After presenting its new graphic identity, Citroën today presents OLI, which represents the second stage of its new positioning and prefigures what the future Citroëns of tomorrow will be. The automobile is undergoing profound transformations and will have to reinvent itself with the arrival of 100% electric by 2035. Citroën is taking the bull by the horns and taking the opportunity to imagine a concept which, more than ever, puts the automobile back in the heart while making it more responsible, more accessible, more ingenious too.
OLI echoes AMI since its name can also be written ALL-ë, which represents Citroën's mission: to offer a simple, accessible and intelligent electric mobility solution. OLI comes in the form of an urban SUV 4m20 long, 1m90 wide and 1m65 high, i.e. dimensions almost in line with current automotive standards for urban SUVs. Where Citroën hits hard is on the weight of its concept: 1,000 kg. Because, with OLI, the brand has taken care to save weight, crucial for an electric vehicle, which avoids carrying too large a battery and thus allows it to be accessible. Citroën takes the total opposite of the current trend of always too much, too big, too high, too heavy, which makes cars disconnected from the challenges of the fight against global warming. Here, with OLI, Citroën is rethinking the automobile to reconnect it to the real needs of families, to provide them with a solution that requires no sacrifice to have an affordable and responsible car.
A redesigned design for a lighter car
OLI is therefore an electric SUV which has a 40 kWh battery for a target autonomy of 400 km, aiming for a consumption of 10 kWh/100 km and which can be recharged in 23 minutes (from 10% to 80% of battery). A light vehicle needs a smaller capacity battery and is therefore cheaper to buy since the price of batteries is far too high. But to design a light vehicle, without cutting corners on a single need of families while remaining accessible to them, the Marque's teams needed a wealth of ingenuity, who were keen to ensure OLI's life cycle. .
Thus, the Brand has teamed up with BASF to design a light, durable and solid material to cover the bonnet, the roof or the trunk. These panels are made from recycled corrugated cardboard that forms a honeycomb structure between fiberglass panels, then coated with polyurethane resin and a tough, textured layer found in other products. . This made it possible to design panels weighing only 6 kilos allowing an adult to stand on them and thus be able to settle down to look at the stars, prune a tree or anything else.
Similarly, Citroën has explored new paths with a design based on horizontal or vertical lines, without dynamic lines, unlike any other manufacturer. Thus, OLI's windshield is completely straight, which makes it possible to use as little material as possible, to make it cheaper to produce and to replace while reducing the occupants' exposure to the sun and therefore the need for air conditioning. . This vertical windshield therefore allows OLI to reduce battery consumption by 17%, thus being more economical and therefore going further. If a vertical windscreen could be aerodynamic nonsense, Citroën has found the solution as it experiments with the Aero-Duct system which blows air from the top of the flat bonnet towards the windscreen thus creating a curtain effect which sends the airflow above the roof.
Thus, the Brand has teamed up with BASF to design a light, durable and solid material to cover the bonnet, the roof or the trunk. These panels are made from recycled corrugated cardboard that forms a honeycomb structure between fiberglass panels, then coated with polyurethane resin and a tough, textured layer found in other products. . This made it possible to design panels weighing only 6 kilos allowing an adult to stand on them and thus be able to settle down to look at the stars, prune a tree or anything else.
Similarly, Citroën has explored new paths with a design based on horizontal or vertical lines, without dynamic lines, unlike any other manufacturer. Thus, OLI's windshield is completely straight, which makes it possible to use as little material as possible, to make it cheaper to produce and to replace while reducing the occupants' exposure to the sun and therefore the need for air conditioning. . This vertical windshield therefore allows OLI to reduce battery consumption by 17%, thus being more economical and therefore going further. If a vertical windscreen could be aerodynamic nonsense, Citroën has found the solution as it experiments with the Aero-Duct system which blows air from the top of the flat bonnet towards the windscreen thus creating a curtain effect which sends the airflow above the roof.
And, to control all this, Citroën innovates by using a joystick of a gamepad which simplifies use, an example of the many transfers from a non-automotive solution to a vehicle.
This work of simplifying the surfaces, of the design to save weight is also reflected in the seats, a fundamental element in a car interior. For OLI, Citroën has designed seats that require only 8 parts instead of 37 in an equivalent SUV. For this, the front seats are made of a solid tubular frame on which is assembled a comfortable cushion covered with 100% recycled and recyclable textile; The seat backs are 3D printed and made of a mesh pattern that includes an integrated headrest that perfectly meets ergonomic constraints. These seats were co-designed with BASF and made from 100% recyclable polyurethane and secured to the floor by flexible, recyclable plastic insulation rings that absorb road imperfections, a nod to bump-stop suspensions hydraulics so dear to the brand. At the rear, Citroën has provided two individual seats just as comfortable as those at the front and which can fold flat to extend the trunk compartment. And, to control all this, Citroën innovates by using a joystick of a gamepad that allows simplifies use, an example of the many transfers from a non-automotive solution to a vehicle.
This work of simplifying the surfaces, of the design to save weight is also reflected in the seats, a fundamental element in a car interior. For OLI, Citroën has designed seats that require only 8 parts instead of 37 in an equivalent SUV. For this, the front seats are made of a solid tubular frame on which is assembled a comfortable cushion covered with 100% recycled and recyclable textile; The seat backs are 3D printed and made of a mesh pattern that includes an integrated headrest that perfectly meets ergonomic constraints. These seats were co-designed with BASF and made from 100% recyclable polyurethane and secured to the floor by flexible, recyclable plastic insulation rings that absorb road imperfections, a nod to bump-stop suspensions hydraulics so dear to the brand. At the rear, Citroën has provided two individual seats just as comfortable as those at the front and which can fold flat to extend the trunk compartment.
A longer and more virtuous life cycle
With OLI, Citroën has taken care of the life cycle that it wanted to be as long as possible by taking care to limit the use of resources. For this, Citroën has used as many recycled and recyclable elements as possible, which will allow the elements to be changed to extend the life cycle of the vehicle. If, on occasion, buyers wish to have a new interior, it will then be possible to change it, at an affordable price, to thus offer several successive lives to the vehicle. Indeed, it is possible to use refurbished parts, to modify the decorations or the colors or even to benefit from improved parts over time. By extending the life cycle of the vehicle, Citroën further reduces the use of resources and contributes to making the automobile more sustainable.
One of its concretizations are the wheels of the OLI concept which marks the third collaboration with Goodyear. Also, OLI receives the new prototype of a 20-inch hybrid rim associated with a durable and intelligent concept tire developed by Goodyear. This work on hybrid rims has made them 15% lighter and reduced the vehicle's total weight by 6 kg. As for the Eagle GO tyre, it is composed of a tread made almost entirely of recyclable materials such as sunflower oil, silica from rice husks or even natural rubber. This responsible tire is also durable since Goodyear aims for a lifespan of 500,000 km thanks to a reusable carcass and the thickness of the tread, 11 mm, which can be renewed twice during the life of the tire.
In conclusion, with OLI, Citroën follows in the footsteps of AMI but also picks up the thread of a story that began with the Type A then the 2CV, two models that made the automobile accessible, not forgetting the first Cactus concept. from 2007 which used the same logic, a lighter vehicle for maximum efficiency. OLI is not a harbinger of the future style of the Brand, it is intended as a manifesto, a laboratory on wheels for sustainable, electric and accessible mobility which will influence the future Citroëns of the next ten years.