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Goodyear Made Spherical Tires For Citroen's Wild Urban Collectif Concept Car

Goodyear is known around the world for its tires for track and street, and this design is their boldest creation yet.
Citroen and Goodyear Skate 7 photos
Photo: Citroen
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Goodyear Eagle 360 wheels made specifically for Citroen are spherical tires that feature small electric motors and allow the Citroen Urban Collectif concept vehicle full 360-degree motion capability.

Fitted to the robotic and futuristic Citroen Urban Collectif concept - a joint project between the Citroen, Accor, and JCDecaux moves along on these novel spherical tires placed at all four corners of the vehicle.

The Skate platform is equipped with Citroen’s Advanced Comfort hydraulic cushion suspension and the motorized spherical wheels mentioned earlier.

Citroen calls the platform “a revolutionary mobility concept.” Built upon the Citroen Skate platform, which is essentially an electric powertrain hooked up to various autonomous functions, the skateboard-like vehicles incorporate self-driving capabilities and a daring, if strange, design feel.

“At Citroen, we examine medium and long-term trends to anticipate consumer expectations and needs,” says Vincent Cobée, General Manager for Citroen. “We believe that this new concept can redefine the framework of urban mobility: shared, electric, and autonomous.”

The idea is that the concept will operate continuously and with minimal maintenance intervention by automatically charging its batteries via dedicated charging stations.

It’s most assuredly a city vehicle as the top speed of the concept is just 15 mph (25kph), and Citroen says that modest speed is mainly for safety reasons.

With the recent introduction of the Ami, a battery EV for urban driving in the rearview mirror, Citroen has followed that up with Skate and this spherical-wheeled EV “skateboard,” which can easily accommodate a variety of bodies and configurations.

This latest version of the Skate platform is said to offer full ‘Level 5’ autonomy ideal for urban transport vehicles. Citroen says it can operate with little to no human input.

As a testbed, the Skate can use interchangeable travel “pods” from their partner providers that express varying approaches to “ride-sharing.” These pods can be swapped in but 10 seconds and Citroen says this is to “maximize the use of autonomous technology while expanding service offerings.”

The Pullman Power Fitness pod, a mobile exercise room with a rowing machine, an exercise bike, and a digital coach displayed via holographic screen, is but one of these partner visions.

Accor’s Sofitel en Voyage pod was inspired by the hotel chain for which it was named and features stylish wooden surfaces, a dedicated luggage compartment, mood lighting, a touchscreen, and even a bar.

The JCDecaux version, dubbed City Provider, is aimed at the “on-demand” aspect of mobility services and is “accessible to all users.” It is designed to discover the fastest routes through a city and is kitted out with USB chargers and interactive screens to enhance the trip.

Citroen also says the Skate concept will improve traffic flow by up to 35%.
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