Picture a car from 1948 pulling into Paris with a charging port and a price you could actually afford. The Citroen 2CV concept just rolled in as an electric car, and Citroen says the production version arrives in 2028 with a starting price around 15,000 euros, roughly $17,000.
In today’s car market, that number is the real headline.
What Citroen showed with the electric 2CV
The company unveiled the 2 CV Concept on the eve of the 2026 Paris Motor Show. It measures 3.76 meters long, which keeps it tiny by modern standards. Citroen is also targeting a weight of about 1,000 kilograms, or 2,205 pounds. The reasoning is simple: less mass means a smaller, cheaper battery.
The design leans hard into nostalgia without copying the original. You get round headlamps that sit apart from the bodywork and a sculpted hood with creases inspired by the old car. It rides on 18-inch steel wheels and wears a bright orange paint job Citroen calls Infra Red. Meanwhile, the numbers 48, 90 and 26 on the windscreen mark the 1948 launch, the 1990 end of production, and this year’s unveiling.
Inside, the Citroen 2CV concept gets a square 8-inch touchscreen and a fabric sunroof. There is also a detachable radio called the Radioen that doubles as a speaker. It’s a tiny car with a bench seat, a picnic-basket vibe, and a sense of humor.
That is more personality than most new cars manage at five times the price.
Why the Citroen 2CV concept price matters most
Citroen CEO Xavier Chardon framed the mission in plain terms. “Reinventing the 2 CV isn’t about replicating a car from the past; it’s about reinventing what made it unique: its simplicity, its accessibility and the freedom it offered,” he said. On LinkedIn, he boiled it down even further: “Electric. Made in Europe. 15,000 euros.”
That figure undercuts the Renault Twingo E-Tech, which launched in France at 19,490 euros before incentives, according to Electrive. It would also slot between the tiny Ami and the C3 in Citroen’s lineup.
Cheap electric cars have been promised for years, but most of them got more expensive on the way to the showroom. So treat 15,000 euros as a target, not a sticker price. Citroen has not said whether it counts before or after government incentives.
What we still don’t know about the reborn 2CV
Quite a lot, actually. Citroen has not disclosed battery size, range, power output or charging speed. Those are the specs that decide whether a cheap EV is a smart buy or a city-only gadget. A concept is also not a production car, so the final design may look different.
Citroen also showed a separate 2 CV Fourgonnette van concept. It looks like a design study, and the company has not confirmed a production commercial vehicle. Paris also brought other eye-catchers, such as the Alfa Romeo Cuorerosso concept, but none of them chase the same budget buyer.
Here’s the thing for American drivers
Don’t hold your breath. No U.S. sale has been announced, and CarBuzz flatly calls it too cute for America.
Still, the bigger story crosses the Atlantic. A major automaker is betting that people want a small, honest, affordable new electric Citroen, not another 70,000-dollar crossover with a giant screen.
The appetite is real, too. Demand for the used Ford F-150 Lightning shows that shoppers chase electric value whenever they can find it. Citroen first confirmed the 2CV’s return in May, and now it has a car to show for it. The Paris show is running this week, so expect more details and plenty of people crowding around that orange hood.
The question everyone will ask is whether Citroen can really build the Citroen 2CV concept for 15,000 euros. The answer arrives in 2028.
