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A large part of the original target market was for teenagers in Europe, and also drivers with restricted licenses within mainland Europe - it's classed as a quadricycle in Europe. But also for carshare and central city hire car schemes.
Unfortunately the UK gov and DVLA had deemed it too heavy for a quadricycle in the UK - so not for 16yr olds on provisional licenses. It's only too heavy because the batteries are weighty and UK law doesn't recognize this.
Regarding safety laws, I'm guessing it's in the same class that you see road legal quad bikes and those little farm vehicles (which have significantly higher top speeds) are road legal.
I like the idea of the Ami. I think it's what the Renault Twizzy should have been. This gives adequate protection from the weather and is a far better option for much of northern Europe which is a bit wetter than the Mediterranean where I think the Twizzy is more popular.
Having got two medium sized cars, I could see this replacing one. Just handy for the shops and not a stupid price like most electric cars.
I like the idea of the Ami. I think it’s what the Renault Twizzy should have been
I also like the idea of it and would prefer it over a Twizy (especially as Twizys are way more expensive now) but it was designed for a specific purpose/scenario as mentioned above which it meets well. I don't think it meets what is expected of a car requiring a full UK license anywhere near as well.
I look at those and I can’t help thinking an e-bike would be a lot more convenient.
ebikes will never appeal to 90%+ of those who wouldn't be regular cyclists or walkers. It's the real and perceived danger of mixing it in traffic, the being exposed to the elements in your best office/going out clothes/hair/makeup, the likelihood of it being nicked if you don't have proper managed storage at most ends of your predicted journeys, all of that. The Ami looks like it could convince some of those, and if it wasn't horrible to look at, might have convinced a few more.
The Ami looks like it could convince some of those
I doubt it, personally. People who want to change will change their behaviours, people who don't won't. I suspect people citing those things you mentioned are in the latter category so won't want to get out of their normal cars. But I hope I'm wrong.
especially as Twizys are way more expensive now
Twizzys are not really any more expensive than they were. Just now you own the battery as oppose pay a monthly rental.
I think the Ami is great - but I can see our local scroats picking it up and wandering off with it/putting it on a wall/turning it over etc 🙁
Twizzys are not really any more expensive than they were. Just now you own the battery as oppose pay a monthly rental.
Good point. The cheapest is still £12K though which is a crazy price for what it is.
Twizzys
Sounds like a chocolate bar doesn't it?
^ that BMW is stunning. Love the styling/design
I agree it's funny money for a crippled scooter i'd still buy a twizzy over an Ami currently based on the ability to make safe passage on roads outside the city rather than being a rolling road block
The more I read real world reviews of the Ami, the less likely I am to follow through with my deposit on one.....
a real world 30% range drop in cold weather on a 40mile range car is pretty bad and would only just cover me going to the 3 of 4 local railway stations.
Mud and water ingress due to shoddy door seals and failed welds on the chassis....
Practical issues with Ami include woefully undersized heater which struggles to keep windshield clear in single digit temps. Might be more designed as a summer car.
The issue is that batteries are really expensive and won’t get cheap until the supply is increased.
No, the price of batteries will drop when the technology allows the use of cheap, readily available elements in their manufacturing.
Lithium is very difficult to extract, and those areas where it’s currently mined are environmental wastelands, plus the extraction requires vast amounts of water. Then there’s cobalt…
There are some interesting developments in battery technology using sodium and iron, both very readily available and very abundant, and it looks very promising, but it’s getting adequate storage density, and scaling up that’s the issue - get past those hurdles and the price of EV’s will drop, making them much more appealing.
Give me an EV that’s the equivalent of my EcoSport, with around 400+ miles range, and I’d be all over it; I’d only need to charge it once or twice a month!
Practical issues with Ami include woefully undersized heater which struggles to keep windshield clear in single digit temps. Might be more designed as a summer car.
Couple that with a wind screen that's 4ft away from the driver and users are keeping extendable window squeegees in the car.....
Lithium is very difficult to extract, and those areas where it’s currently mined are environmental wastelands, plus the extraction requires vast amounts of water. Then there’s cobalt…
Cobalt is being reduced or eliminated from batteries and Lithium is somewhat easier to extract than oil.
a real world 30% range drop in cold weather on a 40mile range car is pretty bad and would only just cover me going to the 3 of 4 local railway stations.Mud and water ingress due to shoddy door seals and failed welds on the chassis….
Cheap Citroen is not very good shocker!!! 🙂
Practical issues with Ami include woefully undersized heater which struggles to keep windshield clear in single digit temps. Might be more designed as a summer car.
Just reading the Top Gear review which says the charging port is in the door frame and you have to leave the car door open to charge it. Unbelievable!
Just reading the Top Gear review which says the charging port is in the door frame and you have to leave the car door open to charge it. Unbelievable!
Fake news. There's a slot for the cable
Edit: all part of the Top Gear anti-EV andt-Citroën propaganda. In an article on their site they claim you'll melt things if you try to fast charge. Of course you won't, there are protection circuits.
Interestingly just saw a YouTube advert for the ami, with no doors (or very minimal) and it was more lifestyle adventure orientated.
(Probably an advert for the primary euro yoof market)
I want one for the beach 🙂
Meh it’s a ‘concept’ :-(, still where do i sign up for one 🙂
I watched the Fifth Gear Recharged test drive of the Ami, on catch up last night.
If you can access Quest on catch up, it’s worth a look. They had it up on two wheels at one point, which is a bit alarming as it’s top speed is only 28 mph. However, they were swinging it around a bit, so under normal use it’s probably ok. Just don’t swerve quickly to avoid any pedestrians or wild animals 🥺
Seems to be a vehicle without a purpose in UK. Still too slow - the youth can't use em like they can in europe Twizzy for its lack of doors still a better poor option
Here's hoping for a Dacia spring launching in UK.
Seems to be a vehicle without a purpose in UK. Still too slow – the youth can’t use em like they can in europe Twizzy for its lack of doors still a better poor option
As I said earlier in thread, it fits our use case perfectly. Just because it doesn’t work for you doesn’t mean it might not work for other people.
When does yours arrive ?
As I said earlier in thread, it fits our use case perfectly. Just because it doesn’t work for you doesn’t mean it might not work for other people.
Yep, I don’t want to get sand in my Aston 🙂
Joking aside,I think the use case is an important thing, short range electric cars are expensive for the limitations.
If something like an ami fits in with your needs for short journeys it’s reasonably priced and quirky.
As I said earlier in thread, it fits our use case perfectly. Just because it doesn’t work for you doesn’t mean it might not work for other people.
What is your use case? The real problem with it is the 28mph top speed, not the range.
I take it that you would be using it solely on 30mph limited roads so good for you but I think outside of living right in a major city that 28mph limit is going to be a real hindrance/dangerous.
I live in an area where most of the B roads are 40mph with a few A roads that are 50 and 60 that I have no option but to use to get anywhere so sadly an Ami doesn't work for me at all.
I live in an area where most of the B roads are 40mph with a few A roads that are 50 and 60 that I have no option but to use to get anywhere so sadly an Ami doesn’t work for me at all.
I think out of its use case it’s compromised,it’s not a car so doesn’t have the crash protection we take for granted.
The nice thing about the petrol smart I have is that it’s capable of handling the 50+60 mph sections as well as being great pootling around tight town sections and tbh plastic deformable bodywork is a useful thing in Spain.
A leccy smart cabrios a bit tasty in the pricing tbh 27.5k+ euros
3) a higher top speed would be betterer for safety – not much faster… 45-50mph would be cool.
Then it would just be a slowish car with different licensing reqts (and not a quadracycle)
I realise though that the Ami will still require a driving license in the UK.
Problem is that urban/interurban infra is/was currently a case of ‘when in Rome you have to keep up with the Romans’. Backpedaling in top gear is of course proving difficult.
It was never a fair fight against the automobile industry, and very few cities and towns ever thought beyond that. So we ‘designed’ a society around all journeys by car (even walking distances), work increasingly around long car-commutes, ‘normal’ being four/five door vehicles with mostly single-occupants and a broadly anti-diverse/monolithic, urban/interurban infrastructure geared more towards the ICE SUV + HGV than towards mass transit + HPVs/cycling.
Backtracking and redesigning will be a long process. Too late, IMO. Holland will be mostly underwater long before we catch up with them.
Then it would just be a slowish car with different licensing reqts (and not a quadracycle)
I realise though that the Ami will still require a driving license in the UK.
That's the point, the vehicle licensing requirements are a French thing, in the UK it is just a car which because of a 28mph top speed (another French requirement which is not a requirement in UK as again just a car) makes it usable by a MUCH smaller group of people that a car that would do say 40mph.
Would have been nice if a UK company could have made a similar (very cheap, low speed, low range) vehicle which wasn't intended to meet quadricycle/under 17 drivers as I think there could be a market for a 50mph car with a 50 mile range as it covers a lot of peoples use cases.
I'll wait for the second gen
I'm sure Citroen (like Renault already have) will realise that the Ami is not fit for purpose in the UK as we do not recognise it as quadracycle due to weight there's little reason to work within those constraints
That said as a city car share system it could work but too much of a one trick pony to want to own one
So we ‘designed’ a society around all journeys by car
I think you are looking at this from slightly the wrong angle. We didn't 'design' society around that at all (the Americans did though) - ours evolved. We started using cars loads when we could - after disposable income for most people started to climb post-war - because most people like using their cars instead of busses or walking.
I've lived in places with good public transport, and people still want cars because PT doesn't go everywhere. So whilst we didn't design society like this we'll have to design and mandate its replacement because people still like driving.
So whilst we didn’t design society like this
Maybe not initially as towns grew but postwar development/ road infrastructure was based around cars.
In the 60s my uncles firm relocated from South London (lots of subsidies to promote this) to Devon. He was in his late 20s and didn’t have a licence, as train/tube/bus got you anywhere but it was a different story in. Perhaps Devon.
And that was repeated for most of his co workers who had previously walked/cycled/bussed to work.
The growth of out of town shopping has also encouraged car journeys, though how much is chicken/egg?
When does yours arrive ?
Haven’t yet put a deposit down as I’d like a bit of clarity over pricing first (I.e to actually see a price list!!)
What is your use case? The real problem with it is the 28mph top speed, not the range.
I take it that you would be using it solely on 30mph limited roads so good for you but I think outside of living right in a major city that 28mph limit is going to be a real hindrance/dangerous
Clean air zone city centre journeys only. A slim possibility it would go to a village outside the city centre but that journey can be done on 30mph roads apart from the very last half-mile. Wouldn’t ever be used outside of town other than that as we have a petrol car.
I’m sure Citroen (like Renault already have) will realise that the Ami is not fit for purpose in the UK as we do not recognise it as quadracycle due to weight there’s little reason to work within those constraints
I’m sorry, but you’re just talking biased bollocks. It is fit for the limited purposes it is intended for - it’s meant solely for urban use. Everyone banging on about low top speed is completely missing the point. In France they can be leased for €18 per month. It’s a cheap, eco city runabout.
it’s meant solely for urban use. Everyone banging on about low top speed is completely missing the point.
I dunno, lots of towns and cities have 40mph or even 50mph roads.
I'll believe it when I see it.
I see the gwizz took off and is every where.
As did the twizzy -despite being more fit for purpose than what is a glorified mobility scooter aimed at the unlicensed youths and drunks in France.
Sinclair C5 was less rubbish 😉
I dunno, lots of towns and cities have 40mph or even 50mph roads.
I’m sure they do. Ours doesn’t. It’s pretty much 30mph if not 20th from all of the city boundaries. It’s Bath, in case you were wondering.
I’ll believe it when I see it
Honestly struggling to see why you give a toss? It doesn’t work for you - fine. But that isn’t to say it wouldn’t work for other people. It isn’t a binary yes/no proposition.
I think it’s great that car companies are exploring mobility alternatives to conventional cars. I think these things would be great as a larger scale hire proposition around towns - just like the electric scooter trials going on here and in Bristol.
think these things would be great as a larger scale hire proposition around towns
This I can see in larger towns - geofenced. Keep them off the ring roads for their own safety
I've a deposit down - but I'm in two minds now as my daughter won't be able to drive it due to its weight. This puts us in the "I may as well spend 6k on a 'propper' car" bracket. I'm now looking at 49cc electric motor bikes (half the cost), but the wife isn't keen. So i<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">m keeping the deposit on it for now as I may buy it, see how it is and then sell on......</span>
but I think outside of living right in a major city that 28mph limit is going to be a real hindrance/dangerous.
I live rurally, all roads out of my village are 50+ but if your going that fast your driving dangerously. Quite often get stuck behind horses, cyclist and tractors, an Ami is no different. An Ami would only be hindrance/dangerous if other road users act irresponsibly. Ok so it would take me 5mins on my journey to town but I'm not fussed by that.
As for neigh sayers, over 10k people have put deposits down. That would suggest that there is a market for them in the UK as they are. I highly doubt Citroen will release a derestricted version - the french owners who have had the speed limiter removed only go an extra 10kph or so and the range is seriously affected.
I was also going to brand it up and use it as a delivery vehicle for my shop, which may still be a possibility, but I nee to look into it with my accountant.
Itll be interesting to see the cost and specs on the new electric fiat Panda - supposed to be the cheapest propper electric car on the market being released this year. They are reported to be releasing an absolutely bare bones version in the base spec - no radio etc.
Itll be interesting to see the cost and specs on the new electric fiat Panda – supposed to be the cheapest propper electric car on the market being released this year. They are reported to be releasing an absolutely bare bones version in the base spec – no radio etc
Noted. That sounds promising. As I too have looked at all the leccy options and come round to a cheap 1l petrol box being the smart choice given my milage (choosing to substitute the car for other methods where possible)
An Ami would only be hindrance/dangerous if other road users act irresponsibly.
Oh that's ok then 🙂
I'm not against these things at all, I'd be happy for our streets to be slower and safer. I'm just saying why I don't think they'll be that successful. I hope I'm wrong.
As for neigh sayers, over 10k people have put deposits down.
It really is a case of horses for courses.