Commuters looking to avoid rail strikes and high fuel prices will soon be able to zip to work in the new electric-powered Citroen Ami for just £20 a month.
The nifty electric vehicle takes just three hours to fully charge from a regular socket, after which it can go for 46 miles without stopping – although not very fast, with a maximum speed of 28mph permitted by its tiny 6kW motor.
Although handicapped in the horsepower department, the Citroen Ami could save commuters a pretty penny, available in the UK for just £19.99 a month to lease, with an upfront deposit of £2,369.
As petrol and diesel prices reach record highs of up to £2 a litre in some parts of the country, fed-up motorists could be persuaded to trade in their car keys for a go in the Citroen Ami – which is technically classed as a ‘quadricycle’ and not a car.
While this means it won’t feature the full complement of mandatory safety equipment needed for cars entering the market today, drivers as young as 16 can legally drive one on the road as long as they have an AM motorcycle licence for a 50cc moped.
Video: Citroen Ami Cargo is an electric van that is coming to Britain
The boxy two-seater is just 7.9ft long and 4.6ft wide and has no boot or bonnet, meaning it might fall down if needed to transport a family to the airport for their summer holiday.
Meanwhile, commuters looking to avoid rail strikes planned for the rest of June will be disappointed, as the Citroen Ami already has a 2,000 person waiting list for the first UK batch – which is not due to arrive by August.
Citroen currently does not know when the next batch will arrive in the UK, due to global supply chain problems frustrating their production processes, according to The Telegraph.
In France, you do not need a licence to drive the Citroen Ami, with children as young as 14 able to drive them to school and back.
The examples sold in the UK will be from the same production run as the European-spec vehicles, meaning the steering wheel on the left-hand-side.
With the Ami’s compact 4.6ft width, this won’t make too much of a difference in such a pocket-sized car.
It will come with plenty of customisation options at launch this summer.
For an extra £400, buyers can add a choice of three sticker packs, which are designed to be fitted at home.
Six official graphic sets will be available in the UK: Jungle; Tutti Frutti; British Globetrotter; Camo; Tribe; and Trendy.
There are also two additional trim levels, with the Ami Pop and Ami Vibe specifications starting from £8,495 and £8,895 respectively with colour combos designated by Citroen.
The single-seat Ami Cargo van – designed for businesses operating in cities to complete short-distance deliveries – will also be available this summer from £7,995.
It substitutes the passenger seat with a storage unit that boosts carrying capacity up to 400 litres for the transportation of parcels and packages.
All versions are powered by a 6kW electric motor and a 5.5kW battery, which can be charged via a cable built into the passenger door frame.
UK-spec models will all feature Type 2 connectors, allowing a full charge to be completed in just three hours from a home Wallbox or a public charging point.
Customers will only be able to order their Amis online, though Citroen says priority customers will be the ‘over 2,000’ who reserved one of the diminutive EVs since last year.
Interested customers will need to place a £250 refundable reservation fee, though Citroen has yet to announce when first deliveries will begin.
Buyers will be offered either home delivery for a small fee or collection from their nearest approved Ami retailer.
Confirming UK prices on Tuesday, Eurig Druce, Citroen UK’s managing director, said: ‘These exciting new quadricycles showcase the way the Citroen brand brings innovation, electric mobility and clever design to the widest possible range of people, offering customers a radically different take on urban transport.
‘What’s really exciting is that we are launching Ami in the UK due to huge demand from the public – it’s a perfect example of our ‘Power to the People’ thinking.’
What’s the Citroen Ami like to drive?
by Ray Massey for This is Money
In December 2020, we were given a first opportunity to try the Ami on UK roads, with a brief test drive in Coventry.
The first thing that grabs attention is its size and cubic styling.
It’s compact to the point of being minuscule in automotive terms. Tape-measure out, it’s just 2.41 metres long, 1.39 metres wide and 1.52 metres high.
Most of it is sculpted plastic on a metal frame. It may be basic, but it’s undeniably clever and very well executed.
To save costs, the two wide doors are identical. But they are hinged differently either side so open in opposite directions.
The driver’s door is hinged at the rear so opens outward from the front, Rolls-Royce style.
The passenger door is hinged more conventionally from the front and opens in the normal way.
It cuts costs because Citroen only need to make one door – which can be used both sides.
The same goes for the front and rear bumpers and side panels – all of which help to keep production costs down.
Inside it’s remarkably light and airy with great visibility thanks to the profusion of glass from a wide and high windscreen, generous side windows and a large fixed sun-roof – the glazing above the main bodyline covers half the total surface.
The side windows open manually and tilt upwards outside – just like the original 2CV.
A tiny dashboard screen tells the driver their speed, battery level, range, and drive mode, but that’s pretty much it.
To the right of the steering wheel is a small holder for a smartphone which – via an app – provide sat-nav and infotainment options.
Such is the effort to keep production costs low, the interior door handles are fabric straps.
While there’s no boot, there are a few imaginative storage cubby holes include cargo nets in the door recesses, bright orange removable inlay trays below the windscreen, and a hook for handbags or takeaways.
With a wheel at each corner it will turn on a sixpence. The turning circle is a mere 7.2 metres, which is perfect for fast U-turns on narrow roads and parking in tight spaces.
The little Ami is fully in its element at lower speeds, zipping through city streets for which it has been designed primarily as an ‘urban mobility’ alternative to bicycles and electric scooters.
Anyone who’s been behind the wheel of an electric golf buggy hurtling down the fairway with their golf bag and clubs strapped in the back will instantly recognise the sensation.
It gasps and wheezes up steep inclines as the power drops.
And if you get really cold, the heater not only zaps some of the power but makes such a racket that it’s best to wrap up warm to avoid using it.
Ride and handling is also not its strong suit, to put it mildly.
Rough as old guts, in fact. It shakes, rattles and rolls like the milk bottles in an electric milk float.
The moulded plastic seats might not look all that cosseting but are surprisingly forgiving, despite the skateboard-like suspension qualities, which are as compliant as that of a Challenger tank riding over a cratered Salisbury Plain.
Taking it out of the city – to Coventry’s infamous ring-road, for instance – is a fabulous test of nerve and driving skill – and you really have to be on the ball as you become a teeny 28mph chicane for other drivers.Yet for all of its short comings [pardon the pun], it really is a hoot to drive. It’s great fun, as long as you restrict yourself to slower roads.
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