CIT ROËN Ami

The Ami proves electric mobility doesn’t have to be expensive, provided you don’t mind sacrificing some luxuries…

- Alex Grant

It was an industry buzz-word during the 2010s, but the concept of ‘mobility’ as shared and multi-modal has had a tough 12 months. With almost no warning, Covid-19 dramatically reduced travel and curbed the remaining commuters’ willingness to used public transport for fear of infection. For now, at least, personal mobility has become more desirable, and Citroën appears to have a well-timed solution on its hands.

Like its 1960s city car namesake, the Ami (‘friend’ in French) is designed as a compact, accessible mobility solution, but it’s solving some very different challenges. The automotive industry is channelling vast R&D budgets into long-range, fast-charging electric alternatives to the combustion engine, but Citroën has utilised those technological advances in bitesize form. The result is one of the cheapest four-wheeled electric vehicles on the market; in France, you can purchase one outright for €6,000 (£5,275) including incentives, hire it for less than the cost of a monthly phone bill, or access them ad-hoc for pennies.

Of course, those headline figures require a few compromises. This is a quadricycle, not a car, and it’s been developed with ruthless attention to minimising purchase and maintenance costs. At 2.4m end to end, the entire Ami fits within the wheelbase of a C3, while its front and rear panels are identical and so are the left and right doors – they’re are hinged at opposite ends on each side. There are no textured fabrics or touchscreens inside, no alloy wheel options and the only body colour is primer grey.