Citroen AMI ONE & 19_19
On-road future-gazing in pair of Citroen concept cars
IT’S an open secret that nearly all of the concept cars you see on shiny motor show stands these days can’t be driven. However, Citroen’s latest showstand duo, the AMI One and 19_19 (see right), are more than just static sculptures. They’re actually fully functional, and we’ve now taken both for a short spin.
A car park in deepest Leicestershire is hardly the dense, urban, Paris environment for which the tiny two-seat AMI One concept was designed, but climbing onboard for a hands-on taste with Citroen marketing boss
Arnaud Belloni reveals things about this quirky little car that are easily missed from behind a rope at a motor show.
To be honest, AMI One isn’t much more than a moving model; there’s no power steering, no seat adjustment, and the wheels catch the insides of the arches at full lock. There’s little power from the electric motor and the brakes are almost non-existent, too. So, as cute as it looks, it’s hard work to drive.
But that’s largely irrelevant. The AMI One is compact, at just 2,500mm long and 1,500mm wide, but open one of the long doors and you’re greeted by a surprisingly spacious two-seat cabin with room for bags in the back. Large windows front, side and rear, and an opening roof, mean that it’s light and airy, too.
One thing that’s easy to miss about the AMI One is its use of identical parts throughout the vehicle. The front and rear panels are exactly the same, and the doors are produced from the same press, hence why they open in opposite directions. It’s a clever idea, and one that Belloni thinks can save cars of this size.
“Every part that could be reused has been,” he says. “It means when we go to production we are able to reduce costs and the cost of rental or ownership; we want to do an urban electric car that can be driven without a driver’s licence.” Belloni tells us that Citroen is prioritising an affordable approach, and he likens driving an AMI One to using a bike to get around a city.
It’s likely to happen, too. Citroen is part of the Free2Move car-sharing programme, so the infrastructure to lease something like the AMI One already exists. “The issue is just to make something like this happen,” says Belloni.
“Andre Citroen [Citroen’s founder] did not see the 2CV, because he died before it. But I think he would be very proud of both 2CV and this,” Belloni says. “He lowered the price of cars. He created the first consumer loaning company, for ownership on a monthly fee. This is the spirit of that.”
“We want to do an urban electric car that can be driven without a driver’s licence”