Back in 2019, French car maker Citroën sowed a compact electric pod-car at the Geneva Motor Show that could be driven without a license. Production followed a year later and we've since seen the cutesy Ami take a number of different guises – including delivery duties and adventuring.
Now the company has prototyped an even more accessible creature at the 2023 Paris Autonomic trade fair that's designed "to restore autonomy to those who have lost it." Developed in collaboration with conversion specialist PIMAS, the Ami for All can stow a wheelchair inside and be driven by folks who don't have the use of their lower limbs.
Spawned from Citroën's internal idea incubator, modifications specific to disabled drivers include adapted controls to place acceleration and braking at hand level, a knob mounted to the steering wheel for easier one-handed driving, the angle of the rear-mounted driver-side door hinge has been increased for easier access, there are now mounting points inside the cabin for safely stowing a dismantled wheelchair, and a fold-away shelf/board and straps are included to help the driver independently transfer from wheelchair to seat.
An aluminum luggage rack to the rear can also be used to secure a wheelchair, and protected from the elements by tarp. The passenger who undertakes this task can then join the driver inside the vehicle.
As with previous iterations of the compact city car, the vehicle is classed as an electric quadricycle in Europe and can therefore be driven without requiring a license, and can even allow folks as young as 14 years old to get behind the wheel.
The dimensions don't appear to have changed, meaning that the prototype is 2.41 m (7.9 ft) long, 1.39 m (4.5 ft) wide and 1.52 m (4.9 ft) high. It rolls on 14-inch wheels, the 6-kW motor with a top speed of 45 km/h (28 mph) makes the accessible compact car a good fit for inner city use, and the 5.5-kWh under-floor Li-ion battery could get up to 75 km (46.6 miles) per four-hour charge over a standard (for Europe) 220-V socket.
The Ami for All is just a concept for the moment, but Citroën says that it's working to "make this project achievable in the short term." There's no word on when the prototype will move to production, or how much drivers will need to stump up – though the language in the press materials does suggest that there won't be too much of a premium above the €8,000 base price.
Source: Stellantis