Peugeot EX1 Concept

Just like the sister company Citroen, Peugeot too revealed their special concept car for the 2010 Paris Motor Show. While Citroen’s Lacoste was rather pointless and ugly, the Peugeot EX1 is fantastically awesome! This futuristic machine is best compromise between a bike and a car offering the best of both with its two-seater roadster layout. If only Peugeot could put it into production!

The EX1 looks absolutely fabulous. The front end remind us of the new 508 and other parts of it are also designed with the Feline design philosophy in mind. But as good as the way it looks, its even better in terms of technicalities.

The car is a 100% electric vehicle with an state of the art powertrain comprising two electric motors, each developing 125 kW, putting out a combined output of 250 kW / 340 bhp and peak torque of 240 Nm spinning all four wheels. These specs, even on paper, scream fun!

The car has a monocoque body structure is manufactured from a carbon/honeycomb composite to optimise weight and rigidity, and to make sure it will drive like a dream, the front suspension consists of a drop link double wishbone arrangement. The rear suspension comprises of a single “swinging arm” linked to a centrally mounted shock absorber which is connected via a rocker arm to provide a variable damping rate.

The EX1 also has a sophisticated passenger compartment. It has reverse-opening doors, giving access to the two sports bucket seats. Each occupant also gets a separate instrument panel screen. The driver, seated at floor level in a driving position that helps enhances the sense of excitement (legs outstretched), drives the vehicle with two control handles, providing an experience similar to that of an aircraft pilot or. video game.

As well as the presence of harnesses inside the car, the occupants are also protected by the height of the carbon passenger cell, which has sufficient overhead clearance to include a roll-over protection bar. Similarly, the wind deflector, perfectly integrated in terms of style, allows the car to be driven on a daily basis without a helmet.

The Peugeot EX1 Concept car benefits from characteristics that give it a high enough level of performance not only to leave behind the city centre, the preferred territory of electric vehicles, but also to challenge accelerationrecords. Its lightness, weight distribution and aerodynamics, the torque and power of its two electric motors and its high-output lithium-ion battery are just some of the characteristics that make this a car capable of lightning acceleration: the latter can exceed 1G of gravitational force.

Indeed the Peugeot EX1 Concept car has already broken the following international records (approved by the International Automobile Federation) for an electric-powered terrestrial vehicle. This series of records was established, by Nicolas Vanier, the famous French explorer and film-maker (“The Last Trapper”, “Wolf”) who drove the Peugeot EX1 Concept car.-motorward.