The Citroën Ami One Concept Is a Tiny City Car That Doesn't Require a License

• - French automaker Citroën, which has distinguished itself throughout its history with futuristic designs and wild concepts, will show this "urban mobility concept" in Geneva in March.
  
• - The Ami One concept is an electric two-seater meant to embody some of the spirit of the automaker's classic 2CV.
  
• - It's tiny—almost eight inches shorter than the Smart Fortwo—and has its own Siri-style voice assistant to make it useful for urban ride-sharing.

The year 2019 marks the 100th birthday of innovative French automaker Citroën, and to celebrate, Citroën says that it is "reinventing itself and unveiling an uninhibited take on an urban mobility concept" at next month's Geneva auto show. Called the Ami One concept, it's a tiny electric city car that Citroën says evokes the spirit of the iconic 2CV, and it can be driven by anyone ages 16 and up.

This is not actually a new idea that Citroën has invented. In some countries in Europe—France being one of the pioneers—there is a class of vehicle called quadricycles, which are able to be driven by 16-year-olds (or 14 in France) that don't have a full driver's license. An extremely small amount of training is required to be approved to drive them—amounting to a few hours in a classroom, a few hours on the road, and an exam—but that's all waived if you were born before 1988. Such cars, like the existing Renault Twizy, are limited to a top speed of just 28 mph, and they can't be driven on major roads or highways.

When we say that the Ami One is tiny, we mean it. At just 98.4 inches long, it's 7.7 inches shorter than a Smart Fortwo. The exterior design of the Ami One is as wacky as you would expect from Citroën, with a cube-shaped body, a roll-back canvas roof, a two-tone orange-and-black finish with tinted glass, and lots of futuristic detailing. The doors, fenders, bumpers, door mirrors, side sills, head- and taillights, and more are all identical components to save money and reduce complexity. This means the doors are hinged on opposite sides, and they unlock via a QR code on the handles.