Family day out: Why the Citroën ë-C5 Aircross made our Bath adventure unforgettable

You will have seen the Royal Crescent in Bath. Not in person, perhaps, but you’ve seen it. This grand Georgian terrace has been the backdrop to countless period films and series, from just about every Jane Austen adaptation you can think of through to Bridgerton and beyond. 

It’s not surprising, then, that it’s one of Bath’s most popular tourist attractions. So, I was very pleased when we managed to sneak into a space nearby for our family day out, made a lot easier by the parking camera and sensors on the new Citroën ë-C5 Aircross. 

I’m quite short and often find bigger SUVs like this a bit intimidating to drive – especially if I can’t see out of them very well. As soon as I adjusted my driving position, I noticed that the ë-C5 Aircross’s driver’s seat rose significantly, giving me a clear view over the bonnet. With lovely big windows and the camera having decent graphics for a clear view, nice light steering… It really was surprisingly easy to steer the new ë-C5 Aircross into a tight spot.

Having squeezed into a parking space around the Royal Crescent we decided to make the most of all the green space around here with a picnic. A few members of the family were up for picnicking in the car, because the air-con was lovely and cold and a nice contrast to the sweltering summer’s day. Plus – big cupholders for our drinks, super-soft seats… The comfort in the ë-C5 Aircross had already won my kids over, for sure, and it took some stern parenting to get them to leave the car.

Still, with the promise of a game of football, a bit of diablo and – every parent’s favourite bribe – food, they eventually left the cocoon of the new ë-C5 Aircross and we had a really lovely time on the green that slopes down in front of the Royal Crescent. 

I do love Bath. I live in Bristol, which I also love, and have always enjoyed how lively it is – as well as the historic sights and attractions. But Bath? Well, the architecture of the place makes the whole town look and feel like you’ve stepped back into a Georgian scene. It’s remarkable to think that, movies aside, the Royal Crescent really was the backdrop to Georgian high society – as was much of Bath’s warm, limestone frontage. 

Enough daydreaming of the past. There was more of Bath to see, and I wanted to take the kids to see the Botanical Gardens. This is only a short hop from the Royal Crescent, but Bath’s roads are notoriously torturous. The one-way system can be confusing and a lot of the steep, narrow, busy roads leading up and away from the centre of town can be a nightmare to navigate. 

Which is when I discovered the auto hill-hold of the ë-C5 Aircross. I’m told that you get this on the plug-in hybrid versions of the C5 Aircross as well. On the electric ë-C5 Aircross it worked brilliantly. Of course, it’s automatic so you can just hold the car on the brake. But with the traffic lights around town meaning you have to wait a while, I got used to trusting the hill-hold function that automatically keeps the car in place until you accelerate away. No awkward hill-starts! I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. Not only that, but because the ë-C5 Aircross is really quiet it feels lovely and calm. 

The kids said it was like being chauffeured around, it was so soft-riding and quiet. And the huge amount of legroom in the back, and reclining seat backs meant they could properly lounge about and pretend they were in some sort of VIP ride. 

I’m told that the car has ‘progressive hydraulic cushions’ to make it comfortable over bad road surfaces. No, I don’t know what a progressive hydraulic cushion is either, but the ë-C5 Aircross is super comfy, even over Bath’s roads (many of which were laid by the Romans and, I suspect, haven’t been re-surfaced since…) 

Having completed chauffeur duty around Bath, we went for a wander through the Botanical Gardens. These are free to visit, and on a hot day the shade and cool of the trees, and around the pool and stream, was just bliss. There’s the odd sculpture dotted about, and it’s all very beautiful and calming – especially after the bustling energy of the Crescent.

Naturally, there’s a history to the park, too. It was designed in the early 1800s, then officially opened by an eleven-year-old Princess Victoria, seven years before she was crowned Queen. Legend has it that a resident of Bath made a disparaging comment about the young Princess’s ankles during the visit, and she never returned to Bath again. 

Anyway, it was time to head back to Bristol and as we passed a rapid charging station we decided to top-up the battery – as much because the kids were curious how that worked as anything. 

The Citroën ë-C5 Aircross has a claimed range of 320 miles (you can get one with a big battery for a 422-mile range available in the Autumn), and we had 70% charge when we left home. It also seemed to be getting quite close to that claimed figure in our drive down summer A-roads and into town, and was managing 4.2 miles/kWh, or over 300 miles to a charge. 

I know from driving the electric Citroën vans that we use to help us support frontline vendors for the Big Issue, that EVs charge more slowly as the battery ‘fills up’ so to speak. By the time I’d taken the kids to the toilet, we had over 80% battery and some 260-miles of real world range – more than enough range to keep me going for over a week – so the kids reclined their seats, my husband and I switched our massage seats on and chose some music via the huge ‘Waterfall’ touchscreen, and we relaxed through the summer holiday traffic back to Bristol. 

Factfile:

Citroën ë-C5 Aircross 73kWh 

Price from: £32,565 incl. £1,500 gov. grant 

WLTP range: 320 miles

0-62mph: 8.9 seconds

• The Citroën ë-C5 Aircross 73kWh could drive the 24 miles from Bristol city centre to Bath’s Royal Crescent, via the M4 motorway, twelve times before it needed charging.   

• A 100kW public rapid charger can charge the new C5 Aircross from 20% to 80% in just 30 minutes..

• Bath was founded by the Romans in the 1^st Century AD, and you can still visit the Roman Baths, which are fed by a natural hot spring, today.

Find out more about the Citroën ë-C5 Aircross 73kWh here.