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The Citroen Ami – tiny electric car with no boot, 28mph top speed, 46 mile range

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Re: The Citroen Ami – tiny electric car with no boot, 28mph top speed, 46 mile range

#251

Post by mrweasel »

SimonPStevens wrote: post #142

I do love this, and hope more things like it gets made so there is choice. It's exactly the kind of thing I want for most of my day to day traveling. It's competition though is what I did instead. Last year I brought a 7 year old Nissan leaf. £9,800. 22Kwh battery (probably degraded about 15%, so estimated actual capacity is around 18Kwh) which gives me about 85 miles range with the current battery state. And I get a…

Like you I'm happy to see these things being design, if nothing else as experiments. Personally I don't much see the point.

85 miles is fine for many of the thing I need a car for, but once in a while I need the additional range, and I don't want to own two cars. I also need it to be highway safe, if I'm not on the highway I can almost always bike.

Finally: I need my car to be able to pull a trailer, not a big one necessarily. I have a house, some times I need to pick up DIY stuff, or get things to the recycling station.

For people who need a car infrequently, but need it for long distances or larger hauls, there's very little good options, beyond just buying a bigger, expensive car. I could rent, but that limits my use, and if I do that for a couple of time a months I can just buy a used car for the same money.

Re: The Citroen Ami – tiny electric car with no boot, 28mph top speed, 46 mile range

#252

Post by dghlsakjg »

moonchrome wrote: post #196
dghlsakjg wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried, or are you just speculating about me being delusional? As I said in my comment, I actually do this, and surprised myself with how practical it is in all but the absolute worse weather (there are about 7 days per year where my bike won’t work, but generally that means that it is dangerous driving conditions as well). I live in rural Canada. I’m no stranger to riding in snow, rain and darkness. I could…

I used to own a motorcycle and I commute with a bycicle in ~mediteranian climate. The only two accidents I've ever had on a motorcycle were low speed manuvers in heavy rain when I got caught by a shower. On a bike just riding on a slippery road is terrible and wading through umbrellas, getting splashed by cars in traffic, rain in the eyes. Riding on two wheels makes you extremely exposed - ebikes are just shit motorc…

So you mishandled a motor vehicle that weighs 4-5x, with 100x the power as much as an ebike in the rain, and you commute using a bicycle which explicitly causes the downsides that I avoid using an ebike. I’m not surprised your experience is different

It sounds like your experience is different because haven’t actually tried using an ebike. I used to think that a bike and an ebike were basically the same use case. After having used a bike, an ebike, and a motorcycle for commuting I can say that they are three very different machines.

Please let me know what your experience was commuting in northern bad weather using an ebike before you call me delusional. It sounds like you are extrapolating incorrectly based on inexperience

Re: The Citroen Ami – tiny electric car with no boot, 28mph top speed, 46 mile range

#253

Post by dghlsakjg »

moonchrome wrote: post #171
tlaundal wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the same applies to every other vehicle, but I suppose you would still get in a car on a rainy day? You adjust speed and cycling style to the conditions, and for winter cycling there are plenty of good options for studded tires. The Nordics have succeeded in making winter cycling a more common activity, and you might want to check out the "winter cycling capital of the world": Oulu, Finland.

Last year a friend broke 2 ribs and forearm by slipping over some wet leaves on a bycicle - I don't see how that's comparable to a car. Also I don't have windshield wipers on my face (or windshield for that matter) - but maybe I'm just wired like that.

Last year I sprained my wrist slipping on ice while walking to my car, but I never fell off my bike even though I live in a temperate rainforest.

What should I learn from this one off incident?

Re: The Citroen Ami – tiny electric car with no boot, 28mph top speed, 46 mile range

#254

Post by Xylakant »

yafbum wrote: post #218
Xylakant wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I go to work by e-bike. I have a pair of rain pants that I pull over my regular pants, and a rainproof jacket. I wear glasses, but my helmet has a visor. Would a car keep me drier? Yes, absolutely, but I’d still need to walk from parking lot to office, and I’d be stuck with all the other folks in traffic.

What do you do about shoes in rain?

Waterproof boots or neoprene overshoes. I’ve also seen people with rain trousers that cover the shoes.

Re: The Citroen Ami – tiny electric car with no boot, 28mph top speed, 46 mile range

#255

Post by Xylakant »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #178
Xylakant wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I go to work by e-bike. I have a pair of rain pants that I pull over my regular pants, and a rainproof jacket. I wear glasses, but my helmet has a visor. Would a car keep me drier? Yes, absolutely, but I’d still need to walk from parking lot to office, and I’d be stuck with all the other folks in traffic.

> but I’d still need to walk from parking lot to office FWIW, this is effectively solved by an umbrella.

Yes, or a rain jacket. But trousers still get wet if it’s a bit windy. And then I’m back to square one, or at least close to.

Re: The Citroen Ami – tiny electric car with no boot, 28mph top speed, 46 mile range

#256

Post by 0x457 »

moonchrome wrote: post #141
dghlsakjg wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite honestly, an ebike solves a lot of this. I thought I would never use it in the winter, but a cheap rain suit is perfect to keep me warm and dry, and takes about 20 seconds to put on or take off. I don’t have to worry about sweat since if I get too hot I can just use the throttle or dial up the electric assist. I thought I would never use the thing in winter, but I actually find it absurdly practical.

Sorry but that's delusional - riding in the rain, and especially when it's snowy/icy - is order of magnitude more dangerous - traction/breaking/reduced visibility.

Tell that to people of Vietnam.

Re: The Citroen Ami – tiny electric car with no boot, 28mph top speed, 46 mile range

#257

Post by dghlsakjg »

yafbum wrote: post #218
Xylakant wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I go to work by e-bike. I have a pair of rain pants that I pull over my regular pants, and a rainproof jacket. I wear glasses, but my helmet has a visor. Would a car keep me drier? Yes, absolutely, but I’d still need to walk from parking lot to office, and I’d be stuck with all the other folks in traffic.

What do you do about shoes in rain?

You can buy rain covers for your shoes, or just do whatever it is you do when you walk outside in the rain.

Re: The Citroen Ami – tiny electric car with no boot, 28mph top speed, 46 mile range

#258

Post by dghlsakjg »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #181
iancmceachern wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm an American visiting Paris and have noticed many folks on scooters and ebikes have these skirts that are fabric covers that cover the bike seat and also the legs of the rider when they ride. They also have these mitten like things that attach to the handles that allow you to operate the bike but also protect your hands from the elements. Between those two things, and a decent rain jacket (which you need anyway) i…

Have you seen any solution they're using for transporting things , like groceries or computers or extra clothes?

Baskets, racks, panniers, backpacks, delivery services, cargo bikes, trailers.

A significant number of Parisians don’t own cars so this is no different than before for them.

Re: The Citroen Ami – tiny electric car with no boot, 28mph top speed, 46 mile range

#259

Post by Xylakant »

yafbum wrote: post #217
lm28469 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I must live a very peculiar life then. All I need is a backpack and a rain coat, it's been 7 years or so and I haven't experienced anything life changing so far I get on my bike, go to the store, office, friends, &c. rain, snow, sun, wind, it won't kill you really

Let me guess No kids? What you described was my bike centric life as well until it wasn't. When you have to do school drop-off a couple miles away for middle schoolers, or do that weekly store run for a family, it gets a bit trickier on the bike.

I have kids. They’re sitting happily in the dry under the canopy. It’s great. Wherever I need to drop them off, childcare, sports, friends, I park right in front. Predictable travel times, no stuck in traffic. My long term cycling average speed is on par with the average car speed in Berlin. Sure, on some distances I loose vs. a car, but on others I win, since I can take shortcuts or pass cars stuck in traffic.

Bike packs 100kg of stuff or a large shopping trolley in volume. Works for the weekly shopping without issue.

The only time it sucks is ice on the road. Snow is fine, but ice is not - because bike lanes get treated like third class infrastructure, worse than pavements.

Re: The Citroen Ami – tiny electric car with no boot, 28mph top speed, 46 mile range

#260

Post by eherot »

up2isomorphism wrote: post #78
bambax wrote: post #26

> the £7,695 tiny electric car that has no boot, a 28mph top speed and range of just 46 miles I live in Paris and do everything with an e-bike that also has no boot, no passenger seat, a top speed of ~20mph, a range of ~30 miles... but cost me around €1,200 (since I built it myself). It now has over 7,500 miles. In day trafic it's probably much faster than the Ami, and it can also be put on a train. Couldn't be happi…

It seems people are never thinking what happens if he is getting old. Good luck when you can still ride a bike when you are 70s and in the snow.

Elderly people driving cars isn't exactly an ideal situation either...
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