Peugeot unveils RCZ Vision concept with 500 hp electric powertrain and solid-state battery

Peugeot has unveiled the RCZ Vision, a concept it calls a brand manifesto that places driving pleasure, excitement and French panache at the heart of its innovation strategy. The car is the first expression of the brand's Feline Future design language, built around five principles: Freedom, Courage, Elegance, inner force and Instinct. It is the successor to the iconic RCZ coupe produced between 2009 and 2015, which Peugeot describes as a bold expression of its style and performance that has since become a collector's item. Peugeot calls it the most advanced vision yet of its future, combining design and technology in the service of driving pleasure, and a preview of the next generation of its onboard experience.

The RCZ Vision is built on an architecture based on the STLA One next-generation modular platform, designed to support Peugeot's future technologies, particularly X-by-Wire systems. Its electric powertrain delivers 500 hp, up to 600 km of range and energy consumption of 11.5 kWh/100 km on the WLTP combined cycle, a figure Peugeot says is still to be confirmed. The battery is just 110 mm thick, was developed with Factorial Energy and sits on a 1,000 V architecture, allowing state of charge to rise from 10% to 80% in only 10 minutes. Peugeot says the scalable STLA One architecture aims to reduce complexity, accelerate development cycles and improve profitability, and that its modularity facilitates the reuse and recycling of components at the end of their service life.

The car previews a future generation of the Peugeot i-Cockpit, which has been a key element of Peugeot driving pleasure for nearly 15 years, pairing the Hypersquare steering control with transparent Micro LED displays. Peugeot keeps the layout that made the i-Cockpit successful, placing the transparent display just above Hypersquare in the driver's field of vision, while a floating central display, vertical and angled towards the driver, handles infotainment and navigation settings and can be switched off completely to disappear from view. The RCZ Vision uses the same production version of Hypersquare that will feature in the next-generation E-208. Combined with Steer-by-Wire, which removes any mechanical connection between the steering control and the wheels and adapts the steering ratio to vehicle speed, maximum rotation is slightly less than one full turn, compared with three turns for a conventional steering wheel. The concept is also the first Peugeot with Brake-by-Wire, replacing the hydraulic connection between pedal and brakes with electronic control for more precise modulation and integration of regenerative braking, and it offers Level 2++ automated driving with a hands-free function available on demand in the city and on the open road.

Visually, the RCZ Vision has a feline stance, leaning slightly forward with strongly defined shoulders, deeply sculpted flanks and a slim transparent glass-bubble cabin. It introduces a new light signature with three ultra-slim horizontal claws topped by an ultra-compact Thin Lens LED headlamp, along with an illuminated emblem and a micro-perforated RCZ graphic across the bumper, while the active spoiler stays invisible when stationary and deploys only while driving. Peugeot extends the glass-bubble concept from the bonnet to the rear, accentuates the double-bubble profile to optimise rear-seat space, and replaces solid aluminium with a paint made from recycled aluminium, while the car rides on 21-inch front and 22-inch rear forged-aluminium wheels. Inside, the four-seat Grand Touring cabin is trimmed in Alcantara and PELINOVA leather made from recycled offcuts from the leather-goods industry, and includes a dashboard clock designed by French watchmaker SERICA. The seats use an asymmetrical architecture with open seatbacks to cut weight, the air vents can disappear into the dashboard when not in use, and the floating centre console groups physical controls machined from aluminium on a frosted-glass surface.