The Peugeot Inception Concept brings some French flavour to electro-mobility.
The French have always tried to do cars a little differently from the rest – and nothing is changing in the age of the electric vehicle. Peugeot just showed off the Inception Concept and it’s not like anything else we’ve seen before.
We’re not even sure where to start, so we’ll talk about the technical specifications first.
The Inception Concept is based on the electric-specific STLA Large platform, which is shared across Stellantis. The platform allows Peugeot to design a vehicle that’s 1.34m in height and 5m long.
This platform is powered by artificial intelligence and technologies such as STLA Brain, STLA SmartCockpit and STLA AutoDrive.
The 800V platform is equipped with a 100kWh battery which should give it a range of nearly 800km.
With two electric motors and an output of 680hp, the Inception concept can go from 0-100km/h in less than 3 seconds. Wireless induction charging is being touted as a possible feature of this vehicle.
The interior is also pretty revolutionary. It comes with an all-new version of the i-Cockpit, this time with a new ‘Hypersquare’ control system. This eschews the traditional steering wheel for digital electric controls with steer by wire controls.
All core functions can be accessed using the Hypersquare, including the air conditioning, radio volume and ADAS functions. When the Inception drives itself, the Hypersquare retracts to reveal a large panoramic screen from the floor. Peugeot is aiming to introduce the Hypersquare on a production car by 2030.
The Inception is also imagined with glass designed for architecture. Other things Peugeot is doing differently includes the omission of a dashboard, crossbar and bulkhead for a completely open view of the road.
To make things more sustainable, the cockpit gets moulded textiles made of scraps of fabric as well as seat upholstery from 100% recycled polyester.
The Inception Concept may not go into production, but Peugeot says that it’ll be used to inspire their portfolio from 2025 onward. What do you think of the Peugeot Inception Concept? We feel like it could just be the right product for Peugeot to make its big comeback to the US market. They left the US market back in the 1980s. With backing from Stellantis and the US market’s appetite for electric vehicles, a production version of the Inception could be the right product for their return.
