SThey bring chimney sweeps to the roof, garden waste to the landfill, boaters to the lake and the crowd of children, including three Maxi-Cosis, to school. High-roof station wagons are a type of automobile that eludes the usual categories of reputation and eroticism, but develops its very own charm. For generations, the top models in this segment have included the Renault Kangoo, VW Caddy and Citroën Berlingo.
From now on, the latter is only available with an electric drive, the French are removing their fiery internal combustion engines from the program. You call that a strong decision for the benefit of customers and the environment, we call it at least bold.
And it doesn’t stop there, because Citroën belongs to the Stellantis Group, which also includes the Peugeot and Opel brands, among others. And while the three are at it, they extend their campaign to models one class higher, where the Opel Zafira is the most well-known representative and a fixture. So it is that from now on Citroën, Peugeot and Opel offer their high-roof station wagons and minibuses exclusively with electric motors. It delivers a uniform 136 hp, the batteries have a capacity of 50 or 75 kWh depending on the model. This means that standard ranges of 280 to 320 kilometers are possible.
Of course, the editors recently had a Zafira E in an everyday test and didn’t get far 200 kilometers with it, although the colleague was driving with the gas foot badly restrained, as he credibly assures grumbling. Restriction comes at a cost. The electric versions cost around 37,000 euros for the Berlingo and 52,000 euros for the Zafira.
The decision includes Peugeot Rifter and Traveller, Citroën Berlingo passenger cars and Spacetourer as well as Opel Zafira Life, Combo Life and Vivaro Combi. The more rustically furnished box vans for craftsmen will continue to drive for the time being and will continue to use combustion engines.
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