Meet OLI. An electric concept car that is created as a result of a partnership between Citroen and BASF. Rethinking the vehicle's design and its various parts is an innovative effort that is pushing the envelope and demonstrating that functionality can be improved without sacrificing simplicity.

Citroen and BASF created a fully electric vehicle and considered the future of the automobile. Together, they discussed how technologies, polymers, and coatings tailored to this challenging project could enable additive manufacturing in achieving this vision.

Projects such as the development of the concept car together with Citroën are a big boost on our way towards a more sustainable future,” explained Uta Holzenkamp, President Coatings, representing the automotive team at BASF. “You need innovation and creative minds to bring the ideas from the different companies together.”

Laurence Hansen, Citroën Product & Strategy Director, also sees this collaboration as a real promise for the future. “The collaboration with BASF was a key factor in the design of oli and in developing an electric vehicle that’s as fun and efficient as possible for the near future. The innovative electric car runs counter to the trend toward increasingly heavier and more complex vehicles, instead focusing on ease and simplicity. It demonstrates how to keep environmental impact to a minimum while bringing back the fun of an available, electric vehicle,” Hansen said.

An eye-catching, colorful car with an iconic appearance, breathing grid-structured car seats, and a sneaker-inspired floor pattern. The car's interior was designed with maximum practicality and ease of use in mind. TPU was chosen as the sole material type, making mechanical recycling at the conclusion of the product life cycle easy. All of these components were created using 3D printing, which guarantees little waste manufacturing and strong materials for a lengthy product life cycle.

📷: CITROËN AND BASF