Citroën Oli study model on new roads

Chief designer Pierre Sabas looks a bit startled when I explain to him what Oli (okay, with an ‘e’ after it) means in Dutch. “No, I didn’t know that. We thought Oli was a contraction of All Electric.” I think it mostly sounds like the French ‘Au lit!’ (To bed!), but hey, I didn’t come to Paris to talk about names, so let’s leave it at that. But the wrangling is not over yet, because when I ask Sabas to tell me more about his new concept car, he corrects me severely: “The Citroën Oli is not a concept car, but a study model.” What he means by this is that the Oli is a study trip into new materials and production processes, all within the four core values ​​of fun, versatility, affordability and sustainability.

Sustainable

Hot air alert: The Oli should radiate kindness, making it more than just a car, even a kind of friend. That in turn would mean that people would wait longer to exchange it for a new one and yes, that is of course sustainable. Furthermore, it must become extremely efficient and economical, because it can travel 400 kilometers with its 40 kWh battery; a consumption of 10 kWh/100 km and that would of course be very clever. To achieve that, the top speed is limited to a modest 110 km/h. What certainly does not contribute to low consumption are the angular shapes, especially the flat, straight windscreen. “The shortest route from roof to hood is a straight line,” explains Sabas. “That saves material and is cheaper to make, but you also have less light, so that the air conditioning does not have to work as hard.” Clear, but those two arguments are ignored again with the curved side windows; of course it remains a study model.

Wink to 2CV

That curved side window can of course not sink into the door, instead it folds up. Whether or not intended, this is a nod to the 2CV, which also valued simplicity. Speaking of the door, which consists of about 35 parts in a normal car, but only eight components in the Oli, says Sabas. The roof is flat and constructed in such a way that you can stack anything on it. The hood is also completely flat and has a profile, so that you can stand on it. Always useful. The front and rear bumpers are identical, which makes both production and logistics easier and therefore cheaper. The back is a kind of pick-up box, the rear window can be folded up and the backrest of the rear seat can be lowered, creating a large load space.

New tread

The wheels of the Citroën Oli consist of a core of steel (because it is easier to recycle) and an outer ring of aluminum and the tires are also a different story. They have been specially developed by Goodyear for the Citroën Oli and can be retreaded. That is very common in the commercial vehicle world, but with passenger cars it is anything but. These tires can be renewed twice and if you don’t do drift demonstrations with them, a set should last 500,000 km: friends for life.
Simplicity is also an asset in the interior. The chairs are constructed from 3D-printed material around a frame that consists of a single tube. The dashboard is very sober thanks to what Citroën calls a screen detox, possibly because your smartphone takes over most of the work. Finally, all materials have been kept as equal as possible and as few types of plastic as possible have been combined, all of which contribute to a higher recycling rate.

New logo

And we would almost forget: the logo is also new, but less future-proof than the rest of the Citroën Oli. We will see it on all production models in the near future. Connoisseurs of old Citroën will not miss a fit of déjà-vu, as it closely resembles the logo from the early years of Citroën. “We want to show that we are still, or actually close to our roots again”, concludes Pierre Sabas.