Pricing on the long-awaited Citroen Ami electric microcar (legally speaking a quadricycle) has just been announced, with the 'base' version starting at £7,695 according to Citroen's website. That's a VAT-inclusive on-the-road price too.
The headline has 'electric car' in inverted commas as this is clearly a 'lite' version when it comes to performance stats; it tops out at 28mph and claims a max range of 43 miles. The Ami plugs in at a normal household power socket, and takes only three hours for a full recharge. It will be offered in the UK as a left-hand drive option only.
The standard model is a two seater with the Cargo option removing the passenger seat to make a larger carrying area. In addition to the driver there is a reasonable 140kg weight allowance.
Although the Ami has been a long time arriving - it was premiered at the Geneva motorshow in 2019 - this isn't just a marketing exercise but a serious attempt by Citroen to produce a small electric vehicle that excels in city conditions; it's small, manoeuvrable, parkable and with zero emissions at the point of use. It is not allowed on motorways and Citroen rather wittily say 'fast roads are not designed for the Ami.'
Rather than being an exact replica of a full size car, quadricycles are designed to fill the undoubted gap that exist between electric two-wheelers and full-blown cars. Accordingly they have more basic construction standards more suited to the short range, low speed travel typical of large rban areas.
In addition to the 'basic' version there will be two special edition versions of the Ami – Pop and Vibe, though these don't get any performance embellishments, rather extra features such as distinctive paint jobs and extra internal storage boxes.
Depending on your country, quadricycles like the Ami can driven on public roads from the age of 14 and without a driving licence (as in France for example), although it’s being introduced as only available to over 17s with a licence in the UK. Rental across the Channel costs around the equivalent of £20 a month with a deposit of about £2,500, so their Gallic success is perhaps no surprise.
When can you get your hands on one? Citroen say 'We are expecting vehicles to arrive in the UK from June onwards and will be offering test drives to reservers initially before opening up to the general public.' You can't order an Ami right now but you can reserve one and Citroen say 'we’ll be touch to confirm all the pricing, specification and finance details as soon as we can. When we are able to take orders, we will contact you to discuss your requirements and to double check that Ami is right for you.' Until then 'You will be asked to pay a fully refundable £250 reservation fee and you can change your mind at any time'.
If Citroen don't hit the early summer availability slot they could have a lot of disappointed potential UK customers on their hands as 12,000 people and counting have already registered their interest in one of the vehicles.
