradicate
According to Vincent Cobée, Citroën’s CEO, electric cars will “eradicate” SUVs. SUVs are too big and heavy, requiring a sizable battery pack to cover a somewhat acceptable distance. This gives them all the weight of a medium-sized dinosaur. The Hummer EV, which you see in the photos in this article, weighs just under 4,500 kg. According to the French top executive, the general public will no longer accept giga-weight cars. Like the dinosaurs, so will the SUV die.
“If your aerodynamics are wrong in an electric car, it is penalized enormously in the range. Between an SUV and a sedan, you’re very easily talking about 60 to 80 kilometers difference.”
Weight load
According to the Frenchman, a larger battery to increase range is not always an option in SUVs. Governments will take action to contain vehicle weight. In France, the government is already toying with the plan to tax by weight.
“In the 1970s, a car weighed 700 kg. Nowadays, an average car weighs 1300 kg. Tomorrow, an average car will weigh two tons. So we use three times more resources just to be “green. The A-segment has been killed by regulations, the D-segment [SUV] will be killed by aerodynamics and weight.”
Terrorist
Moreover, the Frenchman thinks that in a few years, SUVs will be seen as vulgar and show-offy: “Five years ago, if you took your kids to school in the city in a big SUV, you were a big man. If you do that now, you’re a ‘terrorist’.”
Citroen SUV
Citroën itself currently has two SUVs in the showroom: the compact C3 Aircross and the larger C5 Aircross. With the C4, C4 X and C5 X, the French take a very different path than many automakers. These crossover models are slightly higher on their wheels, but cannot be called true (coupe) SUVs. In fact, the C4 X is best described as a sedan. It also weighs “only” 1,559 pounds. We’ll tell you more about it in the video at the bottom of this article.
Collapse hazard
In England, they even worry about collapse hazards in parking garages due to heavy (electric) cars. According to the British Parking Association, many British parking garages are outdated and not designed to handle the weight of electric cars. The whole thing might just collapse. Read:
