816-HP Peugeot E-T16 Concept Is A Group B–Inspired ‘Hyperhatch’ That Could Go Into Production – Jalopnik

Peugeot is on the point of enter its Feline Future — that is the title for the model’s upcoming new design language — and its pair of Paris Motor Show debuts are about as thrilling of a technique to preview new styling because it will get. Yesterday we talked concerning the RCZ Vision idea, which imagines a second era for probably the most lovely vehicles of the twenty first century, however arguably even cooler is the E-T16 idea that imagines a Group B–impressed model of the upcoming E-208.

The automaker says the electrical E-T16 idea “creates its own ‘Hyperhatch’ segment,” but when Peugeot does find yourself making a manufacturing model of the E-T16, it’s going to enter a section already populated with at the very least one absurd electrical hatchback: The Renault 5 Turbo 3E. As that automobile is impressed by its Nineteen Eighties Renault 5 Turbo predecessor, the Peugeot E-T16 is a direct homage to the mid-engine 205 T16 that received the World Rally Championship in 1985 and 1986. Though this new idea does not have a combustion engine beneath the hatch, it does have a tri-motor setup with 816 horsepower. Yeah, that’ll do.

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And do not act all disenchanted straight 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 mentioned to Autocar. The workforce is outwardly already engaged on a drivable prototype.

One motor is mounted on the entrance axle whereas the opposite two are on the rear, with a torque vectoring system to distribute output as wanted. Peugeot says the E-T16 will speed up from 0 to 62 mph in simply 2.5 seconds, and it might probably hit 186 mph in 16 seconds, lower than 4 seconds off a Bugatti Chiron. Its power-to-weight ratio is lower than 2 kg per horsepower, in response to Peugeot, which can be a supercar-rivaling determine. There are three totally different drive modes, one among which is a Track mode for “unrestricted extreme driving,” and for much more excessive driving it has a vertically mounted hydraulic handbrake. 

The 800-volt lithium-nickel-manganese battery pack has an 85-kWh capability, providing round 250 miles of WLTP vary and DC fast-charging that may take it from 10% to 80% in lower than quarter-hour. Peugeot says it centered on thermal administration, creating a racing-derived “side cooling” expertise that, as you might need guessed, cools the battery cells via their aspect partitions as a substitute of their base. In Performance mode, the E-T16 can apparently full three full laps of the Nürburgring Nordschleife with none energy degradation. A Hyundai Ioniq 5 N can solely do two.

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Like the RCZ Vision (and the upcoming E-208 manufacturing automobile), you steer the E-T16 utilizing Peugeot’s new Hypersquare steering “wheel.” The E-T16 has a extra race-ready model of it, with a vertical show built-in within the heart and a bunch of extra bodily controls. There are a pair of dials for energy output and chassis dynamics (moist, dry and drift settings are seen), a pair of toggle switches for brake regen and mode, and a pair of push-buttons for a lift operate and launch management. The steer-by-wire setup provides the automobile “exceptional precision and agility,” says the automaker.

We’ve but to see the next-gen E-208 but, so the E-T16 is as a lot a preview for that as it’s a styling train of its personal. The three-claw gentle signature for the headlights and taillights will probably be preserved on the manufacturing automobile, and so they look particularly cool in yellow up entrance. Another feline design factor is the “cat-ear” rear wing, a pleasant nod to the previous rally automobile that’s mirrored by the dual adjustable air blades within the rear diffuser. The boxy fender flares and upright greenhouse are apparent callbacks to the 205 T16 as effectively, as is the Winchester Matte Grey paint and that vibrant crimson pinstripe, which on this idea is backlit.

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The complicated bumper designs are wholly trendy, with the grille mesh being a sample constituted of the automobile’s title. Behind the C-pillar is an aero pass-through, and on the floor of it’s an illuminated E-T16 brand protruding like somewhat canard. The triangular air vent forward of the rear wheels homes the charging port, and your entire rear clamshell opens up like on the 205 T16, exposing the 2 rear motors and suspension parts set right into a carbon-fiber encompass, plus containing cargo area for helmets. The rear wiper ought to inform you how significantly Peugeot is taking this concept.

There’s a 21-inch curved show sitting atop the oblong dashboard, which has built-in air vents, ambient lighting, a few bodily controls and never a lot else. I like how the middle armrest, seat bolsters, handbrake, and door playing cards are all designed on the similar angle, and there is a unbelievable use of supplies like anodized aluminum and a technical mesh cloth. Peugeot says the technical mesh headliner that fades from crimson to black is impressed by the crimson carpets of the current-gen E-208 GTi that launched a couple of months in the past.

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The carbon-fiber bucket seats are molded immediately onto the middle console and have four-point harnesses, crimson stripes operating up your entire top of them, and an illuminated plexiglass panel within the heart. There’s plexi used elsewhere, just like the seize handles and the middle console. Really in all places you look, there is a cool element.

Peugeot says the E-T16 is an “instantly recognizable object, instinctively desirable and designed to generate powerful emotions.” Hopefully mentioned feelings are robust sufficient that Peugeot rapidly greenlights a manufacturing model — the world wants extra absurd automobiles like this.