These days, Sofia is chaos. To be fair, it usually is in one way or another, but around the beginning of the school year the streets reach a new level of suffering. Cars crawl at a terminal velocity of 15 km/h and traffic jams multiply exponentially.
Personally, brutal congestion doesn’t bother me much. I’ve discovered I have two legs I can use for walking, and our public transport system isn’t that bad. Sometimes I even dare to cycle along the poorly designed, conflict-heavy and occasionally dangerous bike lanes built by the city’s “visionaries.”
Still, most people haven’t reached those conclusions. They use their legs mainly to press pedals in barely moving cars. And let’s not forget the prestige factor – apparently walking or taking public transport lacks status. Driving at 15 km/h somehow feels superior.
Changing habits without serious state intervention is difficult. But perhaps we can offer alternatives attractive enough to spark interest. So how about an affordable moped you can drive without a helmet, park for free, that consumes almost nothing – and isn’t actually a moped because it has four wheels, doors and a roof?
On paper, it looks like a rational solution for individual urban mobility. It sounds like a microcar. It is a microcar – the Citroen Ami.
Design
I’ve heard symmetry equals beauty. If that’s true, the Ami is a design masterpiece.
The tiny French machine relies on near-total symmetry. Look at the front and rear bumpers (if we can call them bumpers) – they are identical. The same applies to the side panels and the window sections in front of and behind the doors. The symmetry goes so far that one door opens in one direction, and the other opens in the opposite direction.
The goal here isn’t divine beauty (because let’s be honest – the Ami is many things, but not conventionally beautiful). The goal is cost efficiency. Fewer unique parts mean lower production costs. And in my opinion, the car’s charm benefits from this pragmatism.
Overall, the Ami is a likable little microcar. With proportions reminiscent of a pufferfish, it maximises interior space within extremely compact dimensions – 2.41 m long and just 1.39 m wide.
The body panels are made of matte plastic – a big advantage in urban environments prone to minor scrapes. Colour choice is simple because there is none: it comes in a light grey with a subtle bluish tint. Variations come through trim levels. The test car is the Tonic version, featuring neon accents and black panels around the headlights, plus decorative roof rails. Decorative, because you can’t actually mount anything on them.
Creating an attractive microcar is difficult. In my opinion, this is one of the best examples since the BMW Isetta.
Interior
At first glance, the interior looks like a well-glazed grey plastic box. The small seats have thin padding and offer comfort similar to a stadium chair. The passenger seat is fixed, while the driver’s seat adjusts only forward and backward.
The small digital display shows only essentials: speed, total mileage, gear position, remaining range and battery charge. Unfortunately, brightness isn’t adjustable – too bright at night, nearly invisible in strong sunlight. Still, given the Ami’s speed, you don’t really need to obsess over the speedometer.
The “centre console” consists of three buttons and a USB port. The buttons control hazard lights, fan and heating. The fan feels about as powerful as my laptop’s cooling fan but sounds like a clogged hairdryer. The more elegant ventilation solution is to open the side windows, which flip upward using simple latches.
Look closer, though, and the interior reveals clever practicality. Space is surprisingly generous. The passenger can stretch their legs like in a Maybach 62 – as long as the small luggage area in front of them isn’t full. The driver’s space is equally impressive. With my average height, there’s still room behind my seat for additional bags.
I particularly like the bag hook that adds a splash of colour to the grey surroundings. The dashboard features modular storage boxes where you can even place your Bluetooth speaker – because the Ami doesn’t have built-in speakers.
The doors have large storage nets, and the generous glazing, including a glass roof, enhances the sense of openness. The glass roof is almost necessary – if you’re first at a traffic light, the easiest way to see it is through the ceiling.
In the end, the seemingly simple interior is cleverly tailored to the needs of a pure urban microcar. I also love the rear-hinged driver’s door. Combined with its rectangular shape and generous opening, getting in and out is extremely easy.
On the Road
The Ami is powered by an 8 hp electric motor producing 40 Nm of torque. Top speed is limited to 45 km/h, and range is up to 75 km on a single charge. It weighs under 500 kg, which means the lithium-ion battery is small. The upside? It fully charges from a standard 230V household socket in just three hours.
I had wanted to drive the Ami for a long time. I wondered whether 45 km/h would be enough for city traffic, how uncomfortable it would feel, and whether I’d run out of battery on a busy boulevard.
The day finally came. I stood outside the Motoplex showroom near Sofia’s traffic police building holding two keys – one for unlocking the doors, the other for starting the car.
I settled into the firm seat, opened both windows, adjusted the tiny mirrors (they look like they belong on a handbag), turned the key, pressed the D button at the base of the seat, and set off.
Driving the Ami feels like a slow go-kart mixed with a children’s electric ride from a park. It’s firm, direct, and the electric motor is quite loud. There’s no power steering, no brake assist, and no ABS. Interestingly, some electric bicycles now have ABS.
But thanks to the low weight, steering effort is minimal. The turning circle is just 7.2 metres, making parking incredibly easy. In some cases, the Ami fits into spaces between cars – even perpendicular to the road axis. Technically illegal in Bulgaria, but parking laws are often treated as suggestions anyway.
A Few Thoughts on Parking
Parking in Sofia is a painful topic. Obvious violations include parking after no-parking signs, on sidewalks, in intersections or green spaces.
Less obvious violations include parking against traffic or on the left side of a one-way street. Or parking in front of “your own garage” while blocking the sidewalk.
As for perpendicular parking with the Ami – we’re in a grey area. The law states vehicles should park parallel to the road axis. But the Ami isn’t technically a car. It’s driven with category AM. Yet motorcycles (also category AM) are subject to the same parking rules. And the Ami isn’t a motorcycle either. The traffic law clearly needs revision.
Driving the Ami in Sofia turned out far less intimidating than expected. Eight horsepower is enough for urban flow. In several instances when I was first at a traffic light, I pulled away faster than everyone else – though that probably says more about local reaction times than the Ami.
Boulevards with 70 km/h limits are more stressful, but manageable. Other drivers seemed surprisingly tolerant. They understand the car’s limitations.
On narrow streets, the Ami shines. Its slim width and excellent visibility allow higher safe speeds than in a normal car. On streets where I usually drive at 25 km/h, I comfortably maintained 35 km/h in the Ami.
Overall, it proved very suitable for city life. The lack of comfort isn’t an issue for short trips. Faster parking and easier navigation through tight streets save time. And it saves money.
Free parking in many zones, annual tax of around €1, extremely low energy costs – during my test I achieved about 65 km of real range. That equals roughly 8.4 kWh/100 km, or about €0.90–1.80 per 100 km depending on electricity tariff.
A few quirks: there are no high beams. Headlights are always on and cannot flash. The horn is operated from the indicator stalk, not the steering wheel. The indicators don’t auto-cancel but have a three-blink function. And there’s no “Park” gear – always use the handbrake.
Conclusion
On paper, microcars are a rational solution for urban mobility. Yet despite decades of attempts, they’ve never dominated city landscapes.
Perhaps today’s conditions are more favourable than ever for their return – at least in Europe. The Citroen Ami might be the spark of such a revolution. Remind me to read that sentence again in 15 years.
As a microcar, the Ami performs more than adequately. It’s simple but not crude like some past attempts such as the G-Wiz. The fact that it carries the badge of a major manufacturer certainly helps its credibility.
The Ami offers easy and affordable personal transport. It can be driven with category AM from the age of 16. Real-world range of over 60 km is sufficient for daily use, and charging is quick.
In Bulgaria, it costs approximately €10,000. That may sound high for a four-wheeled moped with a roof, but leasing options require less than €1,000 down and monthly payments under €100. Combine that with extremely low operating costs, and the Ami might just be exactly what you need to make city life easier.
Eng. Tsvetan Iliev
