I drove a Citroën Ami, one of the world’s smallest cars, in Paris. Why? Because the identical Fiat Topolino will be coming to our shores this year. With an 8-hp electric motor and a 5.5-kWh battery, the Ami will go 47 miles on a charge, to a top speed of 28 mph, and will get to top speed in the same day.No prices yet for the coming US model of the Fiat Topolino, and no arrival date yet that’s any more specific than “2026.”“Every man dies, but how many men truly live?”Thus spake Mel Gibson—more or less—in Braveheart. And it’s with this attitude that I dove headlong into the raucous, crazy, what-are-the-laws-here-anyway traffic of Paris in the rainy winter. Around me were the flat plastic panels and square steel tubes of the high school metal shop project sold by Citroën as the Ami, a name taken from a much larger but no-more-powerful sedan of decades past.Zut alors!This “car” will be coming to the US market later this year as the Fiat Topolino, with a revised and possibly even cuter exterior, so brace yourself, Borraccio.France has had a class of cars like this to accommodate a wide range of drivers who didn’t fit into normal classes of conducteurs: kids 14 and over, old pensioners who couldn’t necessarily operate a full-size, regular voiture, even those convicted of driving under the influence who likewise couldn’t be trusted piloting a big, heavy, regular car. It looks larger in the flesh. Or the plastic.A microcar in France is known as a voiture sans permis (VSP) or voiturette. The Ami is a lightweight two-seater limited to 45 km/h (28 mph) that, like all VSPs, does not require a full driving license. Drivers need only a basic road safety certificate, provided the cars are not used on freeways.The Ami is just such a voiturette. It weighs a kg or two over 1,000 pounds and sits a little over six-and-a-half feet long, four-and-a-half feet wide, and is less than five feet tall. It is bigger than a bread box, but just barely. There’s a flat plastic seat about like what you’d buy at a Dollar General store for a barbecue where you don’t want to have to carry the chair back home. There’s another one next to yours and a bit further back for your lucky passenger.It has a mighty 8-hp electric motor that drives the front wheels to a top speed of 28 mph. Consider it an enclosed, weather-proof, and possibly cuter version of one of those golf-cart-like Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEV) popular in retirement communities.For buyers on a budget, or operating with an ankle monitor, it is better than a moped, for sure.DSC09098 2.JPGInto this contraption I climbed, through the rear-hinged driver’s side door (rear-hinged so they could save money by making only one door—the identical passenger’s door opens with a traditional front hinge). I twisted the key, dropped it into “Avant,” and flung myself into Parisian traffic, a setting for which I was not entirely prepared. The rain added to it.Luckily, not only was there a windshield wiper but—sacre bleu—a windshield defroster. The defroster theoretically worked as a heater, too, though it didn’t work at it very hard. It didn’t even work very well as a defroster, so I kept cracking open the horizontally hinged side windows to get some air in to clear the windscreen. The ride was rough, the seat made you want to stand up to get circulation back into your raging buttocks, and the noise was a constant crashing, banging, cacophony.And yet, I found it kind of cool. The Parisians seemed to accept it, no doubt because they must have categorized me as a DUI, since I don’t look old enough to be a pensioner and certainly not young enough to be a teenager. Or maybe they genuinely didn’t care, noting the passing, if at all, with a Gallic shrug of indifference.With a turning circle less than 24 feet, it was easy to turn around and park, and once positioned it only takes up half a parking space. With an electric motor as its only source of propulsion, it feels quicker than its 10-second 0-60 time suggests. But that narrow track and taller-than-it-should-be height mean you have to watch how quickly you take corners (Google "Citroën Ami tipping over”). I took it for a couple laps around the Arc de Triomphe and survived, though I’m still not at all sure what the rules are for that place—there seemed to be spots where everyone stopped, and other parts where everyone waited for you to go. Who knows?Practical dash.The dash was large, flat, and covered with storage spaces. The smart phone handles entertainment, like a Slate truck. And the interior, with you sitting way at the back, actually feels roomy. In Paris you don’t have to pay for parking if you have an EV, so when I finally found a parking spot each night, I told myself the car would pay for itself in only a few years.I tried twice in the 48 hours I had it to recharge, downloading an app and uploading my credit card info, without ever successfully adding any juice. But charging is different in Paris, with different plugs and cables, so I was probably doing something wrong.Autoweek SOC EV Newsletter sign upWill America embrace a car like this? While the North Dakota ranchers and Nebraska farmers will decry its dinky dimensions, New Yorkers and maybe even some Angelenos will embrace it. Keep an eyeball peeled for when this enters Stellantis/Fiat showrooms here. It’ll be fun, importing with it the je ne sais quoi for which French cars are famous. Remember the Citroëns 2CV, DS, SM, H Van, Traction Avant, and the first Ami? To that list maybe someday we’ll add this new Ami. Attendez-vous, mes amis.
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