Citroën Ami review

You've never seen anything quite like it, have you? What exactly is this car? Well, it’s the Citroën Ami – and technically it’s not a car, it's a large electric quadricycle that has two seats and is less than half the weight of a Vauxhall Corsa.

Indeed, in some European countries the Ami can be driven by 14-year-olds without driving licences. Perhaps sensibly, UK regulations demand that you're at least 16 and have a bike licence.

The Citroën Ami is wildly different, certainly, and undeniably a quirky take on getting around in towns and cities that are increasingly dominated by e-bikes and e-scooters.

Citroen Ami vs rivals drag race video

A more rugged Ami Buggy II version joined the range later on, with steel protective bars in place of the doors and more rugged exterior styling. This includes an off-road khaki colour scheme, reinforced bumpers, headlight surrounds, skid plates, wheel arch extensions and even a rear spoiler.

For all its Dinky Toy appeal and clever design touches, at 2.4m long and 1.4m wide, the Ami isn't actually that much smaller than some small electric cars we’ve seen before. True, it’s smaller than the Dacia Spring and Leapmotor T03, but the discontinued Smart EQ Fortwo and Renault Twizy are even tinier.

What’s new?

- October 2024 – Updated Ami revealed with new styling and colour
- July 2024 – New My Ami Peps trim features exterior decals, a smartphone clip, plus yellow and orange interior trims
- November 2023 – My Ami Pop special edition features bespoke stickers, yellow and white accents and a yellow bag hook on the dashboard
- June 2023 – Limited edition Ami Buggy II goes on sale with bars replacing the doors, a fabric roof and rugged bumpers and skidplates

Every rational assessment of the Citroën Ami has to be weighed against its price and intended use – which is another way of saying that any ‘traditional’ car driver will find the experience massively compromised.

The 28mph speed limiter (that enables 14 year olds to drive the Ami in certain countries) will be the biggest issue for most, and just how constraining that will be depends on where you need to drive. In London, where many roads have a 20mph limit anyway, it's not such a problem.

You can zip out of junctions and through slow town traffic with much the same ease as in a Dacia Spring, thanks to the Ami’s relatively low weight and instant availability of power from its 8bhp electric motor. That said, the Ami doesn’t pin you in your seat in such a noticeable way as some electric cars. Instead, the power builds more gradually.

In freely moving traffic on 30mph roads, though, it's hard not to feel like a nuisance – and on a 40mph road you feel positively exposed. In fact, we’d recommend avoiding 40mph roads (or faster) entirely, because it can feel dangerous with large vans, lorries and buses driving past, and in some cases they might not be able to see you.

The effectiveness of the Ami’s claimed 46-mile range depends on similar constraints, too. If you only plan to drive around a congested city, that’ll probably be plenty, especially when you consider that, according to Citroën, the 5.5kWh battery can be charged in less than four hours.

Certainly, if you need to do more than 30 miles in the summer or 20 miles in the winter, we'd recommend looking at a secondhand proper electric car such as a Leapmotor T03. Why? Well, with the range readout at 15 miles, the Ami starts to limit performance to conserve energy. That might ensure that you eventually get to your destination, but also means you hold up traffic even more. 

If you manage to get the Ami’s range below 10 miles, performance becomes even more limited, specifically to 10mph. From a safety perspective, we'd much prefer it if full performance was available and the range dropped more quickly.

The Ami’s suspension isn’t particularly sophisticated, and it certainly isn't as comfortable as a proper electric car. It’s quite firm and there is a lot of movement when driving over most speed bumps. That said, the Ami’s small proportions means it’s quite easy to avoid big potholes.

A tiny 7.2m turning circle makes the Ami extremely manoeuvrable while the steering is direct enough to make darting in and out of traffic no problem at all. The vehicle's length – or lack of it – even opens up the possibility of parking nose-in to kerbs.

The Ami handles fairly neatly during cornering, although that’s largely because you can’t get up to speeds likely to unsettle it. Mind you, the body does lean a fair bit if you need to make a sudden U-turn.

What’s more significant are the Ami’s noise levels. There is a slight whirring sound from the electric motor, but most noticeable is the increasing level of road noise filtering through as you build up speed. 

You may have guessed the lack of doors in the Buggy makes matters worse and you are exposed to crosswinds, wind noise and the rain. 

“I appreciate the Ami is best used by city dwellers, but I still feel safer and drier in it than if I was on a bicycle or scooter.” – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

The Ami is available only in left-hand-drive form. Citroën says that allows you kerbside access when parking on the correct side of the road, although it isn't ideal in other respects. For example, visibility is restricted when changing lanes or pulling out of junctions, and the lack of a rear-view mirror doesn’t help.

Mind you, that issue is mitigated somewhat by the terrific view you get from the Ami's high driving position and the sheer amount of glass that surrounds you (including above your head). You’re always very aware of where the corners of the car are.

The only drawback is that the Citroën 2CV-inspired half-opening side windows, which are split horizontally and can be flicked up, aren’t that effective at letting in fresh air – and there’s no air conditioning.

During colder months, it can also become difficult to keep the windows clear of mist. A standard fit heating fan does help to mitigate this slightly, but it’s not powerful enough to keep them clear, so visibility can become very limited.

You open the car with a key (very old school), which you twist then give a hefty shove. Amusingly, the driver’s door is rear-hinged so that identical doors can be used on either side of the car to keep costs down. That said, at least the Ami has windows and doors as standard, which you won't get in a similarly priced electric motorbike. 

As mentioned earlier, the Buggy doesn’t have doors, but you can get transparent shower proof covers that zip up around the door frames or can be rolled out the way when not in use.

The Ami’s driving position takes some getting used to because the steering wheel is fixed in place and the driver’s seat only adjusts by sliding forwards and backwards. You may also find the pedals are pressed down at a slightly awkward angle, which can get tiring after a while.

For taller drivers, it can feel a little awkward, but once you’re used to it, it's actually quite a novelty and adds to the fun driving experience.

The seats are flat, simple designs, with little cushioning or back support. That shouldn't be too much of a problem, though, because the Ami is clearly not designed for long journeys.

As with the exterior, the minimalist nature of the interior is offset by the charm of its design, which appears to be at least in part inspired by Duplo. 'Minimalist' is certainly the key word – other than a small screen behind the wheel and a cradle for your phone, there’s very little equipment.

The Buggy is a bit more colourful inside, with yellow highlights on top of the dash and a small yellow bumbag attached to the steering wheel. You can get a special Bluetooth speaker that fits on the dashboard as well.

Quick manoeuvres are also aided by the simple gear selector in the form of three buttons – Reverse, Neutral and Drive. In the Ami, these are located low down on the left hand side of the driver’s seat, but in the Ami Buggy these are placed more conveniently on the dash (to avoid them getting wet).

“I found the Ami gets hot quite quickly in the warmer months and the small side windows don’t let much air in. This isn’t an issue with the Buggy, of course, since it doesn’t have doors at all.” – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

In the Citroën Ami there's space for only one passenger beside the driver. They're slightly off-set, so there’s enough shoulder room for two adults, and you won’t find yourself struggling for headroom, even if you’re tall. The same goes for the passenger leg room, too.

There are storage cubbies in the doors, at the base of the dashboard and on top of the dash. Luggage space is limited to a small cavern behind the seats, but there's space in front of the passenger’s legs to throw in more bags, and some trims get a small hook for hanging up another.

Of course, anyone who really values luggage space or needs to transport more than one passenger will want to look at a real electric car such as the Dacia Spring or Leapmotor T03. Or, if your lifestyle or business suits it, there’s also the commercial variant, called the Citroën My Ami Cargo. It's very similar to the regular Ami, but the passenger seat has been swapped out for a cargo module that doubles as a work table.

“Given its tiny proportions, I was pleasantly surprised by how much leg and head room I had in the Citroën Ami’s passenger seat.” – Jack Mortimer, Content Editor

The Citroën Ami retails at less than half the price of the cheapest 'proper' electric cars, although the price difference is smaller when you consider the Dacia Spring and Leapmotor T03 are available with cash discounts. Factor in the Ami’s 28mph top speed and other limitations, it’s not cheap. We suspect the most attractive option will be to finance the Ami on PCP. 

The entry-level car is simply called ‘Ami’ and comes with LED headlights, a panoramic sunroof, a USB charging socket, a heating fan, a cooling fan, steel wheels and simple exterior styling details. There are also Blue and Orange colour versions, which come with coloured exterior and interior highlights, including for the phone cradle, bag hook, wheel trims and decals.

The Ami Buggy II is significantly more expensive, which, considering it’s basically the regular Ami with no doors and a useless bag, seems a bit expensive. Trying to find one may also be a challenge, with only 40 of them coming to the UK.

Officially, you can only plug the Ami into a normal (Type 2) electric car charging point, and a 0-100% charge will take around four hours. Theoretically, there's nothing to stop you buying an aftermarket adapter and plugging into a domestic socket at home, and a full charge wouldn't take any longer. However, Citroën doesn't officially endorse this – presumably because it can't say for sure whether an adapter sourced by you is definitely safe.

Euro NCAP has yet to appraise the Ami for safety, but the presence of a thin metal frame around you – not unlike a tent structure – highlights the safety compromises required if you choose a quadricycle. Overall, a small electric car will offer you better performance (so you can keep up with traffic), better crash protection and far more safety aids. 

The Ami has not featured in the What Car? Reliability Survey, but Citroën as a brand came 10th out of the 30 manufacturers in the overall league table. That's one place above Dacia.

All Amis come with a two-year unlimited mileage warranty, plus a three-year or 25,000-mile warranty for the battery.

“While the Citroën Ami’s list price is significantly less than any conventional small electric car, the difference is much less when you consider dealer discounts.”  – Jack Mortimer, Content Editor

Buy it if…

- You just need something to pop to your local amenities in

- You want an upgrade from cycling or using a moped

Don’t buy it if…

- You need to venture beyond the inner city

- You sometimes carry more than one passenger

- You value a big boot (or a proper boot at all)

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