Could The Citroen Ami Be The Future Of Urban Transport

In 1948, Citroen launched the 2CV, a stripped down, incredibly cheap car. It was a huge success over its 42 years of production, selling more than 3.8 million units. Citroen has clearly been thinking about how to relive this glory in the electric age, and has come up with what it hopes is a new gamechanger – the Ami. It’s an EV, it’s tiny, it has eye-catching looks, and best of all, it’s very cheap. The Ami is already available in France, with over 1,000 sold so far. It costs a mere €6,000 ($7,300) but isn’t necessarily aimed at one-off purchasing. Car sharing has been on the rise around the world, and is projected to be a $9 billion global market by 2026, up from $2.5 billion in 2019. The Ami hits the purely urban segment of this right on the nose. It’s already available via Free2Move in Paris for €0.26 ($0.32) a minute plus a €9.90 ($12) per month subscription. Or you can rent it long term for €19.99 ($24.36) a month plus a €2,644 ($3,222) initial payment. You could even get one for your kids to use – and they really could, because it’s classified as a quadricycle, so in France anyone over 14 can drive it without a license, and similar rules apply in most European countries. So what’s the Ami actually like? I got to take one out for a spin around the streets of London, just 24 hours before the city was locked down once again due to the Coronavirus. Since this car is so novel, it gets a lot of attention, with people taking photos of it when you stop at traffic lights. Where...