The Citroen Ami One Is A City Car That 14-Year-Olds Can Drive, Too!

• It is powered by a 6kW (8PS) electric motor.
• Its 5.5kWh battery can be charged in 3 hours using a 220V plug.
• It is a two-seater car aimed at short-distance urban commuters.

Citroen has launched the Ami One electric city car for sale in European countries. The Ami One was first showcased at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show. It isn’t a car -- in France, the Ami One qualifies as a ‘quadricylce’ and a sans permis car, which means that anyone over 14 can drive one irrespective of whether they have a driver’s license or not. In France, the Ami One costs EUR 6,000 (Rs 5.05 lakh) to buy outright, though a number of economical rental options are also available. The closest we get to something similar in India is the Bajaj Qute, which isn't electric, but a quadricycle.

It is named after the Citroen Ami, an economy car sold in European countries between 1961 and 1978. While the Ami was a proper car that you needed a license to drive, it was a distinctive-looking upright oddity with a reputation for being underpowered.

However, the Ami One’s 8PS power output makes the 32PS 1960s model look like a muscle car. But the Ami One is built to be light and simple. It has a 5.5kWh battery which keeps it chugging along for up to 70km and takes only 3 hours to charge using a 220V plug. The battery and other hardware makes the Ami One weigh 485kg. It’s just 2.41m long, or about a foot shorter than a Bajaj Qute.

Get latest updates on
the automobile community

Login Now

Citroen will start taking orders for the Ami One starting March 30 in France. A few months later, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, and Germany will successively have bookings open for the Ami One. The first deliveries are scheduled to begin in June 2020 in France, where car-sharing in the Ami One will also begin in spring.

You’ll be able to get the Ami One on a flexible rental plan in France. The one-year rental plan costs EUR 19.99 (Rs 1,700) per month with a 10,000km per year limit on mileage. Citroen is collaborating with Free2Move to offer monthly, daily, and hourly rentals. It even has a pay-by-the-minute plan which costs EUR 0.26 (Rs 22) per minute. A new Ami One costs EUR 6,000 (Rs 5.05 lakh).