Mobility solutions for in cities are often not the most exciting appearances in the automotive field. Citroën with the Ami proves that small electric urban transport can also be done differently!
The Ami returns, but the reborn model name has nothing to do with the 2CV-related Citroën from the sixties and seventies. No, the Ami of 2020 is very ‘2020’ and in this case that means that we are dealing with a piece of French urban mobility.
The Ami is the production version of the Ami One Concept, a cheerfully designed cube on wheels with which Citroën was already looking ahead to its city squatter. The Ami is a very compact city car with a length of only 2.41 meters. Yes, the two-seater is even 9 centimeters shorter than the first generation Smart City Coupé / Fortwo. The Ami is not only short, it is also remarkably narrow with its width of 1.39 meters – without mirrors. The square Frenchman is 1.52 meters high and has a relatively small turning circle of 7.2 meters. Nice design details: the driver’s side door opens in the opposite direction, while the front passenger side door opens in the usual way. The Ami gets the Citroën-characteristic layered lighting that is noticeably different from the Ami One Concept. The square Citroën stands on 14-inch wheels. Citroën promises that there will soon be a lot to personalize. That promises to deliver an interesting configurator. For example, the Ami can be dressed with items such as roof rails, a rear spoiler and plastic wheel arch edges.
Electric
You guessed it: the Citroën Ami is a fully electrically driven piece of urban mobility and so the little one has a 5.5 kWh battery pack, good for an electric range of 70 kilometers. Impressive figures about the top speed are of course not to be expected. The Ami One has a modest top speed of 45 km / h, and that suddenly makes it very interesting. It makes the Ami according to Dutch legislation namely a moped car or microcar and that means that you do not need a B driving license. Even 16-year-olds with a moped license can thus legally get behind the wheel. Charging is simply done at home with a 230 V socket. The battery pack is full again in 3 hours of charging. Fortunately, you can also use public charging points and the Ami can also be provided with a zest for life again via a Wallbox. The wagon weight, including battery, is 485 kilos.
To save costs, Citroën has done a number of striking tricks. This way only the driver’s seat can be adjusted. The side windows can be opened by folding them up, just like with the 2CV. A small display is placed behind the wheel, a screen on which all relevant driving information can be read. Your smartphone serves as an infotainment system in the Ami. Via the MyCitroën application, information can be requested about, among other things, the remaining operating radius and the charging status of the battery.
The Citroën Ami will also be available in the Netherlands in mid-2021. In France, the Ami goes without a subsidy for around € 7,000 and you can drive it for around € 20 a month through a private lease construction. The Dutch prices for purchase or rental purchase are presented at a later stage.