Peugeot EX1 EV takes on the Nurburgring & sets new electric car record

Peugeot EX1 EV Concept - a 'Ring-beater

Peugeot has taken the Peugeut EX1 Concept – and electric sports car – to the Nurburgring and broken the record for an electric car.

Peugeot has been busy celebrating its bi-centenary of late (as a company, not just a care maker) and a part of the celebrations of the anniversary was the creation of the Peugeot EX1 EV Concept we saw at the Paris Motor Show..

An EV Concept in this day and age would, you might reasonably expect, be a little less than exciting. Something to run around the centre of town in or a delivery vehicle for urban businesses, perhaps. Both of which – cost aside – make big sense.

But no, this is Peugeot in anniversary mode so the EX1 is an electric car to celebrate what Peugeot can do, not what it needs to do to pacify the electrickery anarchists.

So what we get is a car made almost entirely from carbon fibre, low, sleek and very good to look at. Those who watched the last series of Top Gear may well have seen the EX1 in the studio and remember Hammond sitting in a seat attached to the door, so you’ve got a good idea how good the EX1 looks.

A pair of electric motors – one on each  axle – combine to deliver a peak of 354lb/ft of instant torque and 340bhp, giving the EX1 a 0-602mph of 3.6 seconds. Not shoddy by even the best ICE standards, helped by the instant torque an electric motor delivers and the lightweight 750kg kerb weight.

So with an electric car that looks the business and goes rather well (even if it will run out of steam quite quickly) Peugeot thought it was a fine idea to take their baby to the Nurburgring to see if it could turn in a good time. And it did; a new record for an electric car round the Nurburgring of 9:01.338, a full fifty seconds better than the previous record.

Which is terrific, and proves that electric cars can be a fun toy as well as being good inner city runarounds.