Peugeot e-Legend concept: Peugeot goes Back to the Future

The Peugeot e-Legend concept arrives ahead of a Paris Motor Show debut, delivering an electric coupe with retro-design echoing the Peugeot 504 Coupe.

Is the Peugeot e-Legend concept a look at a retro take on the new Peugeot 508? Not really, but it is a similar size and sports an electric powertrain, which certainly could come in a future 508.

What the e-Legend Concept is though is a fabulous retro-design concept from Peugeot, designed to showcase not only an electric powertrain and a degree of autonomous driving but also make the statement that future cars with electric power don’t need to be boring, odd or just plain weird.

The e-Legend Concept doesn’t just echo the 504 Coupe’s design though, it manages to inject a dose of American Muscle Car in to the mix too and manages to do all that without looking like a silly concept pastiche.

From the twin headlights in the square face to the scooped flanks, and the ‘claw’ lights at the back to the 504-style glasshouse, Peugeot has managed to bring all the diverse elements together in a cohesive whole which appeals to the senses in a very similar way to Honda’s little Urban Concept; it’s a car which warms the cockles.

Inside there are retro touches too, with velvet seats you probably haven’t seen since the 1970s and lumps of wood too, but a plethora of screens abound from the dash to the doors to meld the past with the future.

But, glorious retro features apart, the e-Legend is about the future, and the future is showcased with its electric powertrain and its autonomous chops.

Under the skin sits a 100kWh battery pack on a bespoke electric platform, powering a pair of electric motors delivering 456bhp and capable of getting the Coupe to 62mph in under 4.0 seconds. Range is 373 miles and an 80 per cent power top-up will take less than half an hour.

Clearly the e-Legend offers the driver some appealing credentials, but if you don’t want to drive it offers a pair of autonomous modes too, ‘Soft’ to soothe and calm you and ‘Sharp’ to let you interact with the digital screens, with the interior configuration changing by moving the steering wheel away and reclining the seats. 

It’s all rather appealing, both visually and in terms of its appeal for both driving and being driven, but a lot of what is on offer is ‘The Future’, not the ‘Now’. So don’t expect Peugeot to roll out the e-Legend as a production car in the next year or two.

But, at some point, they really should.

Peugeot e-Legend Concept Video