Ami, the tiny cube on wheels that French 14-year-olds can drive

PARIS: The vehicle is cheap and the reactions from the pavement are a bonus, from the disbelieving double-take or uncontrolled giggle to the frankly envious where-do-I-get-one-of-those (plus the odd pitying stare, but then this is Paris), foreign media reported.

At first glance, Citroën’s new Ami, a playful polypropylene cube on wheels with an unashamedly Toytown aesthetic, seems hardly the kind of car to excite the passions of France’s drivers. But, perhaps because it is not a car, that is just what it is doing. “We sold 500 in the first fortnight,” says Citroën’s Sylvie Krygier in the carmaker’s showroom in the 15th arrondissement. “It’s a recognition our transport habits and requirements are changing, and it’s accessible to almost everyone.”

Classed as a light quadricycle, the Ami is, Citroën says, an “urban mobility object”. All-electric, 2.4 metres long and 1.4m wide, with a top speed of 45km/h (28mph) and a range of 75km (46 miles), it can be driven in France without a full licence by anyone aged 14 or over It can be recharged from a standard home socket in three hours and, in its basic grey-and-orange edition, costs €6,000 (£5,550) to buy outright, or, with €100 down, €78 a month – roughly what most Parisians pay for an all-zone metro and suburban rail pass. Driving it is a doddle.

You sit beneath a panoramic roof in the spacious interior, turn the key, select D for drive from the three buttons to the left of your seat, release the handbrake and depress the accelerator pedal – and off you go, with a surprising kick. In front of you is a monochrome display from the dark ages showing speed, battery level and kilometres remaining before the next charge.

There is no boot, but plenty of neat storage nets for small items and room for shopping in front of the passenger seat.