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There's still nothing quite like Citroen's Ami Buggy, here lightly updated. Essentially, it's just a lifestyle-orientated version of the city-based Ami quadricycle, but it feels so much more unique than that. Both Ami models have pavement presence, but this one makes you smile too.
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Background
Who says EVs have to be boring? This one isn't: Citroen's Ami Buggy. As the name suggests, it's a lifestyle version of the weird Ami EV city vehicle and we first saw this Buggy design as a concept in 2021 before it went into limited production in 2022 and sold in tiny numbers in the UK in 2023 and 2024. The inspiration for the original design apparently came from a model from Citroen's Riviera back catalogue, the Mehari: but you might think the Ami Buggy closer in concept something like a Mini Moke. So, great for the surf shack beach crowd: rather less suitable for a wet ring road commute in Blighty.
Nevertheless, Citroen managed to sell the 40 My Ami Buggy models it brought to the UK to test the water. Hence the brand's confidence with this updated model, which is now just called the Ami Buggy. It gains the facelift changes made to the fixed-top Ami model in late 2024. And was announced just before Stellantis Group cousin Fiat unveiled a very similar contender, also Ami-based, the Topolino. All these models aren't really proper cars: they're instead classified as 'quadricycles', which entails plenty of limitations. Still, a life without limits would already include conventional transport: this Citroen is deliberately unconventional.
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Range data
| Min | Max |
| Price | 11500 | 11500 |
| Max Speed (mph) | 28 | 28 |
| Min | Max |
| Electric WLTP-Rated Driving Range (miles) | 46 | 46 |
| Length (mm) | 2410 | 2410 |
| Height (mm) | 1390 | 1390 |
Driving experience
Nothing's changed about the drive experience of this updated Ami Buggy. As with the ordinary Ami, it's as well to remember that this is a 'quadricycle' rather than a car. Which means it's limited to 28mph, there's a 46 mile EV driving range and it's not subject to the usual safety stipulations governing cars. Presumably if it was, there be doors... Road tyres and no ride height increase mean the Baja rally-style looks aren't matched by any real off-road prowess. If things go wrong on the sand, there is at least a full-sized spare wheel: it's on the roof...
You sit high and commandingly, all-round visibility is brilliant and if it were legal, you could park it nose-on to the kerb. Park normally and you'll find this Ami takes up half the space of an ordinary car. On the move, other drivers smile and wave you through, while pavement folk wave and make comments ranging across the complete spectrum from admiration to derision, all of which you'll hear clearly through the open door ways. This might be an EV but it certainly isn't quiet, the little motor whirring like a vacuum cleaner as the stiff ride clunks you over the pot holes and speed humps of the urban landscape, suspension travel being rather limited. The hair dryer-like din of the roaring ventilation fan adds to the commotion, on a rainy winter's day its single-speed struggling to clear the vast glass area ahead.
We'll state the obvious: you can't drive this Ami on a motorway - and we'd think twice about major highways too if you don't want a queue of angry drivers behind you. Accept all of these caveats though and you'll find so much to like about urban life with this little Citroen. The Ami's a supremely table little thing and can dart through the traffic like a Deliveroo scooter. Best of all perhaps, the turning circle is outstanding - just 7.2m.
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Design and build
The update to this Ami Buggy follows the facelift visited upon the regular Ami model at the end of 2024. Which means re-shaped headlamps which have been moved higher up the body. Citroen says the changes represent a nod to this model's spiritual ancestor, the 2CV. Plus there's now a smile-shaped indentation in the middle of the nose, which (like the rear panel) features the latest Citroen logo.
Otherwise, it's as before with this Buggy model, which means there are no doors, which breaks up the original version's slab-sided profile. Instead, there's metal tubing across the door apertures, which on inclement days you can cover with transparent rain-proof panels. In a nod to the classic Citroen Mehari, there's a detachable soft top, which can be rolled up and packed away behind the seats.
There's no ride height increase over an ordinary Ami. And unfortunately, the original concept car's chunky off-road tyres still haven't made it to the production version - though presumably you could add them to the gold wheels if you were intent on beach use. The concept's front bull bar and protective light grilles remain missing too, but you do get a black spoiler and the 14-inch steel wheels have a gold finish, complemented by a black centre adorned with a chevron. Also, the logo has been refreshed in a bold new yellow.
Inside the yellow-themed interior, as with the ordinary Ami, there's only two seats, trimmed in black with contrasting yellow stitching. The words 'Pilot' and 'Co-pilot' adorn the roof on each side of the car and yellow arrows on the spoiler show airflow direction. The lower gaps in the doors feature detachable bags for stowage (because there's no real boot). There's an optional removable speaker behind the steering wheel; and a roof-mounted light bar.
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Market and model
Just 40 of the original My Ami Buggy models were offered for sale in the UK, each one priced at around £10,500. A total of 1,000 went on sale across Europe. Expect this updated model to be on sale in similarly small numbers - and at a small increase in that original price. There's only one way you can buy any Ami and that's online. You can go to a dealer, try and test the car - and they can order it for you if necessary, but they'll do so in your name online.
This improved Ami Buggy is also available in a fresh, alternate version, the Ami Buggy Palmeira, featuring an 'energising yellow' colour pack. Inside, it includes three coloured storage boxes, a coloured bag hook, a pair of coloured floor mats, a pair of coloured door nets, a central partition net, a smartphone holder, and the MyConnect Box with MyAmi Play, which connects your smartphone to the vehicle. On the outside, it features bespoke decals for the rear quarter window and wheel arches.
The pack is rounded out by Andy, a tiny robot mascot, who 'perfectly captures New Ami Buggy's playful spirit'. This figurine fits right on the dashboard and keeps you company on every journey, nodding along to the rhythm of the road.
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Cost of ownership
As with an ordinary Ami, UK models will come with a Type 2 EV charging adapter in addition to a 3-pin plug. Expect charge to take around 3 hours from a normal domestic plug, which is the only way of charging. With this EV, there are no decisions to be made about fast or rapid chargers with different plugs and different networks. And of course, this Citroen is terribly eco-centric: it's more battery means smaller manufacturing carbon footprint after all. And then there are all those plastic panels...
We gave you the operating range in our driving section - up to 46 miles - and early test indications are that achieving that on a regular basis is very possible. We can also expect this vehicle to hold its value very well indeed, so if you're prepared to part with your My Ami Buggy, you should find plenty people who want to take it on for not much less than you paid for it.
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Summary
It's difficult to say why you'd choose an Ami Buggy. You probably won't be able to anyway, so few are being made for sale. If you happen to live on the English Riviera, then on the right day for your journey into your local seaside town or favourite beach spot, you might just feel this Citroen to be the best car in the world. But even were you to be so appropriately located, there might still be 350 or so days every year where you might be tempted just to leave it in the garage.
For the very few who'll absolutely love the idea of an Ami Buggy, having to do that probably won't be much of an issue. It's not very expensive, makes an appropriate eco-statement in the driveway and will probably appreciate in value. And they, like us, will probably end up feeling that this is more like the kind of car the original Ami was always intended to be.
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