This is Peugeot e-LEGEND CONCEPT, the French automaker’s vision of the future of driving that’s boring. Peugeot said it has a “realistic and radically modern template.” In other words, it is car with a form that may materialize, eventually, unlike many such “vision” concepts. I am talking about you BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Anyways, regarding the look… while I agree it looks absolutely “realistic,” but I can’t help but to see Ford Mustang in it. Come on. Don’t tell me you did not see the same. That is not say that it isn’t gorgeous. It certainly is.
Back to the make driving not boring… actually not quite get to drive it if it ever made it to production, well, at least not entirely because, it is 100 percent autonomous and it will be, of course, fully electric and oh, it is connected too. It will have Peugeot’s pride and joy, the i-Cockpit, a Responsive one, that is. Realistic it is in the look department, but I can’t say the same for the tech it proposes. It will have wire steering technology. There is a steering wheel which can retract under the “sound bar” to enable a full, unobstructed view of the massive 49-inch screen stuck on the dash (!).
And then there is reclining front seats, automatic deploying side armrests that will free up a large storage area, an induction charging area for smartphones, and it will have main controls that are accessible via the center console integrated in the driver’s seat. When it drives itself, passengers will play video games, watch movies together on the curved central screen, or in each screen built into the sun visors. Furthermore, there is going to have two “manual” modes.
A LEGEND model, that is a cruising model “with recall of the three 504 Coupe dials and display of digitally-processed wood on the different screens,” and a BOOST mode which offers dynamic and stimulating driving offered through powerful electric motor and 180-degree immersion with projection of the road on a single large screen, said Peugeot. It does not stop there. There voice-enabled AI and what Peugeot dubbed as “conversation intelligence technologies,” which I am going to assume it will be Iron Mark’s Javis.
Voice commands can be used to do things as mundane as pulling up the playlist to opening or closing the electrically operated doors. Interestingly, the digital voice is that of Peugeot’s style director, Gilles Vidal… in 17 languages. In addition to Soundhound Inc. involvement in the AI technologies, acoustic specialist Focal will also ensuring optimal sound diffusion and creating some rather dream-like sound functions, including a concept called “mapping” that makes sending navigation messages to the driver only while the rest continue to enjoy their music.
There is a thing call zoning, which kind of create a “sound bubble” of sort for each individual passenger so each person can enjoy whatever they are watching or listening without disturbing each other. Hmmm, why does this sound like cone of silence to me? The other things you may want to know is, it rolls on real-life 19-inch wheels wrapped in mass production-sized Michelin tires because, realism. Power is from a 800 Nm electric motor, juiced by a 100 kWh battery system, and its 340 kW power put to good use on all four wheels.
Peugeot expect the e-LEGEND CONCEPT to rocket from naught to 100 in under 4s and making a top speed of 220 km/h, while the battery system will afford it 600 km of range. Fast charger is also in the plan where it will provide an astounding 500 km in just 25 minutes of charging and oh, it will have induction charging too. I mean, the car itself, not the smartphones, btw. Does it sounds all too sci-fi-ish? Absolutely. But hey, it is, after all, a vision, isn’t it?
All images courtesy of Peugeot.
