Peugeot has stolen a march on one of its biggest domestic rivals by unveiling a new, highly advanced high-performance EV prototype which should shortly be confirmed as one of the fastest battery cars in the world: the EX1.
This all-carbonfibre concept car weighs just under 1000kg with its 30kWh of lithium ion batteries onboard. It’s powered by one electric motor per axle, each supplying 170bhp and a constant 177lb ft of torque.
See the official pics of the stunning Peugeot EX1 concept - now including Autocar's exclusive pics
Yesterday, at the Linas-Montlhery autodrome just south of Paris, the EX1 put in a number of timed acceleration runs which, if confirmed by the FIA, will make it the world’s fastest accelerating EV over six different distances.
The car dispatched a standing quarter mile in 14.4sec, a standing kilometre in 28.16sec and a standing mile in 41.09sec. It also recorded a mean 0-62mph dash in 3.55sec and a top speed of 161mph. Peugeot claims it was running well within its own capabilities, and should be capable of hitting 62mph in well under 3.0sec at its optimum settings.
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The EX1’s shape contributes to its speed over the ground, as well as its construction. The car’s rear track is considerably narrower than the front one, allowing the car to be teardrop-shaped in plan view for peerless aerodynamics. It’s suspended via double wishbones at the front, but by a motorbike-apeing swing arm at the rear, in which both rear wheel housings and one electric motor are housed.
“The EX1 is a one-off,” said Peugeot design director Gilles Vidal. “It has been built to push the boundaries of electric vehicle performance: to show what Peugeot could make, given the design and engineering resources at its disposal, and to continue a tradition of speed record-breaking that we have stretching back more than 40 years. We don’t expect to productionise it, but if there is enough interest in the car, it wouldn’t be impossible as a very low volume special.”
According to Peugeot, the EX1 is strictly a 200th anniversary present to itself, but it will be seen by many in the motor industry as one-in-the-eye for rival French manufacturer Renault, which has sunk billions of Euros of development cash into electric vehicles over the last two years, but has yet to release any of them onto the market, and so far has nothing to rival the EX1’s speed and focus.
The EX1 will be on display for all to see at Peugeot Avenue, 136 Avenue des Champs-Elysees, Paris from 22nd September to 14th November 2010.
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Re: Radical Peugeot EX1 uncovered
BUILD IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Re: Radical Peugeot EX1 uncovered
With such a narrow rear track,won't stability be a problem when entering a high speed corner,or braking and turning at the same time?,what with instant torque feel this is an unresolved issue to us readers, could someone elaborate?.
Re: Radical Peugeot EX1 uncovered
After reading this article, I am a little confused. Does Matt Saunders work for Autocar or Peugeot? Because this just reads as a straight copy of a press release with a journo's name tagged on the bottom...