As electric vehicles gain traction in just about every form, the line between true “cars” and other alternative forms of transportation continues to blur. Citroën is perfectly fine with that, and its all-electric Ami One is an almost-car that you can drive even if you don’t have a license.
The two-seater looks a lot like some of the other quirky electric concepts we’ve seen over the past half decade or so, but the company is positioning it as a shareable vehicle akin to electric scooters which have begun to take over large cities.
Citroën’s announcement of the Ami One includes the company’s visions for what it calls “an innovative global digital ecosystem” that centers around sharing, renting, and purchasing such vehicles. Interestingly, the company notes that it imagines the Ami One being offered in an “On Demand” fashion, but doesn’t put limits on how long a person actually keeps the vehicle in their possession, noting it could be “5 minutes to 5 years.”
Citroën says you might choose to borrow the car for a couple of hours to run some errands before releasing it back into the wild, so to speak, or rent it for several days. Alternatively, you might choose to keep it for a few months without any longer commitment, or even lease it for years on end.
The vehicle itself is about as bare-bones as you can get, but it’s got a clean and futuristic look that makes it look like a lot of fun to cruise around in. It’s not particularly powerful, with a range of around 60 miles and a top speed of 28 miles per hour, but those modest specs mean that it can be driven without a license by anyone 16 or older.
Citroën, which is only just now testing the waters with new cars in the United States, will likely keep the Ami One in Europe for the time being. It’s still just a concept, but it’s not hard to imagine something like this springing up in the U.S. before long.