This tiny EV is the most ridiculous 'car' I've ever driven — but it's also a blast

The Ami made its debut in France in 2020 and became available in the UK two years later.

It's 7 ft 11 inches long (about a foot shorter than a Smart car,) 4 ft 7 inches wide excluding mirrors and 5 ft high.

To be fair, Citroën doesn't pretend the Ami is anything but an urban runabout. Given it has a range of 46 miles and a top speed of 28 miles-per-hour, that's a somewhat pragmatic decision. I got it up to 22 mph and was too scared to push it any further (maybe that was just as well given the speed limit in London is now 20 mph.)

I wasn't expecting a glass roof — but it's one of the many quirky features of the Ami.

It's also one of the cheapest new vehicles you can buy in the UK, starting at just over £8,000 ($12,285), or $150 a month on finance from Citroën.

However, the Ami is at best a second, if not third, car for most people. If you only need to pop to the shops occasionally or drop a small child off at school, it could fit the bill.

Indeed it can be driven in France without a driver's license by anyone over the age of 14.

As you can see, the Ami has just two seats, no trunk and not much else. The steering wheel is on the "wrong" side for the UK, though that wasn't as much of a problem as I initially feared.

The doors also open backwards, and are pulled closed with that bit of bright orange fabric.

It was just as well the driver who delivered the "car" gave me a crash course in how to work it, otherwise this article might have been very short indeed.

The secret to getting the Ami to move is tucked away on the left-hand side of the driver's seat. D, you guessed it, stands for Drive, N is for Neutral, and R is Reverse. Release the parking brake, press D and you're off.

Being electric, it's completely silent when idling (I'm not too well versed in EVs I admit), but makes a whirring sound not that far removed from a lawnmower when in motion.

This is the view of the cabin and windshield from behind the steering wheel. No, I don't know what the red button does either. I worked out how to turn on the (single) wiper, but failed to master opening the "windows" — and the glass roof means the cabin gets surprisingly warm inside even on a winter's day.

Plastic is the overarching aesthetic and it's the flimsiest thing on four wheels I've ever driven — but the extremely low center of gravity does give some sense of security. I'm pretty sure some cyclists could go faster than the Ami though.

The simple display has miles per hour, total distance driven and the level of charge remaining. Er, that's it.

The Ami also has a fan heater, hazard lights and a USB port, but no radio.

The wide dashboard has all sorts of nooks and crannies for storing erm, stuff, plus some sort of holder for your smartphone.

But what I found quite difficult was the lack of an interior rear-view mirror.

A space in the passenger's footwell is where you could put a small suitcase, or perhaps some groceries. You don't have much choice as there's no space behind the seats.

The cabin is surprisingly roomy because of the vehicle's height, and without a passenger you could use the Ami as a large shopping trolley.

I wasn't trying to prove that the Ami could be used as a tiny removal van, but I ended up buying a chair on one journey and hoped it would fit. Fortunately it did, along with my backpack in the luggage well.

The Ami got more than a few glances on the streets of south London. The crazy paint job certainly helped attract attention.

The car, sorry, quadricycle put a huge grin on my face while I was behind the wheel. It's just ridiculous — that's the word that kept popping into my head. Ridiculous, but also a lot of fun.

I didn't need to charge the Ami (Citroën says it takes about four hours), but the cable is apparently tucked away in the passenger door.

But don't get too attached to the Ami as it's unlikely to be available in the US. Reports late last year suggested that Stellantis' Free2Move rental division was planning to make some Amis available in Washington DC, but this doesn't seem to have happened.

The Ami is also available in slightly more sedate color schemes. I rather like the orange wheels against the grey myself.

Even if I was in the market for a new "ultra-compact" EV, I'm not sure I'd want to buy an Ami. But would I drive one again? Absolutely.