Anyone interested in an electric shopping trolley

MarkPorth said:
Full driving licence in the UK
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Why would that be?

As far as I can tell, the same rules as in the EU apply, only the age may vary (14 to get an AM License in France, 15 in Germany, 16 in UK?)

www.gov.uk

Driving licence categories

Driving licence categories - entitlements on your licence and what vehicles you can drive - cars, motorcycles, mopeds, medium and large lorries, minibuses and buses.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

Category AM
You can drive 2-wheeled or 3-wheeled vehicles with a maximum design speed of over 25km/h (15.5mph) but not more than 45km/h (28mph).

This category also includes light quad bikes with:

unladen mass of not more than 350kg (not including batteries if it’s an electric vehicle)
maximum design speed of over 25km/h (15.5mph) but not more than 45km/h (28mph)


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That's what the AMI (and the Opel Rocks-e in Germany, would have thought they'll call it Vauxhall in UK) legally is. A "large quad bike" under 350KG with a max speed restricted to 28mph.
 
MarkPorth said:
It's Full Licence in the UK. Actually says so on Cireons website too.
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It actually doesn't. :)

"A category AM or B (otherwise known as a Full) driving license is required..." -

I believe they put it that way, intending to point out that if you have a B aka Full driving license, you're permitted to drive this (AM is included).

I also doubt the part about it being popular with those banned from driving...

Where I live, If you're banned from driving, they literally take away your license / permission to operate any motor vehicle... it's not like "Cool, we caught you drunk driving your car, how about you take a motorcycle instead?"

Would that be different in the UK?

And off-topic, but is formatting generally disabled in this Forum, or is it an issue only I have?

I'd like to format my post (i.e. put "or B" in bold, my fake quote in italics), but can't.

Back to topic: I think it's pretty cool to run around locally, for a quick drive to the shops, or for teenagers... I guess I would've loved something like this when I was 15. Now if only someone 'hacked' this to make it slightly faster (30-34mph).

I hate that they restrict it to 28, so you become a roadblock in a 30 zone, same as it can do 45 in Europe, when most speed limits in cities are 50 - but that's our laws.

And OH MY - I've known this vehicle for two years, and due to that driving license discussion, it just now dawned on me that they put it in its name: [AM]i.
 
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I have one of these on order as well as the MG4. The MG4 will be our main car but my wife will be commuting to work in it. The AMI will be business use for deliveries/customer pickups in town.
 
We're just not set up for these kind of vehicles in the UK at present. Recent updates to the highway code have brought big changes to the hierarchy of road users. Outside of London councils don't seem to be able to agree on low emission zones, shared use of highways, electric scooters nor cars like Ami. We need big reforms to transport legislation, which will take the Lords forever to debate let alone ratify.
 
raph said:
.....

And off-topic, but is formatting generally disabled in this Forum, or is it an issue only I have?

I'd like to format my post (i.e. put "or B" in bold, my fake quote in italics), but can't.

.....
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Formatting 'works OK on this forum'.

Maybe it is just an issue for you.

Formatting tools are at the top left for me when writing a post.
 
kin said:

Citroën Ami | Citroën Electric Car | Citroën UK

Discover the smallest Citroën car: Citroën Ami. 100% Electric, designed for urban living. Experience the future of mobility with a compact Citroën electric car.
www.citroen.co.uk www.citroen.co.uk
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Here in France the Ami falls into a class of vehicle called 'sans-permis' (literally, without a licence). They can be driven, as one would expect from the name, without a licence by anyone over the age of 14. Other, more conventional, cars in this class are things such as the Ligiers (oh, how the mighty F1 team of old have fallen) and Axiams, both of which have 3 cylinder diesel engines with an auto trans capable of a maximum of 50kph.

For all those that knock the Ami, it's a simply amazing piece of design. For example, it's a steel space frame with plastic panels, the front and rear panels are the same, as are the doors (thus one opens conventianally, the other is a suicide opening) all of which means manufacturing/tooling costs are reduced, as is the weight of the car allowing a tiny motor and batteries to be fitted (remember also that all sans-permis cars are limited to 50kph, so doesn't need huge performance). These all add up to make a car that is sold here, on the road, for €6k brand new.

As a design exercise for a city car, I absolutely love the Ami; Citroen took a long look at some modern day issues affecting city mobility and designed a vehicle that meets those needs perfectly. I can see them making big waves in the pool car/car club arena in places such as Paris, Tolouse etc. and who knows, perhaps London, but they would need to build a proper RHD version for that to ever take off.

If you fancy a giggle, there is a youtube channel called 'Me and mon Ami' about a couple living in the south of France who brought one as neither has a driving licence, and their tours here and there (inc. a trip to Italy!).
 
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raph said:
I also doubt the part about it being popular with those banned from driving...

Where I live, If you're banned from driving, they literally take away your license / permission to operate any motor vehicle... it's not like "Cool, we caught you drunk driving your car, how about you take a motorcycle instead?"

Would that be different in the UK?
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Nope, the OP is perfectly correct, because they are sans-permis here in France they can be, and are, driven by those who have lost their licence (without wishing to generalise, generally the far older generation who still believe that 2-3 bottles of wine with lunch is appropriate because "it's wine, that's not alcohol, alcohol is a Pernod, and I only had two of those" ......) It's one reason why insurance on these things is astronomical; nobody would drive one out of choice, thus they must be very high-risk (very young or very old and drunk).

The running joke here is, if you see an SP car (also known colloqually as 'youghurt pots'), jump in the hedge before it passes, you're less likely to be seriously injured!
 
I was very interest until I saw the 28mph limit and the 2 pin plug charging. Feels like another twizzy fad for the UK. Fun idea but reality is a waste of money for me.
 
BugEyed said:
The Twizy does 53mph as it's a different class of Quadricycle.
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Range is the same as an Ami. In any case I suspect the popularity will wane very quickly and they will end up as undesirable in the UK.

Are sans-permis so much more popular in France. I don't remember seeing any while on holiday this year.
Are
 
raph said:
Where I live, If you're banned from driving, they literally take away your license / permission to operate any motor vehicle... it's not like "Cool, we caught you drunk driving your car, how about you take a motorcycle instead?"

Would that be different in the UK?
Click to expand...

In the UK a considerable proportion of people just carry on driving anyway, just now without insurance.
 
LongRangeDave said:
I was very interest until I saw the 28mph limit and the 2 pin plug charging. Feels like another twizzy fad for the UK. Fun idea but reality is a waste of money for me.
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Have a look at this, this guy put in one of the first if not the first order for a UK one and has all the info. He has done several videos about it.

 
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