Weird. Quirky. Impractical. Cute. Ridiculous. Genius. Just some of the words you could use to describe the new tiny electric van from Citroen: the Ami Cargo. Pundits suggest it may have been produced more as a talking point than as a practical transport solution, but here’s Vanarama Van Expert Tom Roberts with his take on perhaps the strangest electric van on the UK market.
In its car guise, the Ami has a driver and single passenger seat, but because there is hardly any room for anything else the Cargo dispenses with accommodation for a driver’s mate and uses the space as the main cargo area. Yes, it’s THAT kind of van - dump the second seat, turn the space into a cargo hold.
This tiny, almost toy-sized van isn’t actually a commercial vehicle at all - Citroen has declared the van version of the Ami car to be a quadricycle. This is more important than it sounds because it means that business users cannot claim back the VAT charged when buying or leasing the van in the same way they can on a conventional commercial vehicle. We last saw something similar with the now discontinued Renault Twizy - another tiny electric marvel that lasted 15 minutes on the LCV market.
How Big Is The Citroen Ami Cargo Cabin?
Before we get into dimensions, the first thing you’ll notice is the Ami Cargo is left-hand drive. Probably not a huge issue as the van is so narrow, the visibility you’ll have when overtaking will probably be just as good as if you were sat on the right hand side. There’s lots of glass all the way around the cabin - you basically have a 360-degree view of the road - so I reckon this little thing might have the best visibility of any van on the market. The dashboard, meanwhile, consists of a very basic instrument panel and smartphone cradle. Nothing else.
What Powers The Citroen Ami Cargo?
I need to manage expectations here - don’t expect a 120hp electric motor with a battery pack capable of providing a 150-mile range and a top speed in excess of 70mph. There’s none of that. The electric motor is a 6kW job, which equates to just 8hp, and no that’s not a typo. The Ami Cargo is light at its fully-loaded GVM of 700kgs, but it’s not going to win many prizes when it comes to performance, the top speed being just 28mph. It’s not all bad news though, with the motor's astounding torque output of 625Nm, the van can reach its top speed in just 10 seconds – not even a Bugatti Veyron can manage that!
The battery is pretty tiny by today's standards - a capacity of just 5.5kWh, but there’s an advantage here because charging it up to 100% capacity can take as little as 3 hours.
What Is The Citroen Ami Cargo Loadspace Like?
A vertical divider has been placed next to the driver to separate them from the cargo area, which has a capacity of 260 litres. There’s an ‘upper surface’ (I’d call it more of a lid) which not only can support a 40kg weight, but it doubles up as a mobile desk. The flat floor can be adjusted to one of two positions – I’m not quite sure what the advantage of this is, maybe raising the load height for those who don’t want (or are unable) to stoop too low.
There’s just one potential pitfall here that I can see. If you open the loadspace door, there’s a very good chance that a poorly-stacked load could spill out onto the pavement, especially if parcels have been loaded from the top. There’s also an area behind the driver that could potentially take a number of smaller items. Total loadspace is quoted at 400 litres.
The payload of 95kg is probably equivalent to the weight of the now-absent passenger and their seat. It might not sound much, but given the small loadspace you’ve got to play with anyway it’s probably adequate.
Tom’s Takeaways
Citroen makes no bones about their intended market for the Ami - due to its quadricycle status and sub-30mph top speed, it can be driven in France by 16-year-old people. It’s not expensive either and almost certainly safer than a moped or scooter (considering the closed cabin), so potentially there’s quite a large customer base waiting in the wings.
Where do I see the market for this in the UK? An image-conscious local business who wants something to turn heads in the street without relying on the normal vinyl livery. Maybe a pizza shop, maybe an estate agent? I mean, you really wouldn’t want to drive it on a dual carriageway, and don’t take it on a motorway because (wisely) they’re not allowed on them in the UK anyway.
It’s a curious thing… but I’m drawn to it because of its quirkiness. In an LCV market with so many vans sharing platforms, it’s nice to see something genuinely unique. And it certainly is that!
Fancy leasing one? Head over to the Vanarama Citroen Ami Cargo leasing page and check out the best lease deals on this new ‘very little’ electric van.