Peugeot
Peugeot is getting ready to enter its Feline Future — that's the name for the brand's upcoming new design language — and its pair of Paris Motor Show debuts are about as exciting of a way to preview new styling as it gets. Yesterday we talked about the RCZ Vision concept, which imagines a second generation for one of the most beautiful cars of the 21st century, but arguably even cooler is the E-T16 concept that imagines a Group B–inspired version of the upcoming E-208.
The automaker says the electric E-T16 concept "creates its own 'Hyperhatch' segment," but if Peugeot does end up making a production version of the E-T16, it'll enter a segment already populated with at least one absurd electric hatchback: The Renault 5 Turbo 3E. As that car is inspired by its 1980s Renault 5 Turbo predecessor, the Peugeot E-T16 is a direct homage to the mid-engine 205 T16 that won the World Rally Championship in 1985 and 1986. Though this new concept doesn't have a combustion engine under the hatch, it does have a tri-motor setup with 816 horsepower. Yeah, that'll do.
Peugeot
And don't act all disappointed right away. "If enough people are interested, we are looking to make it. It's a realistic vision, and we are also working with Stellantis technological ingredients to make it happen," design director Matthias Hossann said to Autocar. The team is apparently already working on a drivable prototype.
816 hp from three electric motors
Peugeot
One motor is mounted at the front axle while the other two are at the rear, with a torque vectoring system to distribute output as needed. Peugeot says the E-T16 will accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in just 2.5 seconds, and it can hit 186 mph in 16 seconds, less than 4 seconds off a Bugatti Chiron. Its power-to-weight ratio is less than 2 kg per horsepower, according to Peugeot, which is also a supercar-rivaling figure. There are three different drive modes, one of which is a Track mode for "unrestricted extreme driving," and for even more extreme driving it has a vertically mounted hydraulic handbrake.
The 800-volt lithium-nickel-manganese battery pack has an 85-kWh capacity, offering around 250 miles of WLTP range and DC fast-charging that can take it from 10% to 80% in less than 15 minutes. Peugeot says it focused on thermal management, developing a racing-derived "side cooling" technology that, as you might have guessed, cools the battery cells through their side walls instead of their base. In Performance mode, the E-T16 can apparently complete three full laps of the Nürburgring Nordschleife without any power degradation. A Hyundai Ioniq 5 N can only do two.
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Like the RCZ Vision (and the upcoming E-208 production car), you steer the E-T16 using Peugeot's new Hypersquare steering "wheel." The E-T16 has a more race-ready version of it, with a vertical display integrated in the center and a bunch of additional physical controls. There are a pair of dials for power output and chassis dynamics (wet, dry and drift settings are visible), a pair of toggle switches for brake regen and mode, and a pair of push-buttons for a boost function and launch control. The steer-by-wire setup gives the car "exceptional precision and agility," says the automaker.
Retro done right (as usual)
Peugeot
We've yet to see the next-gen E-208 yet, so the E-T16 is as much a preview for that as it is a styling exercise of its own. The three-claw light signature for the headlights and taillights will be preserved on the production car, and they look especially cool in yellow up front. Another feline design element is the "cat-ear" rear wing, a nice nod to the old rally car that is mirrored by the twin adjustable air blades in the rear diffuser. The boxy fender flares and upright greenhouse are obvious callbacks to the 205 T16 as well, as is the Winchester Matte Grey paint and that bright red pinstripe, which on this concept is backlit.
Peugeot
The complex bumper designs are wholly modern, with the grille mesh being a pattern made from the car's name. Behind the C-pillar is an aero pass-through, and on the surface of it is an illuminated E-T16 logo protruding like a little canard. The triangular air vent ahead of the rear wheels houses the charging port, and the entire rear clamshell opens up like on the 205 T16, exposing the two rear motors and suspension components set into a carbon-fiber surround, plus containing cargo space for helmets. The rear wiper should tell you how seriously Peugeot is taking this idea.
That's a lot of lines
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There's a 21-inch curved display sitting atop the rectangular dashboard, which has integrated air vents, ambient lighting, a couple of physical controls and not much else. I love how the center armrest, seat bolsters, handbrake, and door cards are all designed at the same angle, and there's a fantastic use of materials like anodized aluminum and a technical mesh fabric. Peugeot says the technical mesh headliner that fades from red to black is inspired by the red carpets of the current-gen E-208 GTi that launched a few months ago.
Peugeot
The carbon-fiber bucket seats are molded directly onto the center console and feature four-point harnesses, red stripes running up the entire height of them, and an illuminated plexiglass panel in the center. There's plexi used in other places, like the grab handles and the center console. Really everywhere you look, there's a cool detail.
Peugeot says the E-T16 is an "instantly recognizable object, instinctively desirable and designed to generate powerful emotions." Hopefully said emotions are strong enough that Peugeot quickly greenlights a production version — the world needs more absurd vehicles like this.