“Oli” is the name of the little character who looks as if he wants to plow the beach in Cannes or take the Champs-Élysées on the green verge. And he – like him lobster – has a bunk. At least if you lower the tailgate, remove the rear seats and fold in the rear window.
Citroën Oli should break with the manufacturer arms race
Both the roof and the hoods are made of cardboard – but reinforced with honeycomb and coated with a protective varnish to offer more stability.
Or not. Because with the Oli, the French want to break with the eternal arms race of the manufacturers. Where car manufacturers, like the butchers used to, like to ask whether there should be something more, the Oli should go “back to basic”. Motto: Less must be enough. An everyday car suitable for families shouldn’t cost more than 25,000 euros – a task that must have caused the designers and engineers a lot of headaches.
Pick-up platform à la Hummer: tailgate down, back seat away and fold in the rear window.
For more range, fuel consumption and weight have to go down
The cockpit only comes to life when you insert your smartphone into a slot behind the steering wheel.
Seats from the 3D printer, body parts made of cardboard
To save costs, the front and rear bumpers are identical. The same applies to the doors, which are identical on both sides.
Citroën also saves weight and money on the hood and roof, which are folded from cardboard. But anyone who thinks of Trabi and is afraid of the smallest bump in the park should be taught otherwise – because both the roof and hood are reinforced with honeycomb and covered with a protective varnish, which makes the cardboard more stable.
Dyed-through interior and bottom made from sneaker sole material
The interior also shows its clever penny-pinching side – and it also looks really good. Completely through-dyed and lined with a mat made of the same material that Adidas and Co bake the soles of our sneakers from, it looks extremely airy and relies on charming minimalism with simple door openers, folding windows and a cockpit that only comes to life when you slide your smartphone into the slot next to the steering wheel.
Charging socket under the logo: With a 40 kWh battery and a targeted range of 400 kilometers, consumption must drop to 10 kWh per 100 kilometers.
Because instead of continuing to compete with Apple and Co, Citroën has given up the race against Silicon Valley and is taking advantage of the intelligence of smartphones. Most of them are further anyway – and already paid, argues Citroën design boss Pierre Leclercq.
