£6k Citroen Ami electric city car gets green light for the UK

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #164729
    Brydo
    Participant

      The Ami is coming to the UK with a price tag of around £6,000, making it one of the cheapest ways to get a new car today

      Citroen’s award-winning Ami city car has been confirmed for sale in the UK from next Spring, with prices that could start from close to £6,000.

      The news was confirmed by Citroen CEO Vincent Cobée who told Auto Express, “We have agreed and decided that we will bring Ami to the UK as it is – as a left-hand drive car – in the early part of next year.”

      Citroen has already had over 12,000 people in the UK register their interest in Ami, with order books now open so cars can be reserved with a £250 refundable fee.

      Auto Express understands that Ami prices in the UK are expected to be close to those in Europe. In France, the basic Ami costs €6,990 (£5,945) rising to €8,350 (£7,119) for the My Ami Vibe.

      However, UK cars will come with a Type 2 EV charging adaptor in addition to a three-pin plug, which may add a little to the price; Citroen hopes to get it as close to European prices as possible, though. Otherwise, the car will remain unchanged in the UK with four different trim levels likely, plus the commercial Cargo version, expected over here, too.

      Citroen Ami: range and charging
      The Ami – winner of the 2021 Auto Express Technology Award – is powered by an 8bhp motor fed by a 5.5kWh battery, giving it a range of up to 46 miles and a top speed of 28mph. A full charge from either plug will take three hours.

      Using innovative, lightweight body panels, the Ami weighs just 485kg and has a turning circle of just 7.2 meters. At 2,410mm in length there are only seats for two inside and no boot – instead there’s space for a standard plane-cabin-sized piece of luggage. There’s no fancy touchscreen, either, just a holder for the driver’s smartphone, although there is a large glass roof to give a good view up as well as forward.

      The Ami is classed as a quadricycle rather than a car, which means that currently it’s not eligible for the plug-in car grant. And unlike on the continent you will have to be a minimum of 17 years old to drive an Ami in the UK.

      Citroen CEO Vincent Cobée on the Citroen Ami
      Cobée is hoping that Citroen UK can replicate some of the leasing deals on offer in France. “It’s available on lease in France for below a mobile phone subscription,” he told us. “You can put €3,000 down and the monthly subscription is a mobile phone subscription [from €20 a month], or you put €1,000 down and the monthly subscription is the same as a subway pass [from €69 a month].”

      In spite of the low leasing costs, just 25% of Ami buyers go for that option. “So far most people who buy it, actually buy it,” said Cobée.

      Citroen is promising a revolution in the way Ami is bought, too, as Cobée explained: “There’s only one way you can buy an Ami – online. You can go to a dealer, see and test the car and ask the dealer to order the car, but they’ll order the car in your name online. We’re starting with the assumption of tomorrow’s economy, not today’s economy.”

      Cobée admitted that the work done by Citroen UK MD Eurig Druce and his team has persuaded him to bring the car to the UK. “We never planned it for the UK,” said Cobée, “But Eurig said ‘I’ll show you I can sell it.’ This is the type of business I like.”

      Druce said, “It’s so Citroen! One of my jobs is to build our brand image and reputation – this car delivers that message better than any advertising campaign.

      “You look at the vehicle as left hand drive – is it a problem? You’re not that far away from the right-hand side anyway so I think that’s irrelevant. And I’ve got 12,000 people who’ve registered their interest already – they’re people in cities and in rural areas.”

      Druce also revealed that he hoped that the Ami could be introduced with innovative car sharing options. “You cannot have a car that innovative and drive it conventionally,” he said. “People are buying it with cash, but I would love to see collections of Amis on street corners where it could become the norm to not get an Uber, but to get an Ami.”

      The only person who got all his work done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe.
      Anything i post over three lines long please assume it is an article lol.

    Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
    • Author
      Replies
    • #164732
      Wigwam
      Participant

        The new Motability car then. You will only be able to have it in pale blue.

        #164773
        Tharg
        Participant

          Yup, Wigwam. Reckon they ought to lop one of the front wheels off just to make us feel at home!

          #164774
          Rene
          Participant

            That could potentially be the ugliest.. well it’s not a car, is it? Ugliest “vehicle” i’ve seen in a long, long time.

            Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19
            Current: VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23

            #164775
            brydo

              If you drive a few thousand miles a year and live in a large city then its ideal.

              £6,000, two years PIP, then its yours, what’s not to like.

              Electric, so cheaper running costs, it gets better and better.

              12,000 savvy people have already shown interest.

              #164777
              ChrisK
              Participant

                I assume its top speed will be governed to 8 MPH like all the other mobility scooters and of course 4 MPH when used on pavements.

                #164778
                Brydo
                Participant

                  Or maybe even this!

                  The only person who got all his work done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe.
                  Anything i post over three lines long please assume it is an article lol.

                  #164878
                  Brydo
                  Participant

                    Or this

                    SAIC Design has unveiled a new concept vehicle for the motor group’s fledgling EV-only brand, R. It’s called the R RYZR and, as you can tell by the images, it’s an unusual cross between a car and a motorcycle.

                    The R RYZR, according to SAIC Design, represents the “ultimate symbiosis of man and machine,” as it’s a vehicle you wear rather than simply sit on. It comes with a specially designed jacket which needs to be locked into tabs on the seat before it’ll start and drive.

                    By the looks of SAIC Design’s cornering images, the R RYZR will also lean into the bends, a little like the Carver One of the 1990s. The suspension and steering components are on hinges which can tilt the chassis into the apex, like a motorcycle rider. The tyres are also curved like those from a bike to take advantage of this function.

                    It’s styling is a blend of an open-wheel racer and a sports bike. The front wheels and delicate steering components take their leave from Formula One, while the upswept rear end looks like an upscaled version of the tail on a superbike, albeit with an added stabilising fin.

                    Like most recent concepts, the R RYZR has been designed as an electric vehicle, as hinted by the charging port mounted on the rear fairing. However, SAIC Design hasn’t yet revealed the size of the vehicle’s battery packs or the output of its electric motor

                    SAIC Design says the R RYZR recognises the changing ways in which people get around. Following the pandemic, public transport has been shunned in favour of personal vehicles – and this dinky runabout could help prevent our streets from becoming too crowded.

                    Carl Gotham, the company’s Advanced Design Director, said: “R RYZR is an exciting and visceral vision of the future of urban travel. By exploring the unconventional, it unlocks new modes of transport for the future, new experiences and new emotions.”

                    SAIC Design is the London-based styling house for MG, Roewe and the Chinese company’s newly formed, electric only brand, R. The studio was opened in September 2018 and has since produced several striking concepts, such as the MG Cyberster, the gaming-inspired MG MAZE and an art car based on the MG ZS.

                    The only person who got all his work done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe.
                    Anything i post over three lines long please assume it is an article lol.

                    #164883
                    Mm5

                      Watch it be 2000 AP if it makes it on 😆

                      #164961
                      Tharg
                      Participant

                        Only thing wrong with RYZR is it has one wheel too many and isn’t a nice matt light blue.

                        However, it is to be a cross between a car and a motorcycle  and will also lean into the bends. Can we think of another vehicle which did that? Like, having handlebar steering, twistgrip throttle and hand-operated clutch and gears…

                        Yup, our good old friend the Invacar. It did “lean” when cornering. However, being a three-wheeler, it leaned out of the corner rather than into it. Can’t find any snaps of one of the blue beauties on its side but they must exist.

                         

                         

                         

                      Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
                      • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.