Peugeot e-legend
Retro-cool electric saloon
Peugeot has unveiled the e-legend Concept, an electric sports car with advanced autonomous features and styling heavily inspired by the 504 Coupé.
The e-legend will make its public debut at the Paris motor show in October, 50 years after the French firm launched the two-door version of the 504.
Peugeot design boss Gilles Vidal said the e-legend was designed to contrast with its last autonomous concept, the Instinct. “That took the shape of a future-orientated machine,” he said. “We wanted to push that logic further and talk about a non-boring future in which we don’t have to have slow-looking cars that are sleek and minimalistic”.
Despite that, the firm was determined to ensure the e-legend wasn’t simply a retro design, giving it sharper lines that ape American muscle cars.
Under the retro styling, the e-legend is intended to showcase future technologies. It’s built around an electric powertrain featuring twin motors – located on each axle – that produce 456bhp and 590lb ft. It has a 0-62mph time of less than four seconds and a top speed of 137mph. It features 100kwh of battery capacity, located under the floor, which offers a range of more than 370 miles.
Two drive modes are available. The Legend mode features three smartphonesized driver display screens that mimic the three dials on the 504 Coupé dashboard. There is also a Boost mode, which uses a single driver information screen and projects images from the car’s cameras onto digital surfaces inside the car to offer a more immersive experience.
The e-legend is also designed for level four ‘handsoff’ autonomous driving. It features a new version of Peugeot’s i-cockpit system that retracts away from the driver into the minimalist dashboard to offer more space.
Much of the dash is replaced by a Focal soundbar, under which sits a 49in curved screen that functions as an information display in normal mode and a screen for using media in autonomous mode. It also has a built-in video game: a version of Pong, which was developed around the same time as the 504 Coupé.
The e-legend has been developed purely as a concept, with no plans for production. However, Matthias Houssan, Peugeot’s concept car design boss, said “many elements” on the car could be used on future production models. “Nothing is free when we design a concept car,” he said. “We develop them in the same studio as the production cars, so it feeds all our other projects.”