Driving the Ami also promises to be undemanding. It is just 2.4m long – 300mm shorter than a Smart ForTwo. With a 14-inch wheel at each corner and big areas of glass all around, parking the Ami should be a cinch, with a turning circle of just 7.2m (24ft). A width of 1.39m should allow it to negotiate the narrowest of lanes. The body panels are bump proof, too.
All of which would count for nothing if it came across as something the council issued to the less fortunate. That is certainly not the case here. The box-like symmetry may mean you don’t know whether it is coming or going (perhaps that is the point of the roof spoiler…) but few boxes are as funky as this, inside and out. It is highly customisable too, with seven versions and six coloured accessory packs available. The main colours for the body are grey, blue, orange or khaki.
Citroën’s pledge of micro-mobility for everyone extends to how you get hold of the Ami. It is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and you can either buy one (from €6,000, about £5,200), lease one (€20 a month) or, like a cross between a Zip car and a Boris bike, rent one by the minute (€0.26/min), hour or day. Managing all that is done online via your smartphone, and once booked you can pick up the car at a special depot or have it delivered to your door.
Well you can if you live in France, where orders are being taken from the end of March, or in the next countries to be befriended by Ami: Spain, Italy, Belgium, Portugal and then Germany.