We review the Citroën Revolte from price to economy and all its features

HOLY cow! This may look like a mini Batmobile but it is actually the 21st Century version of Citroën’s iconic 2CV.

The odd Revolte name is a hybrid mix of volt for electric power and revolution for the new era of plug-in electric motoring.

It is pure sci-fi — a superhero supermini of the future, yet it retains strong hints of its 2CV pedigree.

It oozes so much classic French design you can almost smell the garlic.

Any car that looks good alongside the imposing architecture of the Eiffel Tower has to be special.

Rush-hour traffic in the midst of impatient Parisians is not the ideal place to test a £1million concept car — but it is good way to gauge reaction.

And Paris adored the Revolte. At times it even ground the traffic to a halt as people stopped for a good look.

Like the successful Fiat 500, the Revolte has the retro feel of the 2CV, which sold just under four million from 1948 to 1990.

The original looked like an upside-down pram. In contrast, the Revolte looks like the 2CV has spent the last 20 years locked away in the gym pumping iron. The Revolte is 12ft 6in long and based on the same body platform as the current C3 and DS3, which makes it a highly plausible little sporty DS2 brother.

On the move, it has just as much character. One push of the start button and it glides silently into the traffic. It is powered by electric motors and a small internal combustion engine.

An electric motor drives the front wheels, powered by a battery pack in the boot, while the petrol engine kicks in when the batteries run low to make sure drivers don’t suffer the usual range limitations of all-electric cars.

The result is ultra-low emissions of around 40g/km, which means free road tax and fuel economy equivalent to 80mpg.

Once you open the suicide doors for easy access, the interior leaps out like something from Jonathan Ross’s wardrobe.

Citroën say they wanted the interior to look like a make-up box.

Conventional materials such as wood and plastic have been replaced by black leather and thick crimson velvet upholstery.

The final production car will lose a lot of the extrovert stuff and get a more conventional interior to appeal to the mainstream customers it is aimed at.

The Revolte could be on sale by 2013. Designer Carlos Bonzanigo admits: “There has been much speculation that this concept previews an entry-level DS2.

“The fact that it sits on a production-car platform should tell you something. It’s possible.”