Peugeot presented two electric concept vehicles at the Paris Motor Show: The E-T16 Concept draws inspiration from the 205 T16 rally car and is said to reference the new E-208 in its interior. The RCZ Vision represents an electric reinterpretation of the RCZ Coupe, featuring a solid-state battery.
Like many other European brands in the Stellantis Group, Peugeot is delving into its iconic model archive for its Paris Motor Show premieres. The E-T16 Concept and the RCZ Coupé are both based on vehicles that have shaped the brand.
The former is a 600 kW electric compact car designed to bring the spirit of the famous rally weapon, the 205 Turbo 16, into the present day. Four decades ago, Peugeot became double world champion with this cult car in the 1985 and 1986 World Rally Championships. The newly unveiled electric reinterpretation, presented in Paris, packs plenty of rally attributes and offers a first look at the upcoming e-208 in its interior.
Peugeot presents the second concept vehicle, the RCZ Vision, as the electric successor to the RCZ Coupé. The four-seater coupé was part of the French manufacturer’s lineup from 2009 to 2015 and was produced by Magna Steyr in Austria.
Now, it returns as an electric coupé based on the STLA One platform, featuring, among other things, a 1,000-volt electric architecture and a solid-state battery developed in collaboration with Factorial Energy.
Electric ‘hyper-hatch’
Peugeot describes the E-T16 Concept as an electric hyper-hatch, developed in collaboration with Peugeot Sport. This one-off features three electric motors with a combined output of 600 kW and can accelerate from 0 to 300 kph in 16 seconds.
The French manufacturer says this makes the Peugeot E-T16 Concept one of the most powerful Peugeots ever, surpassed only by the Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak prototype, which set a record in 2013 at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado, USA.
The E-T16 Concept uses an 800-volt architecture and an 85 kWh battery that provides up to 400 km of range in the WLTP cycle and, according to Peugeot, can charge from 10 to 80% in less than 15 minutes. Two electric motors are located at the rear axle, and one at the front. The sports car accelerates from 0 to 100 kph in 2.5 seconds. Peugeot promises that driving performance remains consistent even under high demand.
The developers have placed particular emphasis on battery cooling. Peugeot says this prevents performance reduction, where power is throttled to protect against overheating. They achieve this with motorsport technology called ‘Side Cooling’, which cools the battery cells via the side walls rather than the floor, as is usually the case. In performance mode, the electric rally car can complete three laps of the Nürburgring Nordschleife without any power limitation.
Thanks to its torque vectoring system, the E-T16 Concept’s electric drivetrain distributes torque in real time between the axles and wheels. It also offers three driving modes that adjust power delivery, torque distribution between the two axles, and suspension settings, including a “Track” mode for challenging terrain. The driver can fully customize a fourth mode.
Steer (square) by wire
The concept uses a performance-oriented steer-by-wire system, complemented by an advanced i-Cockpit featuring a “Hypersquare” steering wheel. This includes a configurable central display that shows information such as speed and lap times. The steering wheel’s unusual shape and design are meant to enhance sporty driving.
It remains to be seen how well the steering wheel can control its functions in practice. After all, the most important functions should be within reach at your fingertips in the four ring cutouts.
The E-T16 Concept naturally places a strong emphasis on design, alongside the more technical aspects. This design draws on the 205 T16 as its central reference point, while Peugeot is also testing its new design line, “Feline Future,” which, like certain cockpit features of the concept, will debut in the next Peugeot e-208. So, many elements are set to make it into series production. Peugeot describes its new design language as radical and futuristic.
Peugeot has also reimagined the three-claw light signature at the front and rear. The “claw mark” now runs horizontally in three long, sweeping light bars. The vehicle exudes the desired dose of aggression and athleticism with its pronounced wheel arches, large front air intakes, and rear wing.
Numerous nods to the original 205 T16 appear, including the floating C-pillar, the grey body color, and the red backlit line that runs around the entire vehicle. The air intake in front of the rear wheel, which in the original cooled the combustion engine, features a charging port and a door-opening mechanism in the concept. Like the 205 T16, the entire rear body section can also flip upward, revealing the vehicle’s tubular roll cage.
‘Feline Future’ look
The second new Peugeot concept vehicle in the Paris exhibition halls shares the same design philosophy. The RCZ Vision also showcases the new feline-inspired design language ‘Feline Future’, though in a more elegant form.
The electric coupé delivers a more production-ready 368 kW of power and up to 600 kilometers of range. As forward-looking technical highlights, the RCZ Vision features a 1,000-volt electric architecture and a solid-state battery. The coupé’s energy consumption is said to be just 11.5 kWh/100 km.
The RCZ Vision is based on Stellantis’ STLA One platform. This recently announced, overarching ‘mega-platform’ is designed to consolidate five previous architectures into a single system. Peugeot will be the first brand in the group to use the STLA One platform.
In the RCZ Vision, this architecture honors the legacy of the Peugeot RCZ, discontinued over a decade ago, which shaped the brand’s style with its low-slung silhouette and sporty orientation in the early 2010s. The concept picks up on the flowing lines, including the active spoiler, like the original RCZ’s, which remains invisible when stationary and deploys only while driving.
The “bubble roof” glass dome and cockpit arches also pay homage to the original RCZ, though the electric concept takes this further by extending the “bubble” from the bonnet to the rear. Peugeot says this emphasizes the iconic double-bubble roof to optimize space on the rear seats.
Overall, the RCZ Vision appears broad and deeply sculpted, yet remains elegant. Like the first concept vehicle, the front and rear feature horizontal ‘claw lines’. The wheels are sized at 21 and 22 inches.
Ultrathin solid-state
A key factor here is the “ultrathin” battery, just 110 mm thick, though Peugeot hasn’t gone into further detail yet, so we won’t know much about the solid-state battery’s capacity in the electric coupé. The only mention is a high-energy-density battery. Peugeot specifies a ten-minute charge from 10 to 80%.
As for the cockpit, the RCZ Vision also features the next-generation i-Cockpit mentioned before, combined with the ‘hypersquare’ steering wheel and an advanced steer-by-wire system. The concept also previews Level 2++ automated driving, which is said to allow hands-free driving in cities and on rural roads.
Peugeot has not commented on the RCZ Vision’s production prospects. The company describes the concept as an “emotional manifesto of the brand, aiming to enhance emotions and driving pleasure without compromising efficiency or on-board comfort.” This does not sound like an immediate successor to the series, but rather an inspiration for Peugeot’s next generation of electric passenger cars.
