Citroen (again) wants to change world orders

The unveiling of the 'maybe' concept car is accompanied by a call for a change in perception when it comes to electric vehicles.

Do you really need that many batteries to transport a family?

Citroen has a global vision on the matter

Joel Schwartz

13/10/2022

Thursday, October 13, 2022, 12:09 p.m. Updated: 12:16 p.m.

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Not only a new direction, but also a new marketing method - every few years the car will be taken for improvements, and will return to the customer with a technological and design upgrade. (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

"Enough! This wheel must stop. We must change" cry Citroen.

The wheel they are talking about is the relationship between battery, weight and price - both environmental and economic.

In an attempt to simplify the subject, I will present the prevailing equation: for more range, more electronic sophistication, more power and more speed, more batteries are required.

As more batteries are added, the weight increases.

To handle the extra weight you need more batteries.

And as more batteries are added, the product becomes more expensive.

This is a familiar equation that all car manufacturers face, but so far no manufacturer has come out with an excited statement to stop the arms race.

Citroen is the first to put it as a vision.

This can be seen as a call in the style of the German manufacturers' gentlemanly speed limit set at 250 km/h, or Volvo's current attempt to tighten the limit to 180 km/h.

But the truth is that it is more than that.

This call of Citroen is accompanied by a vision for it and to a certain extent for the entire industry.

Scroll through the pictures again, the front bumper is exactly the same as the rear bumper.

The 4 wheel houses are also the same and so are the doors.

This is how costs are reduced (photo: manufacturer's website)

If you were to quantify Citroen's vision in one sentence, it would look like this: a 400 km range, a weight of 1 ton, and an accessible price that is equivalent to gasoline cars today. To develop the subject, many sentences are needed, so I sat down for a personal conversation with Vincent Covey (this is not an abbreviation of Yaakov, aka Cobee), CEO of Citroen.

In the background appeared 'Oli' (Oli) - the new electric concept car that will never go into production, but illustrates Citroen's concept.

This is the second time I meet Kobi for a conversation.

The last time in March 2020, it was at the launch of 'Emi' just a month after he took office, and about half a year after he joined the ranks of 'Stelnis'.

Prior to that, Kobi held various positions at Nissan, with his last position as chief planning officer of Mitsubishi terminated in April 2019, with the change of management lines in the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance following the arrest of CEO Carlos Ghosn.

"In the last 50 years, the weight of the car has increased by 60% and the dimensions by 30%."

Kobi says.

"Even though 90% of the car can be recycled, only 10% is recycled. Is this the desired future? We at Citroen think that things can be done differently, and the 'Maybe' concept model is one of many interpretations. One dream out of many possibilities."

The seats are extremely thin, in favor of improved internal space and without increasing the external dimensions. (Photo: Yoel Schwartz)

According to Kobi, a car doesn't have to be expensive to be fun.

It doesn't have to be big and heavy, certainly if it comes to serve a family.

"It's all a matter of balance," he says, "in an electric vehicle, the major weight comes from the batteries. But there is a limit to the size and range, because ultimately the human bladder is more limited than the battery's range. No one drives 400 km continuously.

You need to find the balance between battery size, fast charging, and daily use.

You can always increase the battery and make the vehicle more expensive.

It's a solution that suits some manufacturers, but not for a brand like Citroen."

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Kobi goes on to describe the simplicity that characterizes Citroen, and the weight savings that can be achieved if they only think differently, back in the planning stage, and brings into the picture Pierre Leclercq (LECLERCQ), the chief designer of Citroen who also explained why this is the right move for Citroen within this huge concern called ' Stellentis'.

Clark, by the way, came to Citroen in September 2018 after passing through BMW, Gritwell and Kia, and I also met him before for a personal conversation, and so did this time.

"When I arrived at 'Stelantis' about 4 years ago, I thought that Peugeot and Citroen had the same customers."

tells Clarke.

"It's the same platform, the same assemblies, the same engines, so if the products are so similar, how different can the customers be?! So that's it, I found out that it's not true. Peugeot customers are looking for more power, more driving pleasure, while Citroen customers are looking More comfort, more innovation, less performance. This is exactly what the vision is based on. Because if Citroen's direction is not performance, then the maximum speed can be limited,

Citroën's vision is embodied in the Oli concept vehicle: 400 km range, a weight of 1 ton, and an accessible price comparable to gasoline cars today (photo: manufacturer's website)

"95% of the time an average car is parked, and when it's already moving then 90% of the time it's one person inside. The entire industry needed to think."

All personal conversations were accompanied by examples from the concept vehicle to prove that the matter is possible.

For example, because the vehicle makes extensive use of recycled materials, mostly cardboard and polyurethane, which through special production technology and a 'honeycomb' configuration have become particularly strong.

According to Citroen, they are stronger than iron, and for proof you can stand on the hood or the roof.

Not that anyone would do that.

For the fact that an average family home has over 5 km of wiring with an aggregate weight of hundreds of kilograms.

You can save a lot if you give up on electric motors for raising the windows, on external lighting inside the trunk door (and settle for lighting on the sides of the body), and even on multimedia.

Is the ball stuck in a tree?

Don't worry, you can stand on the roof, which is made of cardboard and polyurethane in the shape of a honeycomb, and calm the child down.

Citroen claims that the product they developed is stronger than iron (photo: manufacturer's website)

Instead of a complex system, you can use the cell phone that everyone has in their pocket, and insert it into a special slot that actually solves 2 problems.

It also serves as the 'brain' of the multimedia interface and the driver will also not be able to use the cell phone screen while driving.

Portable speakers connect to dedicated mounts, so they both play what is played from the cell phone and are charged while driving.

The seats are made of only 3 parts.

They are produced in printing, light and extremely thin, and thus also get more space in the back seat without increasing the external dimensions.

To maintain simplicity and low price, identical parts are used.

For example, the doors are the same and are made in the same pattern, the front bumper is exactly the same as the rear, the wheel arches are the same and the rims themselves are built from a steel core and aluminum all around to balance light weight (aluminum) and cheap price (steel).

And finally, after all it is possible to disassemble, recycle and assemble a new product.

Some see the lines of the Citroën in the new concept car.

Don't be tempted by it.

It won't happen (Photo: Yoel Schwartz)

"In our opinion, the process of buying, selling, and recycling can also change."

Kobi says.

"During the life cycle of the car, we will take it for improvements, and return an upgraded product to the customer. It can be software and it can be design. It may be done several times, so that in the end the customer is left with an updated car and therefore will keep it longer. In the end, we will take it from him and recycle it all of you."

Such a perceptual change is also accompanied by the change of the symbol, and here Citroen goes back, presenting a new interpretation of the symbol that served it between 1919-1921.

"The new logo is vertical and with straight lines, similar to many parts of 'Oli.'"

tells Clarke.

"Look at the windshield. It's upright, flat, and small. That means it's lightweight, easier and cheaper to manufacture than bi-convex windshields like all windshields, and because it lets in less light, less energy is used to fuse the cabin. To overcome the aerodynamics, we may create a hood with some kind of shield that will lift the air over the window. But we will deal with that if we reach production."

When you know that someone sells to you, but it's not clear from where... (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

This Citroën dream has one major problem.

She cannot be alone in this game in terms of safety.

It cannot be a unit with a vehicle weighing "a feather" of around 1 ton, when other electric models are rolling around that touch double the figure.

I asked Kobi about passive safety in the event of an accident, and the mass differences in the event of the inevitable, and I did not receive an unequivocal answer.

"It's true that the entire industry needs to think. Because in the end 95% of the time an average car is parked, and when it's already moving then 90% of the time it's one person inside. There's a horrendous waste of energy, money, raw materials, what not. In the end This is a serious harm to the environment. We offer a balance. One that takes into account the amount of batteries, range and price."

For the time being, I will elegantly ignore the subject of design, because even though Kobi Locklark mentioned here and there the 'Mahari' - the iconic Citroën SUV - I rarely saw it there in the 'Oli' and that is not the direction anyway.

What will come from 'Oli' to the following models anyway?

Kobi Locklark points out that in the first phase it will be the facade and the vertical lighting that will appear as early as next year.

They do not commit to a continuation, but hint at the use of seat and rim construction technology that combines iron and aluminum.

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