Citroen Urban Collectif : Mobility of Tommorow

Citroen, Accor, and JCDecaux have joined forces to develop The Citroen Urban Collectif. The Citroen Urban Collectif has created a revolutionary mobility idea based on its 200 years of collective experience in invention, driven by the belief that future mobility must address safety and well-being. This proposal is based on an open-source model called Citroen Autonomous Mobility Vision, which includes: 

• An autonomous and electric mobility platform: The Citroën Skate  

• Pods for different services and applications. 

Transportation is a need in everyday life, especially in cities. Cities are undergoing population growth as a result of their high attraction, so travel circumstances must be improved. At the same time, the Covid19 dilemma has raised city inhabitants’ expectations for cleaner, safer, and more flexible means of transportation that adhere to social distancing laws, affecting future urban landscape development and smart mobility solutions. The rise of autonomous vehicles has the potential to assist cities reduce congestion; however, due to the high cost of autonomous driving technology relative to uptake, these solutions are not economically viable in the short term. 

The Citroen Skate uses a dedicated track to move all Pods on demand, while providing unrivalled comfort owing to Citroen’s century-long expertise. Three innovative and highly different mobility services are offered by Pods designed for The Citroen Urban Collectif: Sofitel En Voyage, an exclusive urban mobility experience, Pullman Power Fitness, a new way of playing sport while moving, and JCDecaux City Provider, an innovative on-demand urban mobility service. 

“At Citroën, we examine medium and long-term trends to anticipate consumer expectations and needs. We believe that this new concept can redefine the framework of urban mobility: shared, electric and autonomous. With the solution we are presenting in partnership with Accor and JCDecaux, we are inventing autonomous mobility for all.”

Vincent Cobée, General Manager, Citroën. 

The concept’s cornerstone is the separation between The Citroen Skate and the Pods, which allows for fluid and innovative urban travel. By developing a self-contained, electric vehicle, Mobility is being reinvented and improved, both individually and collectively, in the Citroen Skate fleet, as well as Pods that react to specific demands, such as those of our partners Accor (Sofitel En Voyage and Pullman Power Fitness) and JCDecaux (JCDecaux City Provider). 

The Accor Pods

Accor, a global hotel company, is pioneering “mobile hospitality in the city” with its Sofitel En Voyage and Pullman Power Fitness Pods, allowing all of its customers, as well as city dwellers, to immerse themselves in its brand experience outside of its hotel walls. 

This collaboration has resulted in unique and daring Pods, thanks to the combined experience of 200 years in interior design and French vehicle design. The quality of the materials, colors, assembly, and details, as well as the interfaces, were all given special attention during development with the Citroen teams. 

JCDecaux City Provider  

Citroen and JCDecaux, the world leader in outdoor advertising, partnered to create JCDecaux City Provider, which delivers helpful, sustainable street furniture and services in over 80 countries. Its street furniture sets the standard for innovation, quality, aesthetics, and practicality around the world, and its self-service bicycles have revolutionized soft mobility in cities since 2003. 

JCDecaux City Provider is a continuation of JCDecaux’s innovation approach for the long-term development of city quality of life. JCDecaux is positioning itself to be one of the leading players in the smart city sector as it enters our lives, and is already working to support the establishment of a more humane, open, and sustainable smart city. 

The Citroën Skate

Improved city travels with onboard technology The Citroen Skate is a city mobility solution that can go around all urban centers in dedicated protected lanes, ensuring seamless and optimal mobility. The Citroen Skate is autonomous, electric, and induction-chargeable, allowing it to run practically continuously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, charging itself automatically as needed at specific charging stations. The Citroen Skate is a mobility platform that allows the Pods to move as needed, and it can be positioned underneath the Pods to generate movement and activate the service upon request. The Pods can then be placed in less than 10 seconds as a result of this. The Citroen Skate is a global mobility platform that may be used to move a variety of Pods, boosting the usage of technology in daily life. 

It is equipped with all of the technology required to move transport and logistics units, allowing them to do away with unnecessary and costly equipment and making autonomous driving economical. According to studies, passenger automobiles are parked 95% of the time and would never exploit this technology to its full potential. The Citroen Skate is a high-tech skateboard that includes all of the intelligence and technology required for autonomous and electric mobility, including as batteries, an electric engine, and sensors. Its top speed is regulated to 25 km/h or 5 km/h, depending on the area, to ensure the safety of all users. 

The Citroen Skate has a small footprint, measuring 2.60 meters long, 1.60 meters wide, and 51 meters high, so it doesn’t take up too much area. Its small size and design, which are devoid of the automobile layer, make it a clever and ubiquitous transportation option. 

Design 

The Citroen Skate design incorporates the formal patterns of the ultra-technical underbody used on the 19 19 Concept*, highlighting the embedded technology with great care: macro-chevrons and dark shades of materials combining black mat and aluminum looks, acting as a showcase for the Pods placed on top. The double-chevron logo, which is oversized and proudly displayed in the center of The Citroen Skate, plays with textures and materials to reimagine the Brand’s original emblem. It carries on the 19 19 Concept’s legacy of including these characteristics. 

Embedded systems are hidden behind Citroen insignia throughout The Citroen Skate, ensuring entirely safe and autonomous driving by detecting pedestrians, automobiles, bikes, scooters, and any other thing on the road. Because the front and back of The Citroen Skate are identical, the Citroen emblems are illuminated, white in front and red in back, to comply with rules and clearly signal the direction of travel to other road users. 

The Citroen Skate is equipped with moveable hydraulic cushions to provide exceptional driving comfort as well as to accommodate the Pods comfortably and without jolts. Citroen Advanced Comfort® insignia serve as a reminder that, regardless of vehicle type, Citroen is synonymous with comfort. 

Goodyear Wheels  

Goodyear, who has already been a partner of Citroen for the magnificently designed and exceptionally dimensioned wheels on the 19_19 Idea, invented and developed the wheels, which are innovative in concept and design. 

Goodyear designed omnidirectional Eagle 360 wheels for The Citroen Skate, which are made up of spherical tires with the Goodyear Wingfoot and emblem. Small electric motors provide the robot total 360° freedom of movement, allowing it to travel in any direction, spin on the spot, and inch its way into the tiniest spaces without worrying about a specific direction of motion, exactly like a computer mouse. 

The Citroen Urban Collectif is an innovative and sustainable urban mobility solution that promotes urban living in answer to the major concerns of our day. 

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