Citroën Friend: the advantages and weaknesses of the electric car without a license

Minicitadine without a license has a range of 75 kilometers, its speed is limited to 45 km/h and it is regularly parked in front of colleges and high schools (chic). Because it is a hit among young people.

How the friend, a car without a license accessible from 14 years old, conquered the youth (golden)

From Deauville (Calvados) to La Baule (Loire-Atlantique), the Citroën Ami multiply in the parking lots of colleges and high schools (chic) ​​in place of scooters.

She emerged in June 2020. You have since necessarily crossed the Citroën Friend, an (very small) extraordinary electric vehicle which drives itself from the age of … 14, with a single road safety certificate, the BSR. It has given itself a place on the market and already has more than 20,000 sales.

Minicitadine without a license has a range of 75 kilometers, its speed is limited to 45 km/h and it is regularly parked in front of colleges and high schools (chic). Because it is a hit among young people.

Questioned by News.Fr, The Garage of the Baule Chevrons brand (Loire-Atlantique) explains to sell “one every two weeks”. And you have to be patient, because “there is currently a period of six to eight months”.

But the friend (also) freed himself from the usual distribution rules of the brand, because in addition to the classic concessions circuit, the manufacturer has engaged a partnership with the duo Fnac-Darty where you can also find it. It is also available in a few clicks on the internet.

A small cube 2.41 meters in length

Count around 7,000 euros by taking advantage of the 1,000 euros in the government’s “ecological bonus”, to promote the acquisition of clean vehicles. Also possible to rent it “at around 30 euros per month, after a first rent of around 3,500 euros”, indicates a dealer. An often privileged option.

This very special micro-car is a kind of small 2.41 meter length cube (about twenty centimeters less than a smart), 1.39 m wide and 1.52 high. And it connects to any domestic socket: no need for a particular charging installation. In total, it takes three hours for a full load.

What is the road safety certificate (BSR) ?

The Road Safety Patent (BSR) makes it possible to drive from the age of 14 a scooter of 50 cm 3 or a cart. To pass the BSR (AM category) from 14 years old, you must obtain the school safety school certificate (ASSR) of first or second level or the road safety certificate (ASR). And contact an approved establishment, driving school or associative driving school.
When registering, a training book will be given to you. It contains a questionnaire that you must fill out before starting practical training. The price of the training is generally between 150 and 400 euros in a driving school. Practical training lasts at least eight hours. It takes place over two days (four hours a day maximum).

“I take my car when I want, to go where I want, with friends”

In Deauville and Trouville-sur-Mer (Calvados), the friend found his (young) audience. You can see dozens parked near high school colleges, says The Pays d’Auge.

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“Proportionally to the number of inhabitants, this is the city in which there are the most in France,” said Victor Mary, marketing director of the Automobile Distribution Mary a few months ago.

When parents have the means, “it’s hyper-practical”, sums up a deauvillaise middle school: “I take my car when I want, to go where I want, with friends”. When the choice between the scooter and a license car showed up to the parents of Zoé, they did not hesitate long: “My mom was more ready for a car for security questions. A scooter is more dangerous, “said the teenager.

The ransom of success

In the Côtes-d’Armor, by the sea, still, in Pléneuf-Val-André, Valentine, 14, in the third class, takes the same speech packed in The Penthièvre. “I use my car to go shopping. And to take my dogs to the veterinarian, cotton, cloud and snow, family bichons of the family. »»

Two places. No chest. No car radio, but still a USB socket to connect the phone. A car for small cities. Not for long road steps.

And a real trend. There was already the Renault Twizy, but other players arrive on this market. Mobilize, a subsidiary of the Renault group, unveiled the duo, an electric quadricycle accessible from 14 years old (also). The Swiss manufacturer Micro Mobility Systems, initially specialized in electric scooters, arrives on its side with an egg-shaped mini-city-shaped city-shaped by the 1950s and called Microlino.

In the meantime, for the friend, it is the ransom of success, especially on Facebook where several groups have been created to denounce “the delivery times not respected” and the technical problems, in particular door locks that block, or even Doors that open while driving … and the problem, in the event of a breakdown, it is that if the dealers can lend a free courtesy vehicle, they do not always have a car without a license !

This, not to mention the indignant comments on the social networks of motorists set out to see teenagers roll “without knowing the highway code” ..

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Citroën Friend: the advantages and weaknesses of the electric car without a license

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This model interests you ?
Citroën Friend: the advantages and weaknesses of the electric car without a license

With the friend, Citroën comes to hunt on the territory of the car without a license. But by choosing a “mini” format and electric propulsion, it also opens the doors of urban traffic for all. We take stock of the strengths and weaknesses of the French little French, five months after arriving on the market.

A new recruit

Revealed at the end of February 2020, at the beginning of what was going to be the pandemic of COVVI-19, the Citroën Friend did not choose the best time to start her career. Especially since its status as an electric cart without a license intends it, anyway, as a second plan role. However, the little Frenchwoman, made in Morocco, does not lack arguments to seduce. Here is a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of the new “zero emission” of the rafters.

The advantages of the new Citroën electric friend without a license

No need for a license to drive it

This is obviously the first asset of the girlfriend. In good quadricycle with a driven engine at 45 km/h, It is intended for young adolescents as well as 14 years old and in the drivers who have lost pink paper – or the card, depending on the year ! – or just never got it. By its limited autonomy, we would tend to reserve an urban use, but it is to forget that the cars without a license are not uncommon in rural areas, where, in the case of the friend, the inhabitants often benefit from a individual habitat facilitating access to electricity for recharging.

Her size makes her very easy to handle

If the basics of city driving can be taught through the AM license (ASSR1 and ASSR2 + 7 -hour training), handle a car remains a complex exercise. Getting the proportions and managing your occupation of the driving space is not innate for everyone and the niche quickly becomes a headache. As such, the friend will be a precious ally for those who do not yet feel comfortable at the idea of ​​being alone by car. It measures 2.41 m long, 1.39 m wide and stuck in 7.20 m between two sidewalks. Its cubic drawing allows you to take the measure very quickly. Clearly, the body stops ablump windows. Which does not prevent him from being welcoming for a car of this size. The doors open large and the cubic shape, associated with omnipresent glazing, offer a pleasant feeling of space.

Its price is very affordable

This is a strong argument for Citroën: offer for sale an electric vehicle at € 6,900, which drops to € 6,000 with the help of the capped state at € 900 for the Quadricycle. The main competitor of the friend is none other than the Renault Twizy, € 10,000 in a life finish. However, the real attraction of the friend is not its cash value, but rather its subscription price. Intelligently, the rafters have decided to market his quadricycle as a subscription to an internet box. After a first rent of € 2,641, you can “offer” a friend for € 19.99 per month for 4 years for a maximum of 10,000 km per year. Your car therefore costs you € 3,636 over four years, excluding insurance. For this price, you will be dealing with a stripped friend but who goes to the essentials, with knowing a smartphone connector for music and navigation, heating and locations to put his personal effects.

His maintenance is simple and not expensive

Simplified to the maximum, the friend does not require any particular attention on a daily basis. While recent city dwellers fully play the seduction card with often painted bumpers and vulnerable bodywork to the vagaries of urban traffic, Little Citroën is not afraid of much. Especially since in My FRIA POP declination (+ 900 € cash), the French can even equip herself with bumper reinforcements, the plastic wheel passages being reserved for the My Ami Gray pack (+ € 1,360 cash). In the worst case, changing a shield can be done yourself and the room only costs € 50. Inside, almost nothing can be damaged. Even the seats, usually subjects to the horrors of time in a car, will suffer little damage, since they are in raw plastic barely covered with a pad. No white hair to be done when the time of washing comes. On the mechanical side, the friend promises a very advantageous kilometer cost. The small 6 kW power motor of power does not require any particular maintenance. It will therefore simply be necessary to monitor the wear status of the brake pads and tires. But as its speed is limited to 45 km/h, their wear is only weaker.

No traffic problem and more parking lots

With the proliferation of low -emission zones, the question of traffic by car in urban centers will become more and more significant. No concern to be done with the friend, who benefits, like all other electrics, from derogations. Alternate traffic episodes will therefore not be part of your calendar. It should also be remembered that electric models give access to places reserved in certain centers.

She is not just the city

Even if its speed is bridled at 45 km/h, the friend is not legally required to stay in town. Obviously, there is no question of taking a fast way or the highway, but nationals are also part of its field of action. Technically, it is therefore not the type of track that bridles the use of this small electric. To roll, the Frenchwoman is rather funny and, unlike the other sans-limits “Mazout” rustres type Aixam or Ligier, the 40 nm of instant Citroën couple make it a real toy. Long live at start -up, light (471 kg claimed), it is simply funny in traffic.

Its relatively fast recharge

To be sold at a competitive price, the friend does not embark much technology. Do not imagine plug into a Tesla supercharger, but the Citroën battery being small, its recharge cannot be very long anyway. She will depend on your installation, as always, but the rafters announce whatever happens 3 hours to do the “full”. Daily practice, just like the 75 km of autonomy allowed in a slat, According to the manufacturer. Note that an adapter must be provided to be able to connect to the public limits.

Compare real autonomies of the best electric cars according to our standard of standardized measurements. Battery capacity, consumption, autonomy, we tell you everything !

The weaknesses of the new Citroën electric friend without a license

Its limited autonomy

This is obviously the weak point of the little electric chevrons. Even if 75 km are sufficient on a daily basis for a majority of motorists to go to work and do the shopping, this distance requires to think well and predict its trips. Especially since in use, you will not be able to count on “eco” management of your conduct, since the low power often requires crushing the accelerator. Regenerative, light braking will not allow the experience to be extended a lot, because it remains light. Winter, Heating can also undermine this autonomy. If it therefore seems difficult to travel 75 km, 65 are in any case possible without too much problem.

Its rudimentary comfort

At this price, needless to expect from the small electric chip that it offers you the road services of a “real” city. It’s happy, you say you ! And that recalls, in full debate on the penalty of weight, that the overweight taken by our cars in recent years is above all the consequence of improved safety standards. Still, on the chassis side, the friend is not necessarily a reference. We can find him a funny side of driving, but comfort is not his first quality. The driving position can also derive, since the settings are reduced to the strict minimum, namely to advance or back down the seat. And it is not the equipment that can make up for it since Air conditioning is not even available. Suffice to say that with a glass roof having a greenhouse and only between usal, the summer months promise to be a little hot.

Absent security elements

As an engine quadricycle imposing homologation protocols that are different from traditional cars, the friend allows himself not to offer the same level of safety. On board, no airbag, which in the event of a shock, can make the difference. Also, do not count on ABS or ESP to restore a trajectory or avoid blocking the wheels, Because these technologies are simply unavailable. With its limited speed, the consequences are also, but however prudence with the liveliness of electric propulsion.