Although we have been encouraged to switch to electric cars for many years, the sad reality is that most people simply can't afford the expense, even if later operating costs can compensate for it.

It cannot be denied that most electric car manufacturers think of their projects as luxurious, which means a high standard, as many kilometers traveled on a single charge and, of course, a price beyond the reach of most mortals. Just look at Tesla, probably everyone would like to have it in your garage, but the price is usually prohibitive. By the way, there are other problems, because as we are most often dealing with sedans and SUVs, they are characterized by a size that is actually comfortable on longer routes, but in crowded cities can be a major drawback.

However, it seems to be noticed by another car concern, so far rather not associated with electric cars, namely Citroen. Therefore, during this year's Geneva Salon, it will present its vision of urban mobility, whose priority will be accessibility for everyone, and the AMI ONE model will be discussed. It combines all the advantages of electric drive technology with small dimensions, practicality and price, thanks to which it has a chance to reach a wide audience and fit into even the smallest parking space.

The body with geometric shapes has extremely compact dimensions (length 2.5 m, width 1.5 m and height 1.5 m), and the car is extremely handy and manoeuvrable, thanks to which it feels perfectly in the city and hands, even the inexperienced driver. It turns out that the car is to be available in Europe for drivers with a B1 driving license who is over 16 years old. Of course, this specific design (e.g. doors opened in different directions) has its drawbacks and certainly does not look as stylish as the competition's proposals, but this is not its goal - safety, comfort of moving around the city and production cost are priority.

Thanks to this, the Citroen Ami price was set at a very interesting level of 6,900 Euro, and what is more, the company also provides for many additional rental plans - with a long-term, i.e. 48 months, we have to take into account the starting amount of approx. EUR 3,500, and then a fixed fee of only EUR 20 per month! Returning, however, for a moment to technical issues, Ami is intended for short city routes, so we have a set of 5.5 kWh, which provide a range of up to 100 km, and the maximum speed of the car is 45 km/h. When it comes to charging, using a typical socket we have to take into account a time of about 3 hours (at a city charging station or Wallbox point two hours).

At the same time, the car is quiet, but at the same time compliant with the EU regulation implemented on January 1, 2019, according to which electric vehicles must generate a pedestrian warning sound while driving. The car will be partly serviced by the dedicated My Citroën mobile application, thanks to which we can check the remaining range, battery level and remaining time to full charge, mileage, messages about inspection dates, will arrange an appointment at an authorized service center and find the nearest charging station. Orders can be placed first in France, i.e. from March 30 and enjoy the car in June, and the other large European countries have to wait for a few more months to start selling. 

• Citroen presents a futuristic model of an autonomous electric car