The E-T16 is a loud concept with the useful bits buried in the spec sheet. The headline is 816 hp. The story is how it keeps from cooking its battery. It debuted at the Paris Motor Show on a 40th-anniversary tribute to the 205 T16, which won the World Rally Championship in 1985 and 1986, according to Peugeot. Under the tribute is a preview of the next E-208.
The numbers
Three electric motors, one at the front and two at the rear, combine for 816 hp. Peugeot claims 0-100 km/h in 2.5 seconds and 0-300 km/h in 16 seconds. It calls this the most powerful Peugeot ever, matched only by the 208 T16 Pikes Peak prototype that set a record in 2013.
The company also claims a power-to-weight ratio of under 2 kg per horsepower. Do the math and 816 hp at that ratio puts the car below roughly 1,632 kg. That’s a plausible figure for a hatchback with an 85-kWh battery, and it’s the number to check if this ever gets a spec sheet.
The part worth reading: battery cooling
Anyone can bolt three motors to a battery. Keeping that power available is the hard bit, and Peugeot Sport says it focused on preventing derating, where output drops to avoid overheating. Its answer is “Side Cooling,” which cools cells through their side walls instead of the base used by conventional systems.
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Peugeot says this lets the car complete three laps of the Nürburgring Nordschleife, more than 60 km, in Performance mode with no power limitation. That’s the claim to watch. Most fast EVs shine for one lap and then taper off, so a three-lap claim is a statement about thermal management, not just peak power.
Charging is the other half. The 800V system and 85-kWh pack claim 10-80% in under 15 minutes, with up to 400 km of WLTP range. By my arithmetic, that’s about 59.5 kWh added in 15 minutes, so a sustained average above 238 kW. Owners of a future road version would need a fast charger to see it.
Torque vectoring and a steering wheel with a screen
Torque is split between the rear wheels and between the axles in real time. There are three drive modes plus a fourth the driver can customize, including an unrestricted Track mode.
The Hypersquare steer-by-wire control, inspired by the 9X8 endurance racer’s wheel, gets a central display showing speed and lap timing. That display sits where the airbag would normally go. Peugeot says the airbag is “rendered unnecessary” by four-point harnesses.
Four-point harnesses are fine on a show car, but a mainstream E-208 with a daily-driver seatbelt can’t count on that exemption. Peugeot says the Hypersquare is otherwise faithful to the version for the future E-208, so expect the airbag question to be answered differently on the road car. Steer-by-wire also removes the mechanical link between wheel and rack, which is where regulators and insurers will want proof of redundancy.
The 205 T16 nods
The original’s mid-engine layout gave way to a tilting rear body, and Peugeot describes the old turbocharged four-cylinder being replaced by two electric motors and exposed suspension. The rear section opens to show a red tubular roll cage and a carbon-fiber platform. A storage compartment there can hold two helmets.
The body is Winchester Matte Grey, said to closely match the original, with a backlit red line that echoes the 205’s pinstripe. The old side intake that fed the combustion engine now houses the charge port and door-opening mechanism.
Design chief Matthias Hossann said: “E-T16 CONCEPT reinterprets the lines of the future PEUGEOT E-208, pushing every proportion to the extreme.”
What it previews for the next E-208
Peugeot’s release frames the E-T16 as a design and technology preview, and it makes no production announcement. What it does preview: the new horizontal three-claw light signature and 21-inch panoramic i-Cockpit, both previewing the next E-208. The pack uses lithium nickel manganese chemistry, and Peugeot also points to recycled PELINOVA leather inside.
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If you’re shopping for a small EV, the E-T16’s performance figures aren’t your car. The e-208 GTi hint, a red headliner nodding to its carpeting, is the more relevant clue about where the road model is heading.
The concept also picked up the AMAM Best Concept Car award at Paris. That’s recognition for the show car, not a guarantee of a showroom version.
Peugeot says three Nordschleife laps with no power limit. Do you believe it before someone outside Peugeot Sport puts a stopwatch on it?
Images Via: Stellantis
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