The Citroen Oli is a fully electric SUV with a top speed limited to 68 mph to maximise efficiency. It can be rapid charged to 80 percent in just 23 minutes. (COURTESY PHOTO)
The lightweight roof and rear flat-bed panels are made from recycled corrugated cardboard formed into a honeycomb sandwich structure between fibreglass reinforcing panels and are strong enough to support an adult. (COURTESY PHOTO)
Inspired by modern office furniture, the bright orange front seats with integrated headrests are made up of strong tubular frames with a comfortable base cushion. (COURTESY PHOTO)
The Citroen Oli is a fully electric SUV with a top speed limited to 68 mph to maximise efficiency. It can be rapid charged to 80 percent in just 23 minutes. (COURTESY PHOTO)
The lightweight roof and rear flat-bed panels are made from recycled corrugated cardboard formed into a honeycomb sandwich structure between fibreglass reinforcing panels and are strong enough to support an adult. (COURTESY PHOTO)
Inspired by modern office furniture, the bright orange front seats with integrated headrests are made up of strong tubular frames with a comfortable base cushion. (COURTESY PHOTO)
When it comes to quirky cars, French automaker, Citroen has pretty well cornered the market in a country already known for avant-garde designs. Citroen is now owned by fourth-ranked automaker Stellantis, which also owns such diverse brands as Chrysler/Dodge, Ram, Jeep, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Maserati.
Citroen is no stranger to oddball cars that belie their advanced engineering, often presenting simplicity as genius. Take, for example, the 2 CV, or Deux Chevaux in French.
Produced from 1948-90 largely unchanged, more than 3.8 million of these simple, rugged front wheel drive cars that (maybe intentionally) resembled a snail sold worldwide. Their DS (pronounced dee-ess, meaning goddess in French) and ID (pronounced eeday, meaning idea in French) series cars utilized a hydro-pneumatic suspension that, to this day is the smoothest-riding car I have ever experienced.
So it comes as no surprise that Citroen looked to the future and saw a dystopian wasteland devoid of resources to build a car which, presumably, will still be in demand despite abject poverty and starvation, and came up with the “Oli” concept.
Oli, meaning olive, perhaps alluding to the earliest biblical desert fruit bringing a new beginning to a ruined world, is a fully electric SUV whose focus is simplicity and sustainability. A vehicle that can see beyond a Mad Max wasteland into a vision of correcting some industrial wrongs.
With a 250-mile range and 23 minutes to charge from 20 to 80 percent, this EV is designed as a V2G or vehicle to grid meaning it can provide household power when necessary. Weighing 1 metric ton or about 2,200 pounds, it’s light for an SUV and is restricted to 110 kph or 68 mph. It vaguely resembles a military Humvee with a vertical windshield and slanted back that can be opened pickup truck-style.
One feature that is raising eyebrows is some of the body panels are made from cardboard. Of course, it’s not cardboard like that of an Amazon box, this cardboard is a recycled corrugated honeycomb structure with a reinforced plastic coating on each side. Developed with German chemical powerhouse BASF — whose slogan used to be “we don’t make the product, we make the product better” — and in this case they produced a cardboard capable of supporting the weight of a human standing on it.
The Oli rides on a blend of steel and aluminum wheels for weight reduction wearing Goodyear tires with a life expectancy of 50k miles that were specially formulated for sustainability using sunflower oils, rice husk, pine tree resins, and natural rubber to replace the synthetic petroleum based rubber compounds found in regular production tires.
Inside is room for four, featuring seats made from recycled thermoplastic polyurethane. The seats are mesh allowing ventilation and natural light to filter through. They also have 80 percent fewer parts than a conventional auto seat while the vertical windshield uses less glass and reduces solar radiation and passive heat buildup.
Gadgets are purposely absent from the Oli with the exception of removable Bluetooth speakers. The intent is for the driver to use their cell phone for navigation or entertainment further reducing weight and complexity. Windows are operated with an old fashioned hand crank and door locks function by sliding a key into a lock cylinder, concepts that shouldn’t seem so radical but somehow have become so.
Half the Oli is made from recycled material and when it’s useful life has passed in around 50 years or three generations, the Oli itself is meant to be recycled. Color me a skeptic when I first began hearing about the cardboard Citroen, but now I’m a little disappointed the concept won't be produced until 2030, if at all. At a projected cost of around $24,000, I might be taking my place in line for a new Oli.
True to Citroen’s history, they’re proud to point out they’ve done something “other vehicle makers wouldn't dare to do.”
Eric and Michelle Meltzer own and operate Fryeburg Motors, a licensed, full-service automotive sales and service facility at 26 Portland St. in Fryeburg, Maine. More than a business, cars are a passion, and they appreciate anything that drives, rides, floats or flies. For more, email fryeburgmotors@gmail.com.
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