Citroen Oli Concept Preview

Sep 21, 2023

Like many concept cars, it's recognisable as a drivable vehicle, but that's about it. The rest is an outrageous design that looks more moon buggy than a family SUV.

Naturally, it's all-electric, and the project is a successor to the Citroen Ami concept, which came across as a shrunken-down Fiat 500 built for urban city streets.

So, what's it all about?

Rather than being a concept car meant to go into production, it's more of an inspirational guide. In Citroen's words, the Oli is a "precursor to the concepts and innovations that will be available in future Citroen electric models".

Minimalism is also the order of the day. With so many bells and whistles on our cars nowadays, not to mention heavy battery packs in all-electric vehicles, Citroen has sought to reverse the trend and reduce its weight as much as possible.

It asks what we need from a car, given that most vehicles are parked and unused 95% of the time, with many of its features being used even less than that.

The seats, for example, use just seven components – 80% fewer than you’d find in a typical car, while lightweight and recycled materials are found throughout.

The doors are 20% lighter than in a regular hatchback and are a shape which is more cost-effective to manufacture, while the 20-inch aluminium and steel-blended wheels are 15% lighter.

But that's not the best bit.

The bodywork is made from – and we're not joking – recycled corrugated cardboard packed into a honeycomb shape which, when combined with fibreglass, creates a super-strong structure that can support an adult's weight.

Indeed, Citroen demonstrates this in one of its promo shots with a couple sitting on the roof, enjoying a coffee while reading a magazine.

The composite material is half the weight of steel. Therefore, the entire car weighs just a tonne.

The result is a claimed range of almost 250 miles from just a 40kWh battery. For comparison, Citroen has just launched its first exclusively electric car, the e-C4 X, which claims only a 221 mile range with a battery that's got 25% more capacity.

Regarding efficiency, Citroen aims to significantly increase the range per kWh compared with most EVs on the market.

It is also a car that can earn you money by plugging it into the grid when parked at home, harvesting power from solar panels on your property and selling it to electricity suppliers.

By shape, it's technically an SUV crossover and has a rugged appearance to match. But Citroen says that, in practice, it can be whatever you want it to be.

While it can't change its form, it's spacious and fancy enough to be a limo, versatile enough to be an adventure vehicle or even an electricity supply for your house.

The Oli can even be considered a ‘ute’ thanks to its boot, which consists of a pick-up bed made of partly recycled cardboard and can be removed.

It is made to be as aerodynamic as possible. Although a completely flat, vertical windscreen seems counter-intuitive, Citroen has created a clever ‘Aero Duct’ system at the front, which channels airflow over the screen as efficiently as possible.

That validates the use of vertical glass, which uses far less of it than in a traditional diagonal windscreen, making it lighter and cutting costs in the design and manufacturing process.

Even the tyres, which are experimental ones made by Goodyear, have an eye-watering lifespan, with claims they’ll last over 300,000 miles. But you’ll still need to get the tread replaced on them a couple of times over that distance.

Have you had an accident? Well, you can unscrew the damaged panels and replace them yourself, lowering maintenance costs considerably and, hopefully, insurance along with it.

It may seem pointless to talk about the interior of a car that's not going on sale, but the cabin design is as outrageous as the exterior.

Bathed in all orangey-red – Citroen's new signature colour – with the odd hint of black for good measure alongside the white doors, it creates an interior which is as spacious and decluttered as possible.

Need to change the colour of the cabin? Many bits, including the floor, are modular, so you can take it out and put another in.

It is so futuristic. The infotainment system runs along one electrified beam and uses projectors rather than relying on multiple screens. And your smart device powers it, the idea being that you bring along a phone or tablet, plug it in, and its processors work Citroen's system.

You can even plug in your Bluetooth speakers at each end of the beam.

This ‘do it yourself’ philosophy not only merges your phone with the car, providing all-important vehicle data, such as speed and remaining range. It also removes the need for Citroen to provide its computers, further reducing the cost and weight.

Speaking of which, if mass-produced, Citroen claims it could sell a car based on the Oli's concepts for around £22,000 – and there's barely an electric vehicle that can get near that price today.

The French automaker also has a new red badge, embedding its familiar double chevrons in an oval surround – a modern-day take on its original logo, which dates to 1919.

Additionally, the car is 100% recyclable and aims to change the culture whereby it's often cheaper to replace a vehicle altogether than refurbish one.

In terms of what Citroen is up against, no other manufacturer has done anything quite like it.

Dacia unveiled a futuristic and minimalist off-roader last year called the Manifesto, which looks equally suitable for lunar exploration as the Oli.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen's Gen.Travel concept, complete with Lamborghini-style gullwing doors, looks like a more rounded version of the Oli and demonstrates an autonomous future where you order a car like a taxi rather than owning one outright.

Citroen is looking even deeper than that, exploring possibilities where the status quo can be challenged and changed.

While you’re unlikely to see anything resembling the Oli in your local Citroen dealership anytime soon, you might be seeing some of the ideas it inspires sooner than you think, even if the bodyshell attached to it looks far more conventional.

Despite its outlandish appearance, this car is about inspiration and philosophy, but in a reasoned, rational way, rather than just getting some marketing spokesperson to spout meaningless, empty words about a vehicle's "soul" or "essence".

We all know we’re heading for a greener, engineless tomorrow, but we’ve known that for a while now.

What Citroen has done here is take that direction to the next level. It has created a concept that runs alongside the pre-conceived ideas we have of an environmentally friendly future to explore what else can be built upon it.

The future is bright. The future is orangey-red.

By Tim Barnes-Clay | April 4, 2023