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When is a car not really a car but a motorcycle? Or rather, when is a motorcycle technically a motorcycle but pretty much a car?
When it’s a “Quadricycle” according to European regulations, which means it’s a four-wheeler that weighs less than 450kg. Specific requirements vary from country to country, but in general a Light Quad is less than 425kg/50cc and legally pretty much the same as a moped. A Heavy Quad is up to 450kg/15kW and equivalent to a motor tricycle.
But in some European countries you can operate a Quad much younger than you could hold a full car licence. Like the age of 14 in France, for example.
Farm-style ATV quadbikes qualify, which is why you often see them being used as daily transport in congested cities.
But these regulations have also spawned a particular class of car. The Renault Twizy is probably the most globally well-known, but the latest is the Citroen Ami battery electric vehicle (BEV); and because Citroen is part of the Stellantis Group, it’s also being sold as the Opel Rocks and reportedly, a reboot of the Fiat Topolino (“little mouse”). Brilliant.
These kinds of Quadricycles are not currently road-legal in New Zealand, so don’t get too excited (although ATVs are of course).
But Euro Quad rules are favourable to BEVs because the batteries are excluded from the weight limit. The Ami packs a 5.5kWh lithium-ion pack (for reference, a Mini Electric is 35kWh), with a 6kW electric motor powering the front axle. It’s good for a range of 75km and can hit 50km/h.
It’s as much a piece of urban design as it is a car; oh hang on, it’s not actually a car. It’s bright and extremely minimalist inside, with just three buttons on the dashboard and a dock for your mobile phone instead of a screen.
The doors are mirror-image: the passenger-side opens as you’d expect, but the driver’s is hinged at the rear like you find at the back of a BMW i3 or Mazda MX-30. The side windows are split and latched like a 2CV.
It’s mainly aimed at rental, car-sharing and pool programmes of course: book one on an app, use it and then leave it somewhere else for the next person. So it’s completely sensible in that way; unless you’re 14 and French, in which case it means… freedom.
Keyword: The Good Oil: When a car is really a motorcycle