New Citroen Ami 2026 facelift review: quirky and fun, but limited in almost every way
The updated Citroen Ami remains a fun car to drive, but is extremely compromised
Verdict
It would take a very joyless person to emerge from a drive of the Citroen Ami without a big grin on their face, but beyond its sense of fun, its appeal to buyers is limited – literally so, when it comes to the top speed. It’s nice to see Citroen adding to the Ami with a greater scope for customisation, but with even the potential of a couple of extra miles per hour flat out would give the Ami much more flexibility. Yet for young drivers, those who have very limited space, or even wealthy buyers who don’t want to cram their Range Rovers into the supermarket car park on the weekly shop, there is still a use case here.
There’s not many cars on sale today where it’s possible to legally hit its top speed on a public road. But with a V-Max of 28mph, the Citroen Ami is one car where buyers will find themselves mashing the throttle on every journey – and still there will be other traffic that will be willing you to get a move on just that little bit more.
The Ami first came to the UK back in 2022 (it launched in Europe in 2020), but now the dinky quadricycle has been treated to a mid-life update.
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That fundamental shape remains unchanged, with a big part of the Ami’s appeal down to the fact that it measures just 2.4 metres long – small enough to park two nose-to-nose within the length of a BMW 5 Series and still have enough wiggle room to drive out again – and just under 1.4 metres wide. Instead, the tiny, boxy shape has been subject to some cosmetic updates.
The front end sees the headlights moved higher up the body, essentially taking the place of the old indicators, which are dropped lower down into the bumpers. It gives the car more of a face than it had previously, making an already cutesy-looking car even more adorable. The styling changes are the same at the rear, because part of the genius of the Ami’s design is that the car is entirely symmetrical front to back.
The front and rear bumpers are interchangeable, and so are the doors, because one is hinged from the front and the other from the back. Having fewer components makes the Ami cheaper to produce – and to fix, if it ever gets bumped.
For such a charming little thing, it was a bit of a shame that the plastic body panels were finished in such a dreary blueish grey finish; its Italian cousin, the Fiat Topolino, looks much sweeter in its standard pale green. Citroen has changed that this time around, with the standard car in a new grey finish which looks more expensive than the old shade. The off-road spec Ami Rocks, complete with more rugged-looking wheels and steel bars in place of the doors, gets a khaki finish.
On the regular Ami, a trio of option packs can alter the looks. Named Icy, Spicy and Minty, they’re not three of Snow White’s lesser-known pals, but exterior colour packs to add a little pop to that grey finish, adding blue, orange or green highlights for the Citroen logo, door handles, window decals and new wheel trims – the latter feature a new, funky pixel-like design.
Slip into the cabin – if we can call it that - and it’s certainly sparse, but also really well designed. The door catches on its latch with a satisfying metallic clunk – there’s more than a hint of Mercedes G-Wagen to it. That’s about the only thing this dinky city car and Merc’s chunky 4x4 have in common inside, though, because ironically when we’re comparing it with a rugged off-roader, the Ami is a lot more utilitarian.
The dashboard is refreshingly simple, with just two rows of three buttons; the lower ones control the heater, blower and hazard warning lights, while the trio above select drive, neutral and reverse. Lights? They’re on all the time, so there’s no need for a switch. Among the accessories catalogue, it’s possible to add a smartphone mount to a panel on top of the dash, removing the need for a built-in infotainment system.
As before, the windows open manually via glass panes which fold upwards – much like the Citroen 2CV. Storage is surprisingly generous, with enough space ahead of the passenger to hold a carry-on suitcase or a few shopping bags, while the large glass area – even above the driver’s head, makes the cabin feel really open and spacious.
The seats have a fixed back, and only the driver’s seat adjusts back and forth. The pedals are quite offset – surprising in such a car with so little going on – and we found that the seats themselves are a little on the narrow side. The Ami isn’t aimed at those with broader shoulders – or waistlines.
With only 8bhp, owners will certainly want to be carrying the bare minimum of extra mass to get along the road. Of course, it only weighs 471kg itself, so that 8bhp goes further than you might expect, but this still isn’t a quick machine.
Driving the Ami on the road is certainly a unique experience, for better and for worse, and the novelty factor of driving something so underpowered and so small is certainly a big part of the car’s charm. Prod the Drive button, release the handbrake (complete with a piece of trim plastic that’s so flimsy we wondered why they bothered) and press the right pedal to the floor. The Ami wooshes away at a gentle rate, but one that’s more than adequate for town driving. The acceleration gently climbs until it halts abruptly at 28 – or sometimes an indicated 29 – miles per hour.
At this point it’s possible to ease off the power – pressing the pedal any further is merely a way to stretch your right ankle rather than getting any more pace. At least that’s the case on the flat or when going downhill; we did find that the Ami struggled to maintain that speed on inclines though, and we found ourselves geeing the car up to eke out an extra fraction of pace.
And that’s one of our issues with the Ami. We would never want it to be a tyre-smoking rocketship (as amusingly silly as that sounds), but with just an extra horsepower or two, plus a top speed limited to even just over 30mph, and the Ami would immediately become much more flexible.
The official range is 46.6 miles from its 5.5kWh gross (5.4kWh usable) battery, which is plenty for a car that travels at this speed, and is also a little on the bumpy side. With little to no soundproofing, it can even sound fairly noisy, with road noise echoing around the very airy cabin. It does keep you dry, though.
It’s at its best at very low speeds. At 7.2 metres, the Ami’s turning circle allows it to spin around in the tightest of sections of road without hassle. Even though the steering is unassisted, the rack is quite light – that’s partly because there are quite a few turns lock to lock, which makes those small manoeuvres bring a lot of arm-twirling with them.
And that brings us onto the price. The Ami starts from £7,695, with each of those colour packs an extra £300. At that price, it’s going to be a very committed buyer who chooses one over, for example a second-hand Smart ForTwo, which is almost as small yet is a whole lot quicker, more comfortable, and refined.
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| Model: | Citroen Ami |
| Price from: | £7,695 |
| Powertrain: | 5.5kWh battery, 1x motor |
| Power: | 8bhp |
| Transmission: | Single-speed, front-wheel drive |
| 0-62mph: | N/A |
| Top speed: | 28mph |
| Range: | 46.6 miles |
| Size (L/W/H): | 2,410/1,390/1,520mm |
| On sale: | January 2026 |
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