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Meet the Citroen Ami – the iconic French company’s latest attempt to provide mobility for all – a cute, two-seater city EV, which can be rented from just £17 per month.
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More news on Ami pricing in the UK – and further developments to the product offer – as we get them. The Free2Move app allows pay-as-you-go driving in some mainland European cities, but there's also a lease plan where customers pay a deposit of a hundred euros, then pay €75 a month – the same price as a Paris Metro pass. 'And I have a vision of a collection of Amis on street corners, and it becomes a norm that you get an Ami not an Uber. 'There will be a high number of people who want to have usage of the vehicle,' he continues. Will I be able to pick up an Ami off the street?ĭruce admits that Citroën UK is still working on the business case, but the Ami will be sold outright as that's the primary means of transaction so far, despite its online sales channel.
#ELECTRIC CITY CAR DRIVERS#
French regulations allow 14-year-olds to pilot the EV in the UK, drivers require a full licence and must therefore be at least 17. 'Their average age is 15 years younger than the norm, and 48 per cent are considering letting their teenagers drive the vehicle,' explains Cobée. In France, the vast majority of Ami consumers don't own a Citroën. So long as they can avoid A-roads: top speed is 28mph, but that's adequate for snarled-up cities. So far it's pulled in 12,000 potential customers – who get priority reservation access from today, Wednesday 22 September – and the boss is keen to convert them.ĭruce's interested parties include plenty of urban dwellers, but also retired rural folk who want a zero emission way to visit local services in nearby villages.
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With the enthusiasm of a child lobbying parents for a first smartphone, Druce clandestinely set up an Ami 'register your interest' page on the UK website. He spent hours with us on Ami, driving it and he said: "I'd like to consider launching it in the UK." I replied: "Eurig, it's left-hand drive!" To which he responded: "I don't care, I'm going to try nonetheless"!' Earlier in the year, Cobée told Car: 'Eurig is shaking the boat, I have every faith in him. The man behind the gamble, Eurig DruceĬitroën's CEO Vincent Cobée is clearly fond of his managing director in the UK.
#ELECTRIC CITY CAR WINDOWS#
To help keep costs down, smart, functional design includes interchangeable body panels front-to-back, identical doors even down to the hinge position and windows that are flipped open by hand. 'We need to take these things into consideration and we have to deliver a return for generating those changes,' says Druce.Įxpect the modifications to take the sticker price beyond £6000, but still beneath the £8995 of the cheapest Dacia (the Sandero), though the use case is far narrower. Other changes naturally include converting the digital odometer to mph, and realigning the headlamps. In France the two-seat Ami charges its 5.5kWh battery in just three hours off a domestic plug for the UK, it will need converting to a Type 2 socket to access public chargers and domestic wallboxes. If we moved the steering wheel, you're talking about maybe a 30cm shift in position.' How much re-engineering is needed for the UK?ĭon't hold your breath for a steering wheel on the right side of the car UK Amis will remain strictly left-hand drive.Ĭitroën UK managing director Eurig Druce – the driving force behind the 1.4m-wide vehicle's introduction this side of the channel – says: 'Is it really a problem? When you sit in the Ami, you're not far away from the right side in any case.
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It'll be far cheaper than its kindred spirit, the Renault Twizy, which is also a titchy, electric quadricycle, but costs about twice times as much at £11,995.