The two-seat Ami is 2.4 meters long, 1.4 meters wide, 1.5 meters high, and can only drive up to 45 kilometers per hour. However, it can be charged in just three hours using a power outlet at home, and can drive about 70 kilometers per charge. It costs just $6,600.
The vehicle is so small and slow that, in some countries, it will be regulated not as a car, but as a four-wheeled scooter. This means it can be driven by teenagers as young as 14 in France, or 16 in many other European countries, and they will not need a license.
Citroën made the Ami to be as cheap as possible. The same parts are used for its front and back, and both doors also use the same parts — so the driver’s door opens from the back of the car, but the passenger’s door opens from the front.
The Ami also has very few instruments on its dashboard. Instead, there is a place in the dashboard for the driver’s phone, which can use an app to show more information from the car as it drives.
Citroën plans to start taking orders in France for the Ami on March 30, with buyers starting to receive them in June. People in Paris will also be able to rent an Ami using the Free2Move car sharing service that starts in spring.
After France, the Ami will be available in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Belgium and Germany.
