00:01
let's make one thing clear
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big cities and big cars just don't
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mix so many urban jams caused by
00:08
needlessly big vehicles
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cars that are so wide that they barely
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squeeze through the sort of yawning gaps
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that any normal car would just breeze
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past
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and to cap it all off they're all so
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expensive that their drivers constantly
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have a sweat on because they don't want
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to graze their pride and joy
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if only there was a solution a car that
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was small slim
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something that doesn't cost the earth to
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buy or maybe you don't buy it at all
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you just share it with other people so
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it's over to citron then because the
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french brand reckon that it has created
00:36
the future of urban mobility
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no not that one that one this is a
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citroen ami
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and this is auto express and for more
00:45
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00:47
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00:48
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00:52
so then on to the ami citron has
00:54
designed this to be a car to address
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urban mobility
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environmental concerns and needless fuel
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consumption
01:00
in its home nation of france it'll be
01:02
available through the free-to-move car
01:03
sharing app
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where it can be borrowed for about 23
01:06
pence per minute with similar schemes
01:08
rolled out across europe
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if you want to buy it outright it'll
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cost 6 000 euros that's about 5
01:14
400 pounds and what's just as brilliant
01:16
or maybe even a bit terrifying
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is that in some countries you can borrow
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them without a full driving license
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in france 14 year olds will be able to
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get behind the wheel
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lucky it's not that big then with a
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length of 2.41 meters or to use another
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unit of measurement
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half a skoda superb state the ami is
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tiny
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at 1.39 meters wide it's 25 centimeters
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narrower than the already dinky vw up
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this isn't so much a car then but a
01:40
quadricycle just like the renault twizzy
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but unlike the renault the ami actually
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has an interior with proper doors and
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windows and everything
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citroen describes it as non-conformist
01:50
which is a polite way of calling it
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a bit weird right i have a question for
01:54
you
01:55
is it possible to be cute and ugly at
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the same time
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i'm asking about the car obviously if
02:00
you imagine the face of the yammy
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it's got this weird little monobrow
02:04
thing going on at the top here
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but at the bottom it's got a cute little
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baby tooth hanging down at the bottom at
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the number plate
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and the really mad thing about the ammi
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though is if you come around to the back
02:12
with me
02:12
because as you'll notice it looks
02:14
exactly the same
02:16
as the front and that's all about
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cutting costs
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it's hard to tell if it's coming or
02:21
going and yes it's definitely strange
02:23
but if any brand can get away with doing
02:25
something quirky it has to be citroen
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and just like all the best weird citrons
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of years gone by
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there's method to that madness it's so
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symmetrical that the doors open in
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opposite directions
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this means that the panels and hinges
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are exactly the same on each side
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so one replacement door works at either
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end same for all of the bumpers and all
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the other side panels too
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that's why it's so cheap to buy and
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it'll also be cheap to repair
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it's just as basic inside the driver's
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seat which is barely more than a padded
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plastic panel screwed onto a metal frame
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are just forwards and back but the
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passenger seat is fixed
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the minimalist dashboard has various
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removable shelves and cubbies for
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storing trinkets
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and a smartphone holder in the middle
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it's really quite spacious inside for
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something so small though and there's
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even a space for a wheeled suitcase in
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the passenger footwell
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there's just three buttons on the dash
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one for the hazards one for the window
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heater
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and another for a fan which just seems
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to make a bit of a noise really
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a really simple digital instrument panel
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shows you only what you need to see
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while a tiny set of door mirrors show
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you slightly less than you'd like to
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oh and those windows hinge upwards just
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like on an old two cv
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but how does the army get on out on the
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road amongst all that other traffic
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so then first impressions of the
03:34
citronami
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well it's bouncy it's quite firm
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but it's not too bad if you've driven an
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electric car before
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it feels a little bit slow kind of like
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the handbrake's been left on but
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trust me it's down um but you know
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it's kind of hilarious as well to be
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honest it's very bouncy
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quite noisy i'm only doing 20 miles an
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hour here but i'm
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kind of having to raise my voice a
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little bit but yeah it's
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pretty good fun so obviously this is a
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car which is designed to drive in the
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city and you wouldn't really want to
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drive it anywhere else because
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well everything else on the road feels
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absolutely huge compared to this
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the ami weighs just 485 kilos but don't
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expect catrium like speed or anything
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close
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the front wheels are driven by an
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electric motor that makes six kilowatts
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that's about eight brake horsepower yes
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eight
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full throttle let's see how quickly we
04:27
can go 40 kilometers an hour
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46 kilometers an hour and that's all
04:33
that it's going to give me
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and that was with the help of a downhill
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stretch officially it'll do 28 miles an
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hour
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and while it gets up to that speed okay
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it would have been nice for just a
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couple more miles an hour just to keep
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up with urban traffic
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but while the performance doesn't
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exactly leave your head in a spin the
04:49
maneuverability just might
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one of the great things about the ami
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it's a tiny turning circle just 7.2
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meters
05:01
i'm getting dizzy now so the ammi turns
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like little else on the road
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but despite some skinny little 14 inch
05:08
wheels a very low speed there's a bit
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more heft than you'd think
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there's no power steering at all but
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once you're on the move it's actually
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really light and really easy
05:16
it's not exactly precise and it takes a
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lot of turns to actually get it to go
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anywhere though
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now the visibility in this thing is
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absolutely amazing there's just glass
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everywhere there's a big sunroof as well
05:27
so actually feels really light and airy
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if you're looking back you can basically
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touch the back of the car so
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reversing maneuvers are really easy too
05:35
so weaving through this little housing
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estate the maneuverability
05:38
is amazing as you would expect it's just
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so easy to thread through little gaps
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people looking at me maybe laughing at
05:45
me
05:46
the ami uses a 5.5 kilowatt-hour battery
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which is good for about 44 miles of
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driving perfect for urban environments
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there's no fast charging options here so
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it plugs into a regular wall socket
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full charge takes about three hours but
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the big question is
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will the ami come to the uk well citroen
06:04
execs currently say there's about a 75
06:06
chance of it happening it will be left
06:08
on drive only but it's so small that
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won't really be a hardship
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so then what's the verdict on the ami
06:14
well it's not the most sophisticated
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thing to drive
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but there is definitely a chance of it
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it's just a shame that it's not got just
06:20
a little bit more speed
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and yes it's certainly an extreme
06:24
example for a small car
06:25
but just imagine if everyone in cities
06:27
downsized just a little bit
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or a few more of us shared cars like
06:30
this instead of us each owning a vehicle
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which sits idle in the car part for
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99 of its life maybe it'd be just a
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little bit easier for us all to get
06:37
around
06:39
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