Citroen Ami Review 2024
Written by Andrew Brady
Quick overview
Pros
- Cheap to buy and run
- Fun to drive
- More weatherproof than a Renault Twizy
Cons
- Won't suit every car buyer's needs
- Interior is best described as basic
- We wouldn't want to crash one
Overall verdict on the Citroen Ami
"The Citroen Ami isn't a car. It's a quirky and affordable way of getting from A to B in marginally more comfort than on a moped. The Ami's 28mph top speed and 47-mile range does limit its market slightly, but it could still make a lot of sense as urban transport or a second vehicle. Once you've driven one, we reckon you'll be looking for an excuse to buy one."
In 2022, there's nothing more in-vogue than saving money and doing your bit for the environment at the same time. That's why the market for affordable electric cars is huge, and the Citroen Ami would be the cheapest on sale, if only it were actually a car.
Technically, the Citroen Ami is a quadricycle. That means it can be driven without a full driving licence, but neither does it have to go through the same stringent safety tests as an actual car. That'll be a compromise too far for many: the lack of airbags and crumple zones is a bit of a worry in this day and age, but you could spend more (and probably go faster) on a push bike. At least the Ami's boxy shell gives you a little bit of protection from the outside world.
We envisage the Ami's future on the kind of car share fleets you see dotted around city centres across Europe: pay a monthly fee and borrow a car when you need it, that kind of thing. But many of us still like to actually own our own cars, and the Citroen Ami could make sense there, too.
For a start, you can buy a Citroen Ami outright for less than an eight-year-old Renault Zoe. Electric motoring doesn't get much cheaper. It'll be thrifty to run, to: you can charge it at home within a few hours and, depending on where you live, you could save money on things like tax and congestion charges.
It's just as easy as any electric car to drive. Turning an actual key and releasing the handbrake lever will be the most strenuous things you'll do in the Ami (admittedly, both feel a bit old-hat for a car of the future), while you'll have to get used to the lack of driver-assist features (no parking sensors or hill-hold assist here). It responds eagerly to direction changes and the instant acceleration provided by the electric motor makes keeping up with city traffic a painless process.
The interior is basic, with two seats fitted as standard and not much in the way of a boot. You'd be best sticking your shopping in the passenger footwell, but you can cram a little behind the seats should you wish. There's not a great deal in unnecessary interior flourishes; the infotainment is provided by your phone, for example, but you can buy an aftermarket Bluetooth speaker to drown out the whine of the electric motor.
If you're looking for a cheap city car, a secondhand Volkswagen Up is probably a more sensible choice than the Citroen Ami. But what the Ami lacks in creature comforts it makes up for in personality: it'll turn heads everywhere it goes, while its back-to-basics driving experience is kind of charming in a quirky kind of way.
Looking for a used car for sale? We've got 100s of Citroen Approved Used Cars for Sale for you to choose from, including a wide range of Citroen Ami models for sale.
Is the Citroen Ami right for you?
It's easy to assume the Citroen Ami will only suit city-dwelling millenials. But perhaps you're an older driver, living in a village and wanting transport to the shop down the road. Or maybe you're a cyclist who commutes by bike but occasionally wants a car with a bit of weather protection or capable of carrying the weekly shop.
If you rarely leave 30mph zones, can charge a car at home and want a zero-emission vehicle for pottering about, the Citroen Ami is a great choice. Sure, something like the Renault Zoe would be a more useable choice, but even a used Zoe is a chunk more expensive than the Ami.
What’s the best Citroen Ami model/engine to choose?
There isn't a great deal of choice in the Citroen Ami line-up. Some of the special editions (like the Ami Pop and the Ami Tonic) bring with them some desirable extra kit, while the Citroen Ami Cargo should be on your radar if you're happy to sacrifice a passenger space for luggage-carrying abilities.
What other cars are similar to the Citroen Ami?
There's nothing else quite like the Citroen Ami but, if you're looking for a budget city runaround, you might want to read our guide to the cheapest electric cars on sale today. A Smart EQ Fortwo could be a good alternative, or a Renault Zoe. Both are actual cars, rather than quadricycles, but they're highly suited to whizzing around town. The MINI Electric is another good choice, as well as the Peugeot e-208 and Vauxhall Corsa-e.
If urban mobility is your thing, the Renault Twizy is perhaps even odder than the Citroen Ami. Otherwise, you might want to consider a bicycle or electric scooter. Or just catching the bus.
Comfort and design: Citroen Ami interior
"If we were to be blunt, we'd say the Citroen Ami's interior doesn't have much in the way of comfort or design. It's functional, though, and a great deal more versatile than a seat on a moped."
Even though Citroen is now officially selling the Ami in the UK, it's only available as a left-hand-drive car (sorry, quadricycle). The brand tries to spin this as a safety thing - it means the passenger gets out on the side of the pavement when parked - but we all know it's more about cutting costs.
In truth, you'll soon get used to sitting on the left. It's such a small car that it doesn't make a huge difference, and it's not like you're going to be doing a great deal of overtaking (something that usually presents a challenge when driving a left-hand-drive car in the UK).
You get just two seats in the Citroen Ami, with a huge passenger footwell and a bit of space behind the seats for carrying luggage. You can slide the driver's seat backwards and forwards, but that's about it for adjustment: the steering wheel doesn't move up and down or in and out.
The seats themselves haven't benefitted from Citroen's Advanced Comfort expertise. They're rather firm, plastic affairs with only the most modest of padding, so very different to what you'd find in the latest Citroen C5 X, for example.
There's no air-conditioning in the Ami, either, although you do get a single-speed heater. It's most useful for de-misting the windows and gets rather noisy: it's a bit like having a hand-dryer in the cabin.
You also get split-opening side windows, like you might get on a bus, while the only mirrors are tiny round door mirrors that you move with your hands.
Quality and finish
If we were to review the Citroen Ami as a car, we'd say it was considerably below-par in terms of interior quality. The cabin has fewer frills than a 30-year-old Skoda Favorit.
But it's not a car, it's a quadricycle. A budget form of urban mobility that you'd take rather than jumping on a push bike or catching a tram. And for that purpose, it's OK: the harsh plastic finishes (of which there are plenty) don't feel particularly flimsy, and we're sure they'll stand the test of time.
Infotainment: Touchscreen, USB, nav and stereo in the Citroen Ami
Citroen says you bring the tech with you in the Ami... and that's not such a bad thing. We all carry around very intelligent mini computers in the form of smartphones, so why bother going to the expense of fitting such technology to the Ami when it'll be dated within a few years?
As such, you can get the Ami with a flimsy phone holder and a USB output for charging. Citroen will also sell you a 'DAT@AMI' box, which plugs into the Ami's on-board diagnostics port. Connect this to your phone via Bluetooth, download the official Citroen My Ami Play app and you can access things like the Ami's current charge status and an estimated remaining range. There's also a Citroen Switch button, which mounts on the steering wheel and acts as a shortcut to opening the Citroen app on your phone.
There aren't any speakers fitted to the Citroen Ami, although you can buy a Bluetooth speaker that fits neatly into a cup holder on the dashboard.
Space and practicality: Citroen Ami boot space
Much like a Smart EQ Fortwo or Renault Twizy, the Citroen Ami is a strict two seater. Unlike the Twizy, though, you actually sit side-by-side with your passenger, rather than one-behind-the-other. The passenger seat is fixed into place but the driver's seat will slide backwards and forwards to help you find a comfortable seating position.
There isn't a glovebox in the Citroen Ami, although the optional colour packs add a number of handy stowage areas. These include a phone holder on the Ami's dashboard shelf, and some useful dashboard storage boxes and nets on the doors.
The Citroen Ami doesn't have a boot. This might seem like a bit of an oversight, but it's not completely impractical. You can fit a bit of luggage behind the two seats (depending how far you slide the driver's seat back), while the passenger seat footwell is relatively cavernous. You can certainly squeeze more luggage into the Ami than you would in the top box of a motorcycle.
If you do need more space, the Citroen Ami is also available with the passenger seat removed. Sold as the Citroen Ami Cargo and intended to appeal to buyers looking for a tiny electric van, the Ami Cargo can carry up to 400 litres of luggage and has an overall payload of 140kg. It even comes with a cargo shelf that sits above the luggage area on (what would be) the passenger side of the car, capable of carrying an additional 40kg.
The Citroen Ami measures 2410mm in length, 1390mm in width and 1525mm in height, meaning it'll fit in roughly half a conventional parking space.
Handling and ride quality: What is the Citroen Ami like to drive?
"The Citroen Ami is hilarious to drive around town, its compact dimensions helping as you dart in and out of spaces (and even creating your own Ami lane if you're feeling brazen enough)."
The Citroen Ami doesn't have power steering, which might come as a bit of a shock if you're used to winding on the lock at crawling speed. You soon adapt to it, though, and the steering is light enough to operate once you're on the way.
It has a turning circle of 7.2 metres, which means you can easily do a 180 when you hit traffic and head the opposite direction. The Smart EQ Fortwo can turn in a slightly smaller space, though, while its power steering also makes lighter work of a three-point turn.
Unsurprisingly, the Citroen Ami doesn't have the most sophisticated suspension setup. Hit a drain cover and you'll know about it, but on the other hand, it's small enough to slalom around potholes. You can even park it forwards into a parallel parking space, if you like.
You can't get anything in the way of reversing sensors or cameras in the Ami but, fortunately, visibility is generally excellent. One criticism we do have is the tiny door mirrors, which could easily miss a motorbike going for an overtake, and you don't even get an interior rear-view mirror. We know it's all about cost-cutting, but we'd happily pay an extra £20 for some bigger side mirrors.
What motors and batteries are available in the Citroen Ami?
The Citroen Ami's 8PS electric motor isn't going to set the world alight. It has a top speed of 28mph which, actually, is plenty if you regularly drive through congested city centres. It'll accelerate from a standstill to flat out in around 10 seconds, so it feels peppy enough when you're pulling away from the traffic lights. We'd love to see a faster Citroen Ami, but EU legislation dictates that quadricycles must be limited to 28mph, so that's unlikely to happen any time soon.
Driving the Citroen Ami is an easy process that'll feel familiar to anyone who's driven an automatic car. You have to turn the key in the ignition (no fancy start button here) then press one of three buttons on the left-hand side of the driver's seat to engage drive, neutral or reverse. There's a manual handbrake to stop the car rolling backwards, while there isn't a 'creep' function built into the gearbox, so you won't start crawling forwards the second you lift your foot off the accelerator.
Maximum electric range in the Citroen Ami
Citroen quotes a 47-mile range for the Citroen Ami. That's not a lot. But that will get you surprisingly far if you're mainly travelling across town. Our drive of the Citroen Ami was in central London, where it'll take you several hours to cover that kind of distance (by which time the hard seats and even harsher suspension will be encouraging you to take a break, anyway).
Refinement and noise levels
There's very little in the way of noise insulation inside the Citroen Ami, so it's not quite the refined experience we're used to from electric cars. Road noise thunders through the cabin while there's a distinct whine from the electric motor. It's unfair to say you won't be able to hear your passenger but, in many ways, we're quite glad it can't exceed 28mph.
Safety equipment: How safe is the Citroen Ami?
The Citroen Ami doesn't come with airbags, crumple zones or anything in the way of driver-assistance tech. It doesn't even have ABS brakes or traction control. Being a quadricycle, it's exempt from Euro NCAP's crash tests, which is probably a good job, as we doubt it'd stack up very well.
That said, would you prefer your 16-year-old child to be driving this or a moped? At least, with four wheels, it ought to be fairly stable. With a top speed of 28mph, you're not going to hit anything too dramatically, either.
If you've got younger kids, it's worth noting that the Citroen Ami doesn't come with Isofix mounting points, while Citroen 'strongly advises' against fitting a child seat.
Charging times: How much does it cost to charge the Citroen Ami?
"The Citroen Ami can be fully charged in just three hours. You don't even need a fancy home charger: it can be plugged in to any three-pin socket. It's just like charging your mobile phone."
The exact cost of charging your Citroen Ami at home will depend on your electricity provider. We'd suggest looking for one with an off-peak tariff that'll allow you to charge the Ami overnight at a reduced rate. Energy costs are rising dramatically but, at the time of writing, one provider is offering electricity for 7.5p per kWh for a brief period overnight (long enough to charge the Ami). That means a full charge of the Ami's 5.5kWh battery could cost as little as 41p. That works out at rate of less than 1p per mile, almost as cheap as walking.
The Citroen Ami comes with a Type 2 adapter that allows you to plug it into a home wallbox, if you've got one, but doing so won't increase the charging speed. Perhaps more importantly, it also allows you to use on-street charging points, meaning you can charge the Ami while you're out and about. Doing so will be more expensive than charging at home, but the first 2000 Citroen Ami buyers in the UK get free access to Ubitricity's network of more than 5500 lamp post chargers.
How reliable is a Citroen Ami?
Citroen may not have been a byword for reliability in the past, but it seems to have improved its game in recent years. The Citroen Ami is very simple so there's not a lot to go wrong: electric motors have less moving parts and complexity than modern petrol or diesel engines, anyway. Citroen guarantees the Ami's battery pack for three years or 25,000 miles.
Insurance groups and costs
The Citroen Ami hasn't been placed in an insurance group. It shouldn't cost a lot to insure (it's not going to do a lot of damage while body panels are easily replaced), but you might need to shop around for a specialist insurance company willing to provide a quote.
VED car tax: What is the annual road tax on a Citroen Ami?
Like all electric vehicles, the Citroen Ami is exempt from road tax so you won't have to pay a penny to the treasury in VED.
How much should you be paying for a used Citroen Ami?
"Prices for a new Citroen Ami start from £7695, while you can brighten it up with an accessory colour pack for an extra £400."
The Citroen Ami is always going to be a low-volume model, so there are only a handful for sale on the used car market at any one time. This rarity means that prices for used examples haven't dropped very far, so don't go expecting used bargains any time soon.
Trim levels and standard equipment
Standard equipment on the Citroen Ami includes two seats with soft-touch padding and integrated head restraints, longitudinal adjustment for the driver's seat, a digital speedometer, a USB charging port and a ventilation fan with heater. There's a panoramic sunroof as standard, folding side windows and two manually-adjustable door mirrors. The Citroen Ami also comes with LED front headlights and rear lights, LED indicators, a front windscreen wash/wipe and a Type 2 charging cable.
There have been various special editions along the way. The Citroen Ami Pop adds the orange colour pack, black front bumper trim, black rear light surrounds, a black rear roof spoiler and two decals surrounding the door capsules.
The Citroen Ami Tonic features an exclusive Khaki colour pack with yellow highlights, black trim at the top of the front bumper with yellow decals, black light surrounds, two decorative roof rails and two decals surrounding the door capsules in khaki and yellow.
The Citroen Ami Vibe comes with the grey colour pack, black exterior trim, two decorative roof rails, 'contour' decals on the side doors and front wings and black wheel arches.
Ask the heycar experts: common questions
Is the Citroen Ami legal in the UK?
Do I need a licence to drive a Citroen Ami?
How fast is the Citroen Ami?
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