Published
on 2
Mar 2021
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All rights reserved.
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Cute
it is not, the fun of Ami comes from behing different.
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This is a new kind of
mobility, or is it? We have seen similar things before actually, such
as Renault Twizy, or micro cars traceable to BMW Isetta. What the new
Citroen Ami differs from them is the way it is powered and the way it
is offered. It is an electric car, albeit a very small one. It is only
2410mm long and 1390 mm wide, although quite tall at 1520 mm. It is
designed to be strictly a city car, and its 45 km/h (28 mph) top speed
bans it from highway. Because of this slow, in France you can drive it
without driving license as long as you are over 14 years old. Power
comes from a front-mounted motor with only 8 horsepower. A small, 5.5
kWh lithium battery located under the seats provide a driving range of
70 km (43 miles), and you can charge it to full in 3 hours even at your
230V household socket. Easy to drive, easy to own and easy to take care
of.
And then there is the ownership program. You may buy it for €6000, or
put a down payment of €2644 and then rent it for €20 a month, or hire
the car through car sharing program at a rate of €0.26 per minute. The
last one is perfect for short commute. Seems very attractive to new
generation of young people who love to play smartphones rather than
drive.
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Citroen
forgot to mention suspension layout in its specifications. Perhaps it
forgot to install suspensions, too.
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The Ami, named after the classic Citroen small car born in the early
1960s, looks weird but funky. It's not as instantly lovable as an
Isetta, but it fits the current styling direction of Citroen, which
means unusual. When the car is stationary, you don't know which way it
goes, because its shape is symmetric front to rear. The intent is to
use identical body panels at both ends, the same side glass and even
the same doors at both sides so to double the economy of scale. As a
result, the door on the driver side is rear-hinged, and the other side
is front-hinged. This actually ease access to the cabin, because the
passenger seat is placed slightly behind the
driver seat to give more elbow room. The cabin is like a
greenhouse, thanks to panoramic roof and all-round windows separated by
slim pillars. The side windows are split-opened
like the 2CV to save cost. The interior is free of frills, with a small
instrument reading and a mobile phone cradle only. Infotainment system?
Use your phone. Air-con? A fan will keep you cool. Air bags? A 28-mph
car doesn't need that. Sound insulation? The same answer.
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Space
and visibility are the only creature comfort it offers.
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The little car is built around a spaceframe chassis made of
square-section steel tubes, covered with plastic body panels. It feels
spacious for its size, especially as the windscreen is placed far
forward. There is no luggage compartment, so you need to place luggage
ahead of the passenger's feet. Being a short-range urban transport,
there is not much comfort to speak of. The seats are thinnly padded and
provide absoluately no lateral support (do you really need?). The cabin
is full of hard plastics and exposed steel frames. Citroen forgot to
mention suspension layout in its specifications. Perhaps it forgot to
install suspensions, too, otherwise the Ami would not have rode so
hard. If there are any, they are not the firm's famous hydro-pneumatic
suspension for sure.
Then again, the Ami is not a normal car. You can't use normal car
standards to judge it. Seeing it slipping through the tightest streets
and steering into the tightest parking space is fun. Being seen riding
on it is also fun. Sometimes fun doesn't come with speed or g-force. It
is simply to try something different.
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Verdict:  |
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