Peugeot Goes 50 Years Back In Time For The New ‘E-Legend’

The Peugeot e-Legend Concept, which gets its public unveiling at the Paris motor show

The new Peugeot e-Legend draws heavily on the 504 Coupe of 50 years ago, but it also incorporates some elements of United States muscle cars. e-Legend’s overall dimensions are close to the new 508’s. The concept is slightly lower and shorter and the wheels are a plausible 19in in diameter. It’s a two-door four-seater with frameless windows and a glasshouse that closely resembles the 504’s.

The elegantly concave sides of the car connect muscular wheel arches, while at the front and rear the LEDs are styled like claw marks. There’s a grille and some strong vertical air inlets, giving the e-Legend much more of a ‘face’ than many electric concepts.

The 100kWh batteries are in the floor, with electric motors driving all four wheels. While stressing that this is a concept, not a prototype, Peugeot claims a power output of around 456bhp and 590lb ft of torque, with a top speed close to 140mph and a 0-62mph time below four seconds. The range would be around 370 miles – and a fast charge could get you 310 miles of range in just 25 minutes. It would also be equipped for inductive charging.

Matthias Houssan, concept car design manager, says: ‘We tried to keep some realism: the size of the wheels, the size of the glasshouse, which is not small like some concept cars, which are like caricatures. The fact that we managed to keep the car on a realistic scale is my favorite part.’

Interior
The Peugeot e-Legend’s interior is every bit as striking as the body, mixing brash blue with dark wood and bronze, plus a giant screen and a retractable steering wheel and pedal box for when the e-Legend is running autonomously. There’s a head-up display for when the driver is in control. The concept’s four seats have blue velvet upholstery, with the driver’s seat also supporting the center console, which follows the same angular thinking as Peugeot’s current production i-Cockpit.

There are also two manual modes: Legend, which swivels three 504 Coupe-style dials into action and adds digital wood to the real wood, and Boost, which projects the road ahead on the 49in screen, turning the car – rather confusingly – into a giant simulator of the real world that’s happening outside at that very moment. The cabin changes will be accompanied by dynamic changes to the suspension and power characteristics.

The Peugeot e-Legend has two autonomous modes: Soft, for chilled-out cruising with the screen minimised, and Sharp for those wanting to work or be entertained on the move. Houssan says: ‘When driving is boring, you will be in autonomous mode, but when you want to drive you want the experience to be intense and exciting.’

Will it go into production? It’s certain to inform whatever Peugeot does next, whether that’s fully electric or perhaps not so far along the electrification spectrum. Insiders say five to seven years is a realistic target date for an all-electric production car. Peugeot is not aiming to be ahead of the curve – it’s aiming for the mass market, not the early adopter.

The e-Legend also incorporates a voice-activated digital assistant for use during autonomous driving; trigger phrase is ‘OK Peugeot’. A version will appear on production Peugeots within two years. With all this been said about the e-Legend, I think a lot of people will want to buy this car.