The first Citroen Ami was a cut-price car designed in 1960 to get post-war French farmers on the road in comfort. The latest incarnation is designed to get French urbanistes on the road in more sustainable silence. But it’s not a car. By Jeremy Torr.

Paris, June 2021. The original Citroen Ami hit showrooms in 1961, and boasted an air cooled 602cc two-cylinder engine that helped it reach a heady 100kph downhill with a following wind. Production stopped in 1978 to the dismay of rural baguette eaters nationwide.

But Citroen liked the name, so they resurrected it and applied it to their latest innovation, the Ami Electric. The new Ami isn’t strictly speaking a car, as it is too slow, too small and underpowered. It can scrape to a top speed of 45km/h thanks to its 5.5 kWh battery (the Tesla 3 boasts 75 kWh). And its maximum range is a city-suitable 75km only. That is why it is classified in France as a super-moped that can be driven by 14 year-olds. It definitely isn’t a car, but it scores pretty high on the sustainable transport scale.

Simplicity and practicality - plus a sunroof. Courtesy Citroen.

Not that the designers intended it to replace the family saloon. It measures a teeny 2.4m long, is 1.4m wide, 1.5m high, and rolls on 14″ scooter-sized wheels. If it runs off the road, you can probably push it back onto the tarmac by hand – it weighs just 470kilos.

According to Citroen, the Ami was designed to fill a gap in current urban mobility options.

“It has no equivalent in (today’s) mobility landscape,” they assert. “The Ami will provide protection greater than that offered by two- or three-wheeled vehicles, along with greater independence and comfort than public transport.” Can’t argue with that.

A skateboard and two shopping bags is probably about all the luggage you can wedge in. Courtesy Citroen.

Add to this the fact an Ami costs around the price of a posh mountain bike, is electric, silent, charges up from a standard household socket in three hours for a piffling $1.50 for a full charge (75km worth). Crikey. No wonder it sold over 500 units in Paris in its first week.

Citroen says it hopes the Ami will become 'an urban and popular icon' with its cool plastic body work, jazzy colours and very practical appeal – you can even park two in a standard car space.

But the biggest appeal is the way it looks. It’s all plastic, inside and out, and uses one style of panel for both left and right sides supported by a tubular steel frame. This approach helps keep cost and assembly time down, just like the old 2CV. The use of thick plastic instead of metal for panels means minor scratches and dents don’t show up yet still keep passengers protected. The flip-up manually operated side windows also echo the 2CV, and the seats are likewise functional rather than super-comfy.

Both doors are made from the same moulding, with one opening forwards and the other backwards for simplicity. The electric drive is almost maintenance-free, and unlike the 2CV the vehicles are watertight if you drive in the rain. Bonus.

The interior is practical, not sumptuous. Courtesy Citroen.

“With this new and unique urban mobility vehicle, (Citroen) is aiming to make individual mobility available to everybody in the city. The Ami is for urban customers with or without a driver’s licence who share … a love for freedom of movement.” Can’t say more than that.

Performance-wise, it can only take two people, plus a few bits of light luggage. It accelerates quick enough to normal town speeds, but no further. It has a fabulously tight 7m turning circle, uses smartphone links to help smooth the journey, and comes with very basic seats and info screen. Heater? Just about. Boot? No chance.

Although successfully launched in its home market a while back, Citroen is limiting the car, sorry quadricycle, to France and a couple of other European markets in the first instance. A few examples have been seen zipping about clogged city streets of the US too, but legislation there could mean restrictions on its use.

Simple, and a space for the smartphone. Courtesy Citroen.

As well as selling them (€6,000-ish) Citroen has offered drivers the opportunity to lease the little bugs, for as little as $40 a month. Given this price and its practically, it scores on almost all points, even if it is a bit like driving a super-sized Lego car.

“The Ami is a maverick mobility solution,” enthuses Citroen. “It has zero CO2 emissions for the benefit of all, access to city centres for all, and a battery that recharges in three hours like a smartphone.”

And best of all, says Citroen, Ami has “an assertive, customisable identity with original style and innovative design.” Agreed. I want one.