This Wild Electric Hot Hatch Concept Is Hiding Peugeot’s Next Small Car

Look past the huge wing and Group B rally-car attitude, and the E-T16 reveals what’s coming next for Peugeot’s electric 208.

Photo by: Peugeot

By: Andrei Nedelea

Oct 12, at 6:24am ET

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Peugeot’s E-T16 concept reimagines the 205 T16 rally legend with three electric motors and over 800 horsepower.
Its styling and cabin preview the next electric-only E-208, due in 2027 alongside the existing hybrid model.
The unusual Hypersquare steering controller is production-bound, but the E-208’s final specs remain unconfirmed.

The Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 was a mid-engined rally weapon loosely based on a shopping car. Peugeot built 200 road versions to qualify for Group B, and the competition car won the manufacturers’ and drivers’ world titles in 1985 and 1986.

The new E-T16 concept borrows that Group B attitude and several specific details like the gray paint and red stripe wrapping around the body. The original’s side intake now houses the charging port and door-opening mechanism. Underneath the one-piece rear clamshell, electric motors replace the combustion engine.

Photos by: Peugeot

Peugeot claims its three motors deliver over 800 horsepower and a 2.5-second sprint to 100 km/h (62 mph). An 85-kWh battery and 800-volt architecture promise 249 miles of WLTP range and a sub-15-minute charge to 10–80%. Clever cooling supposedly allows three consecutive Nürburgring laps without power restrictions.

More interestingly, this concept gives us strong indications of what the next-generation 208 B-segment electric production hatchback will be like. The all-new 208, due sometime next year, will be electric-only, sold alongside today’s hybrid 208.

Peugeot’s official information about the platform confirms its structural battery integration and support for 800 volts; however, the production model is unlikely to get the latter, since no rival in the segment offers it.

The most obvious production cues are the horizontal “three-claw” lights at both ends and the cabin’s new i-Cockpit layout. Peugeot says the concept exaggerates the next E-208’s proportions, so mentally shrink those wheel arches and remove the enormous wing, and you’re getting closer to what the series car will look like.

Inside, a curved 21-inch display sits above the steering controller, although Peugeot hasn’t confirmed that screen size for production. That rectangular “Hypersquare” steering wheel is coming, though. It uses steer-by-wire, eliminating the mechanical connection to the front wheels and letting the steering ratio change with speed, so it needs far less lock than a traditional steering column.

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Comments

The concept puts another screen in its center for speed and lap timing; the production E-208 will use that space for an airbag. The shape might look like show-car theater, but Peugeot intends for customers to steer it.

The new 208 EV will have stiff competition when it arrives next year. Against the Renault 5, Volkswagen ID. Polo and Cupra Raval, it will need to make its unusual controls feel useful—not simply give buyers something new to get used to—and offer good specs for an affordable price.