I got to try the Citroen Ami!

A review of the Citroen Ami
🎤 Host & Producer - Luke Zammit
🎥 Filming - Mavric Said
🔴 / the_future_is. .
Special thanks to Michale Attard Ltd
-- Chapters --
00:27 - Intro
01:22 - The Tech (Battery, Motor, Charging)
03:59 - The Interior Cabin
06:19 - Who is the Ami for?
08:20 - Price
09:07 - Pimp my Ami!
10:13 - Closing comments
#ami #electricvehicle #thefutureiselectric #citroen

[@sammymifsud]

Great video Luke and keep up with your awesome videos. Maybe a review on the Volkswagen e-up in the future?

[@TheFutureisElectric]

Thanks for your support

[@dragonsdenltd]

Superb Luke Just bought one arriving this Thursday here in the UK. I am British but Born at the David Bruce Military Hospital in Imtafa (Father British RAF based at Safi back in 1960) hence me being born there. Oh I miss Malta SO SO Much. Have just subscribed with you and one day will take the wife to Malta (she has never been). Superb I have the POP Version coming which cost me £5800 as was a demo model with 300 miles on her, so Bargains to be had on Demo models

[@TheFutureisElectric]

Awesome! 😎 great to hear, thanks for subscribing.

[@johnfiott]

If you watch other videos, you will see there are also a few downsides to this vehicle for use in Malta. In Summer it is said to get extremely hot inside, while in Winter (so as not to discriminate between the seasons) it apparently lets in cold drafts from the doors. Someone mentioned that the windscreen also mists up easily in Winter, but I believe there are sprays for that which might help. It is constructed in a PSA factory in Morocco "To reduce its price", which is not necessarily a bad thing, but again not quite inspiring on the quality front either. As regards safety, there is said to be no consideration to this at all as it is not a car so does not have to abide by stringent regulations - forget airbags or protective anything or even a safety rating as far as I am aware, but I gladly stand to be corrected if anyone is better informed. Of course there are some pluses too.. it has regenerative braking (which apparently kicks in when there is a certain level of capacity left), it is quick and cheap to charge, is easy to drive and can carry quite a load too. Speed is said to be ok..ish for inner city stop and go driving, parking is great, and it certainly has "character". It's also probably the closest you can get to driving a bumping car or golf cart on public roads, so if that rocks your boat, then go for it.

[@Cman775]

My main reservation of this vehicle is that it’s not fast enough for a lot of our main roads which since the Maltese tend to overtake on the slightest inconvenience presents a worry about safety. At least reaching 60 would have made it more feasible in my opinion

[@TheFutureisElectric]

The vehicles is limited to 45 not by its tech but eu law, a quad cannot exceed 45, in fact as I was driving it, you feel the vehicle wanting to go faster and then being chugged down. On the main roads I agree with your comment about speed, however everywhere else you a genuinely as fast as everybody else..

[@johnfiott]

I wonder if some bright spark (excuse the pun) might bypass such a limiter@@TheFutureisElectric

[@thorbjrnhellehaven5766]

Take a look at Fifth Gear testing it on a track, they had an incident on two wheels. They didn't flip over, but were able to fix the situation. There was an incident with an Ami flipping over in (I think it was) Monacco. I think the max speed is OK, I think it's too unstable for higher speeds.

[@HologramJones]

@@TheFutureisElectric not quite. The Ami can be "hacked" to reach 80km/h and range slightly extended. But it would run afoul of both EU law for quadricycles and Citroën warranties. Valeo, the company that makes the motor and controller stated that this is possible prior to launch but it was reserved for industrial applications.

[@jacobcassar9945]

Was this recorded in summer? If so was the heat bare-able with the windows open or is the absence of an AC a big game changer? Asking as a Maltese person that is looking to buy one.🙂

[@TheFutureisElectric]

It was recorded in summer, during the weekend I tried the car, while driving around I was pleasantly surprised, it didn’t get as hot as one would expect. When the car was left parked in the sun, like any other car it was quite hot inside till I got going. However, you’re going to get a better opinion from those who already own the car, there is a Ami Malta Facebook group, best join and ask there :-)

[@jacobcassar9945]

understood grazzi@@TheFutureisElectric

[@johnsaunders1945]

Very informative video, thank you. I am going for a test drive tomorrow so we'll see and, since I'm used to all the conveniences of a modern car, I am quite nervous. No power assisted steering, no automatic cancellation of indicators and a hand brake to think about 😊

[@TheFutureisElectric]

Cheers! Having no power assisted steering really wasn’t an issue, probably because of it’s small tires. Yeah.. the indicators you have to get used too :p

[@dragonsdenltd]

I have the ECU coding from a mate of mine who works for shall we say a company who makes parts for these Ami, to take the limiter off so when mine arrives I will do the coding to see how she performs and report back. I have been in one with the limiter off which meant that Ami now doing 50 mph. There is a different coding almost like a stage 2 that can make these go 60 mph which is currently being tested by my friend to which I will report back once I know more.

[@thorbjrnhellehaven5766]

2:00 I will argue that not having type2 input for charging is one of the few bad things about AMI. The domestic plug isn't designed for EV charging - pulling the plug while charging will cause some arking, but the Ami charge at about 9A only Using adapter to charge from type2 socket is not good: - If the charging station is part of load sharing/balancing system, you can overload the system, and probably make it shut off, or possibly break something. You could easily charge from domestic socket when needed, even with type2 input, you just need the appropriate cable.

[@ziggarillo]

Nonsense, it pulls 1.8kw a domestic plug copes fine, I know I have one. My kettle pulls 3kw.

[@thorbjrnhellehaven5766]

@@ziggarillo yes their specifications are 16A temporarily but not continuously.. You kettle runs for a few minutes, not several hours. In Norway, it's illegal to regularly charge EVs from domestic sockets. Water heaters have to be hardwired, if they are more than 1500 W. A new socket and plug is usually OK,, but as they get older the contacts get corrosion, and everytime someone pulls the plug with load, there's arcing damaging the contracts.

[@ziggarillo]

​​​ @thorbjrnhellehaven5766 Not in the UK, 2.5kw plug in space heaters are commonly used here. There is absolutely no issue with the Ami. I have only charged mine ftom my 13A domestic supply

[@thorbjrnhellehaven5766]

@@ziggarillo you are right in some ways. While charging EVs from a domestic socket generally isn't a good idea, I guess the Ami is less bad compared to other cars (with larger and higher DC voltage), and so is probably the UK socket compared there European schuko. Because the Ami has a tethered cable with a moulded schuko, You still have the weak link of the schuko. But the Ami use about 9 A and the schuko is rated for the 10A continuous, so you should be OK on that part. The bad thing about domestic sockets is that they don't lock to the plug while charging, and they allow anyone to pull a plug with lice current. Then when the contact is removed there's a small spark (aka. arcing), this will cause the contacts to degrade, after many times this will increase the contact resistance and cause heat. When the resistance is high enough the resistance can cause enough heat to cause a melt down or even fire. The risk is fairly low, but it's very easy for one user to draw the conclusion that because they had no incidents it's safe. Another problem if you use schuko at a public charger, is that anyone can unplug, and when you get back a few hours later, you barely got any charge. This is more of an annoyance, than about safety, but still; as mentioned above: pulling the plug with live current is bad for the contacts. My last issue with vehicles charging from a domestic socket, is that there is no communication between the vehicle and the charge point. If you use a Type2 adapter, at a public charger, or because you have a Type2 socket at home, you ar probably good, most of the time. While the Ami pulls about 9A, most charging stations are set up to deliver 16A or more, maybe even 32A, then there's significant no issues. However if you want to use a station where they implemented load balance or load sharing, the charging station might want to restrict the charging as low as max 6A Then you can run into different issues, if you start to charge an Ami at 9A, when the station wants to restrict charging to 6A. My point is that what seems like a good decision, because it feels convenient when you don't need any special cable, or installation, might come back and bite you later on. Even if you get an EV with Type2 input, there's nothing stopping you from using a "mode2" cable to charge from a domestic socket.

[@ziggarillo]

@@thorbjrnhellehaven5766 Well all I can say is in the UK it perfectly safe to plug in devices with a draw of 3kw. Electric space heaters are mostly 2kw, but up 3kw are not unusual, these are plugged into our 240v 13amp domestic sockets and used continuously.

[@glynndrago5666]

Is the driver on the right side for driving in Malta? Can you drive it with a normal car licence ?

[@TheFutureisElectric]

Correct, there is no right hand drive version. However this honestly wasn’t an issue while driving around the vehicle given it’s size.

[@thorbjrnhellehaven5766]

0:37 I will argue that Citroën Ami is a car. According to Camebridge Dictionary: a road vehicle with an engine, four wheels, and seats for a small number of people. - it's a road vehicle. - the "engine" is an electric motor. - it has four wheels - driver and one passenger, is a small number of people. Yes the L6e class vehicles are "quadricycle", but there's no specific category for car. Standard cars are usually M1 class Microcars are usually L6e or L7e (but some are M1) Microcars are also cars, just very small. Also, there are different technical and safety requirements depending on vehicle class. In my opinion, "car" isn't locked to a specific vehicle class, but is more a general umbrella term.

[@ziggarillo]

There are various definitions , in the US they call almost anything with wheels a car.

[@bijayanandanaik681]

Welcome, when it will be lunch in India as mini EV city car

[@TheFutureisElectric]

I do not know I’m afraid

[@thorbjrnhellehaven5766]

I love the Ami, and I want to want one; however, I don't believe I would be happy with it's winter performance, and presumably why Citroën won't sell them in Norway.

[@duszekjk]

It would be a great vehicle if it cost €3-4K. It is not enough to fully replace the car, so it would only be the city driving replacement. For that I pay less than 100/month, sometimes even 50, so If I wanted my money back in 4 years it sums up to below 4800. I would need to buy some accessories for it and charging is very cheap, but not free. But if there will be an option for a used one for half the price, then at that time I think I would buy it.

[@thorbjrnhellehaven5766]

I think of it more like a replacement for a moped, but with a more comfortable ride in "bad weather". An L6e microcar isn't a replacement for a standard car, if that's what you need. If you don't need a standard car, but could use a moped, a microcar could be interesting. It's all about what one needs. If you don't need more than one passenger, and only need to do city commute at low speed, a slow microcar can be perfect. If you need higher speed, or more passengers or more cargo space, then a standard car is probably a better option.

[@ziggarillo]

you can just about get a 5kwh LiFeP04 battery for €4k. you want the rest of the car thrown in for nothing?

[@BrianJeard]

My ami is in citreon Alicante since October waiting on a new battery pack only 8 months old with 8500 k on clock so beware

[@TheFutureisElectric]

Has to be a warranty issue right…

[@BrianJeard]

@@TheFutureisElectric yes under warranty but nearly 6months since I have had seen my ami I got a courtesy car after 2 months still have it

[@ilgrilluss]

Tkelllem bil Malti.

[@TheFutureisElectric]

nitkellem bil Malti ta’ kuljum, madankollu ma tistax tinjora l-fatt li wieħed minn kull ħames persuni li jgħixu Malta f’dan il punt ma jitkellmux bil-Malti. KZbin hija wkoll pjattaforma globali, li titkellem bil-Malti mhux se jattira telespettaturi barra minn Malta, li huma meħtieġ biex jikber ic channel. Grazzi tas support

[@philippeplouchart8156]

This vehicle will be a great bonus to Ukrainian citizens after the war is over.

[@jansefran1752]

NO. Thanks.

[@antonioquintili2745]

My fiend, are you ok?For me no, this is not my future,your sad future