- The little £7.7k French ‘car’ that makes you stand out like an A-list celebrity
‘Now I know what it’s like to be a celebrity and I want my anonymity back’. That’s what my friend said as I drove her to dinner in Soho.
People were stopping and pointing – dozens of people in the middle of Shaftsbury Avenue staring without shame.
Was I driving a Bugatti? A 911 GTS? The new Rolls-Royce Spectre?
No, the tiny, electric quadricycle Citroen Ami.
I spent seven days driving the viral, urban French EV, and not only was it one of the most enjoyable weeks I’ve spent commuting in London, it was also the most conspicuous time of my life.
Spend a week in the life with the world’s most head-turning ‘car’.
A talking point – be prepared to be on show ALWAYS
The week was thousands and thousands of people staring at me, and you really realise how many people there are in London when they’re all looking at you.
Pedestrians, runners, cyclists, fellow motorists, cabbies, football fans, kids – it became unusual for someone to not stare.
At 2,410mm long, 1,390mm wide and 1,525mm tall, part of the Ami’s appeal is its size and looks. It’s about as cute and friendly as a ‘car’ can get.
But also a large part of it is no-one’s ever seen one before. And when they do they have no idea what it is.
Since the Ami came to the UK in 2022, I’ve only seen one or two so I can understand the fascination. And it was fascination; the response was friendly, amused, and curious – unlike what you get if you join the supercar London scene.
Because the upper part of the Ami is all window, you can see everyone, and everyone can see you. You get amazingly good at staring straight ahead and avoiding eye contact.
The Ami’s body is plastic, and the windows have absolutely no noise-cancelling so you can also hilariously hear every word people are commenting as you drive by.
I couldn’t decide if my favourite comment was a particularly merry pub goer at 12.30am in West London who exclaimed to himself ‘what the **** is that?!’ or a mother walking down the King’s Road with her children (all pointing) who turned to her friend and said ‘Oh I saw a whole fleet of them in the South of France’.
Every journey became entertaining as an eavesdropper and at no point did I want to connect to a portable speaker (there’s no in-built sound system in the Ami) to pass the time.
I would highly recommend to any publicist with an up-and-coming celebrity client to suggest they spend the week in the Ami and they’ll be a dab hand with the paparazzi.
Makes commuting cleaner, less soul-destroying and safer
I expected the Ami to be fun to drive in London (I had previously tested it when it first arrived in France to great enjoyment), but I didn’t expect it to make commuting around London something I actually looked forward to.
For the most part the Ami is exempt from Sadiq Khan’s war against motorists: ULEZ compliant, Congestion Charge exempt (for now) and tiny enough to fit through any width restrictor without even needing to slow down.
Unfortunately driving an Ami doesn’t make you able to avoid traffic, but it does mean that you can scoot around backlogs and slip through gaps into the correct lane. London drivers seem to undergo a rapid 180 personality change when they see the Ami too and start kindly letting you out at junctions.
But the biggest difference to driving in London is the speed.
The Ami only has a top speed of 28mph so when you’re stuck in London’s unbearable 20mph blanket zones it actually feels fast.
20mph became the new 50 and I felt like I was zipping across the city like lightening.
Plus 0 to 60mph in six seconds in a tiny cube feels pretty sprightly.
The turning circle is just 7.2 metres, which brings out your inner stunt driver whipping U-turns here, there and everywhere.
‘Bucket loads of fun’ is how another one of my friends accurately summed up a post-cinema drive home in the Ami.
But one of the most surprising benefits is how much cleaner and healthier I felt over the seven days by avoiding the tube.
A 2017 study by the University of Surrey found that commuters travelling on the Tube are exposed to eight times more air pollution than those who drive.
So while I was still exposed to air pollution in my little Ami, to blow my nose at the end of each day and not see black was rather refreshing.
And as air pollution in London is currently at PM2.5 concentration – 4.4 times the WHO annual air quality guideline value – not adding to the tailpipe emissions of road traffic (biggest contributor to air pollution) also makes you feel good.
However my step count was far lower, so there is that downside to the Ami life. You just don’t get up and move as much, even if you are saving a lot of time: a journey that would usually take me 45 minutes took me just 10 and this was typical across the week.
Another thing was how much safer it made me feel on nights out as a young woman.
Sure the Ami’s not going to hold its own against a double decker much better than a Lime Bike, but from a personal safety point of view it was a bit of a game changer.
I didn’t have to debate taking a bus or tube instead of an Uber, and I didn’t have to hang around hoping an Uber would accept my booking.
And I saved so much money not Ubering home: to get an Uber at 3am the other day across London cost me £50.
I chose to drive and not drink, and it meant I could just hop in the Ami and go home any time without any concern or hassle whenever I felt like it. You could also take it in turns with a friend to be designated driver if you did want to drink.
Cheap to run and surprisingly practical (for a box on wheels)
The average commute in London is just 5.9 miles.
The Ami only has a range of 46 miles which meant that across the week I needed to charge it once.
With a minuscule 5.5kWh battery, the Ami can only charge up to 3.6kW. This is perfect for London lamppost charging and handily the charging cable is built into the passenger door.
All I did was charge it on the lamppost at the end of my road towards the end of the week and around three hours later it was charged. And it cost me £2.41.
For a whole week I spent less than £3 on commuting.
The only downside is that you have to pay normal parking costs, which in London are extortionate.
In the evenings this didn’t matter when I was out seeing friends as the parking tended to be free from 6pm, but during the day parking was expensive. If you aren’t on a permit then it can cost up to £5 an hour which adds up fast.
Of course, if you own an Ami then you’d get a residence permit for your neighbourhood, and many councils offer a free permit to EVs so there’s an easy win and £100-plus you’ll save a year.
But the Mayor should consider exempting small electric quadricycles like the Ami from paying for car parking charges.
Motorbikes park for free or pay just £1 a day, and considering the Ami isn’t a car, it can fit in motorbike bays.
As it aligns with London’s clean air push then cheap or free parking seems a smart uplift initiative.
The Ami is also surprisingly spacious.
My friend who’s 6’2 had a bit of headroom and seemingly endless legroom, and because it’s only two seats you’re in no way cramped together.
There’s space behind the seats for bags and shopping, plus a handy bag hook on the dash. For running errands, you can’t go wrong with the box shape.
Everyone wants one – but is the price too high?
‘I want one’.
I was getting sent Instagram messages, texts, and Whatsapps to this end – I was amazed by how many people across all ages loved the Ami. Never has my phone blown up with so many friends and family wanting to go for a drive.
It was the same with the general public: I got asked about the Ami wherever I went.
I parked on Dean Street on a typically busy Thursday night, and a table of three outside the restaurant I’d parked adjacent to stopped me to ask about the Ami.
‘Sorry you probably get this all the time but, please can you tell us about your fabulous car?’ What is it?
After I gave the spiel, and answered all the questions – from price to EV explanations – my friend told me I should try and trace the commission and ask for 10 per cent.
No-one seemed put off with it being electric, and everyone thought it was a great, fun way to get around.
Will it fit in my garage?
Price: from £7, 695
Trims: 3 – Ami, Colour and Peps
Seats: 2
Length: 2.41 metres
Width: 1.39 metres (excluding mirrors)
Height: 1.52 metres
Wheels: 14-inch
Power: electric motor
Battery: 5.5kW
Top speed: 28mph (45km/h)
Range: Up to 46 miles
Weight with battery: 485kg
Turning circle: 7.2 metres
CO2 emissions: Zero
Charging time: Under 4 hours from 3kW charger
However, the issue is the upfront price. The Ami starts from £7,695 and is available from £89 per month, 9.9% APR. If you pay in one go then you’ll need to put down a £500 deposit.
The Ami’s most expensive Peps option costs from £8,595 – it’s got flashier styling and a few interior extras but there’s not much in it.
Considering the Dacia Spring now costs £14,995 new for a five-seater EV, and you can get a used hatchback EV on Auto Trader for under £5,000, it does seem steep for such a small two-seater city offering.
Citroen says it’s ‘perfect for short trips, as a second or third family vehicle’. Considering the affluence of London then probably a lot of a families would happily buy one for their young drivers to use, and for popping around town, but for young working adults it’s a lot to pay for a car that can’t go out of the city.
To get the amount of people who expressed interest to actually buy the Ami, the price would need to be lower, or the UK would need to offer a monthly subscription service like France did when it first launched.
Or following Paris’ initiative of offering Amis to rent per hour (like Lime Bikes) could be the way for Londoners and tourists to get around cheaply, safely and without polluting.
Just be prepared to be more famous than Brad Pitt wherever you go.
Citroen Ami frequently-asked questions
Q: Is it legal?
A: Yes. The Ami can legally be driven in Britain.
Q: Is it a car?
A: No. Citroen officials tell us that the Ami is classified in the UK as an ‘L6 light quadricycle’.
Q: Can you get one with the steering wheel on the right?
A: No. Citroen is only producing them in left-hand-drive, which is mostly to keep manufacturing costs as low as possible.
Q: Do you need a full licence to drive one?
A: The DVLA says you you need either an AM moped licence or full ‘Category B’ driving licence to get behind the wheel of an Ami in the UK. The former means anyone as young as 16 can drive one in Britain.
In France, it qualifies as a ‘sans permis’ vehicle, meaning you don’t need a licence at all, just a basic road safety certificate that can be acquired by people as young as 14.
Q: Why do the doors open in opposite directions?
A: The driver’s door is rear-hinged (‘suicide’ style) and the passenger door is – more conventionally – front-hinged.
This is so that identical parts can be used on either side of the car to keep production costs low. This also explains why the front and rear of the car are the same shape.
Q: Does it have a radio?
A: Sort of. You can download the My Ami Play app to your smartphone and use it in the device holder.
Your phone then becomes your infotainment unit for which you can access navigation, music, radio and make hands-free calls.
Q: What are the service intervals?
A: Every two years or every 12,500 miles (whichever comes first). Citroen recommends servicing is carried out through the Ami Authorised Repairer network.
Q: If it’s not a car, how do you insure it?
A: There is no specific category for insuring a Citroen Ami like there is for conventional motor vehicles. Most insurance providers will be able to provide a quote for it as a quadricycle and customers can get cover from Citroen directly.
Owners should shop around for specialist insurance cover, though this shouldn’t be expensive.
Q: Can you drive one on the motorway?
A: No. You’re legally not allowed to drive an Ami on a motorway.
Q: Can you tow it?
A:Citroen doesn’t provide any recommendation about this, though it does make clear that you should not tow an electric car with the driven wheels (front wheels in this case) on the road because it can cause damage to the electric motor.
Q: Does it come with warranty?
Yes it comes with a 2-year manufacturer warranty + 3-year battery warranty + 3-year complimentary roadside assistance.
