Toyota Aygo X is designed for the rough and tumble of the city

The Toyota Aygo X is exactly the kind of car that EVs are struggling to quash. Whilst SUVs and GTs and all manner of brawny, large vehicles are well suited to the battery-lugging requirements of electric propulsion, small city cars are a far trickier premise. 

At 3.7m long, the Aygo X is truly diminutive by modern standards (although as a point of reference, the ‘classic’ original Mini was just over 3m long). Bung in a battery, and the balance between cost, weight, performance and range fails to stack up. Hence the Aygo X sensibly sticks with a combustion engine.

Toyota Aygo X: a compact workhorse

Does that blunt this car’s appeal? Not really. For a start, there are simply no electric equivalents. The similarly sized Volkswagen E-up! has a range of 159 miles (and was recently removed from the market), whilst the excellent Honda e has a range of only 137 miles, yet costs twice the price of the Aygo X. The Mini Electric is similarly attractive but hamstrung by price and range. 

But these are city cars, we hear you say, designed for short journeys where a zero-emission vehicle makes the most sense. Unfortunately, range and scale mean that all the above tend to work best as second cars, playing support vehicle to a much larger, long-range machine (be it EV or ICE). 

Not so with the Aygo. While it’s hardly a cruiser, the little three-cylinder 1.0 litre engine keeps the light, compact machine apace with traffic, even if no performance records are going to be troubled. The five-speed manual is another throwback, and the ultra-light clutch and steering take a bit of getting used to. Once acclimatised, the Aygo X demonstrates an appealing character, a trusty, compact workhorse that feels nigh-on unbreakable.

Part of this comes from the ‘SUV-lite’ styling cues that give this Aygo the ‘X’ designation (the original Aygo is no longer made). Although they amount to little more than a slightly raised ride height and chunky plastic trim that gives the impression of two-tone bodywork, it’s effective enough, implying a classless kind of utility. 

Space in the back is somewhat tight and the boot will encourage you to pack light. The top of the range model adds in a canvas roof, that timeless signifier of low-rent luxury, but pairs it with an 8in touchscreen and both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. You even get a reversing camera, somewhat superfluous in this compact machine.

The Aygo X (the X is pronounced ‘cross’) is a modern equivalent of a Citroen 2CV or a Renault 4 or even the long-forgotten Toyota Starlet; a little dash of the unexpected, mixed in with a whole lot of common sense and engineering solidity. This is precisely the kind of car that tomorrow’s EVs need to target.  

Toyota Aygo X, from £15,990, Air Edition as tested, from £19,380, Toyota.co.uk