Citroën imagines the urban mobility of tomorrow with The Citroën Skate, an electric, modular and autonomous platform capable of accommodating various “Pods” to offer various services to users, such as an individual gym or even an ultra-comfortable luxury taxi.
Citroën has never hidden its ambitions regarding urban mobility. The chevron brand has already made its first foray into this buoyant sector with the Citroën AMI, the cheapest unlicensed electric car on the market. Admittedly, this experience was marred by the discovery of many serious manufacturing defects, but Citroën is not giving up.
And precisely, the French manufacturer has just unveil its vision of the urban mobility of tomorrow. Via a new structure called The Urban Collëctif, Citroën, the hotel group Accor and the company JC Decaux present The Citroën Skate, a brand new platform electric, autonomous and modular.
The Citröen Skate, the urban mobility of tomorrow by Citröen
This hoverboard-like skate is able to circulate in all urban centers on dedicated protected lanes. They charge by induction and can operate 24/7. It offers a minimum footprint with contained dimensions of 2.60 m long, 1.60 m wide and 51 cm high, in order to “not to clutter up the public space ”.
Autonomous vehicle requires, it embeds a multitude of sensors used to detect pedestrians, cars, cyclists or any other object on the road. They also incorporate mobile hydraulic stops to offer “incomparable driving comfort when on the move ”. Finally, GoodYear has developed for the occasion omnidirectional wheels called Eagle 360, which thanks to electric motors offer total freedom of movement at 360 °.
And as said above, it is a modular platform. In other words, The Citroën Skate can accommodate “Pods”, interchangeable modules if you prefer. This is where Accor, Sofitel and JC Decaux come into action, who imagined the first three pods for the Citroën platform.
Read also: Citroën AMI test – our full review of the cheapest electric car on the market
Endless possibilities for layouts
The first pod designed in partnership with JC Decaux is presented as a mini-bus that can accommodate 5 people in a closed and bright glazed space. USB sockets are included to charge users’ nomadic devices while two interactive screens provide various information to plan their stay, for example.
The other two pods are more original. The second, co-developed by Citröen and Sofitel, is comparable to a taxi with all the comforts of a luxury hotel room. As for the one produced with Accor, it takes the form of a individual and mobile gym. You will understand, the main interest of this platform is to be able to offer multiple layout possibilities.
“New horizons of mobile, local and personal public services are opening up: medical practice, food distributor, food truck, prevention, artificial intelligence making it possible to predict in advance where and when these Pods should be used, depending on external events or uses ”, sums up Citröen.