Citroën "AMI For All", a prototype adapted for people with reduced mobility

Since its launch, the Citroën AMI has proven to be a truly chameleon-like vehicle despite its simplicity. Examples of this include the My AMI Tonic, launched last year, or the spectacular My AMI Buggy, the latter a limited edition of just 50 units for France that was a resounding success, and which prompted the brand to go ahead and launch 1,000 more units, which have now finally also arrived in Spain.

Now the brand returns with another project based on the AMI, but this one is undoubtedly more special and certainly more productive, and it has been named Citroën AMI For All. For now it is a prototype that the brand will present from 6 to 8 June at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre, on the occasion of the Autonomic fair in Paris. As you may imagine from its name, it aims to bring the AMI closer to all kinds of people, in this case those who have mobility problems.

According to Citroën, the idea was born through the Star*up programme, a way for Stellantis Group employees themselves to submit their ideas so that, if they are good, the company can consider them and subsequently get involved firsthand in turning the idea into reality. In this case the idea came from a Stellantis employee named Christophe Lapeyre, who in 2022 felt frustrated because the classmates of his stepson who have reduced mobility depended largely on being transported in adapted vehicles, while the rest of their classmates did not. For this reason, Lapeyre saw in the AMI the perfect vehicle so that young people with some kind of disability could also have greater freedom and depend solely on themselves.

Citroën believed in the idea and has therefore carried it out in collaboration with PIMAS, a leading company in the conversion of vehicles for people with reduced mobility. The AMI already has easy access on its own, but to make it even more comfortable, hinges with a wider opening angle have been installed at the rear, so that users can get as close as possible to the AMI to access the interior, while also being able to hold on to the handle installed on the upper part of the door frame. It also features a retractable and removable platform so that the person can be transferred independently from the wheelchair into the interior.

Once inside, the driver has on the steering wheel a knob or ball attachment, as it is commonly called, fitted to the steering wheel to make handling even easier. To set off, they can do so through a lever that has been installed to perform the accelerating and braking functions, although the pedals have in no way been disabled and remain functional. Afterwards, they can store the wheelchair in the front passenger seat area, as slight modifications have been made so that it fits perfectly when folded, and is secured with an additional seat belt. If there is a passenger, the wheelchair can be carried externally at the rear on a specific aluminium rack, an operation the passenger must carry out, and it can even be covered with a canvas created for this purpose.

Otherwise the Citroën AMI For All remains unchanged, so it still has the electric motor of 8.2 CV together with the small lithium-ion battery of 5.5 kWh, which gives it a range of 70 kilometres and can be charged from a conventional plug in just over three hours.