The Citroën Oli is a new concept car illustrating the brand’s renewed commitment to affordability and sustainability, heralding an array of new technologies earmarked for upcoming cars.
An adventure-oriented pick-up similar in stature to the Citroën C3 Aircross, it doesn’t preview a production car (despite being road-legal) but rather serves as an embodiment of the marque’s new ‘back to right’ philosophy.
Design director Pierre Leclercq said the concept shows “the future is bright” and that “making something clever and affordable doesn’t mean that it has to be horrible; it [can] be fun and exciting.”
The headlines are a hypothetical price tag of around €25,000 (£22,560), a weight of around 1000kg, plus a 248-mile range from a relatively small 40kWh battery and a single electric motor.
However, it’s the concept’s design and construction that have the biggest implications for production-bound cars.
Bumpers
The front and rear bumpers are identical, as on the Citroën Ami. This reduces costs, both in manufacturing and repairing, as well as environmental impact, because only one set of moulds is required. On the whole, the car is made from 50% recycled material and is 100% recyclable.
Windscreen
Range-boosting aero was a key part of the brief, but the vertical windscreen is a defining design cue. It was mainly about challenging convention but also yielded benefits including significantly reduced material and labour requirements. Trick ducting in the headlights and bonnet directs air over the windscreen, mitigating drag. The exact same screen features at the rear, too.
Top surfaces
The roof and bonnet are made from a cardboard compound, rather than steel. That might sound suspect, but creator BASF’s use of a honeycomb pattern has resulted in something strong enough for you to stand on. A coating provides additional strength while helping to keep out the rain and UV rays.
Wheels
The custom-made 20in aluminium-and-steel wheels are cheaper to produce than equivalent alloys and weigh only 6kg more. They’re shod in experimental Goodyear Eagle Go tyres that will supposedly last 100,000km (62,000 miles), which means less waste. What’s more, the wheel arches can be removed with household tools, allowing for quick damage repairs.