Future Peugeot EVs will share DNA with this Inception Concept

Every now and again Peugeot comes up with a cracker of a concept car, and now is (again) just such an occasion: meet the Inception Concept, the French firm’s vision for what its electric cars will look like from 2025.

We’re exaggerating, of course, the next-gen 508 won’t be going quite so Tron-meets-Back-to-the-Future on us. But Peugeot insists that the Inception should give us a flavour of what to expect from its forthcoming product line-up as it aims to be fully electric by 2030.

Based on parent company Stellantis’s STLA Large EV platform, the Inception is five metres long but still svelte at 1.34 metres tall, giving us what Peugeot calls a ‘feline stance’... Yeah, we’ll spare you the rest of the marketing bumf.

It’s the first time design director Matthias Hossann has been able to convey his vision for the brand since his appointment in 2020, and the groundwork laid down here will start bearing fruit in a couple of years' time.

So, some numbers: the Inception runs 800V tech and a 100kWh battery for 497 miles of range, with mind-bendingly fast recharging times allowing 93 miles’ worth of juice to be pumped back into the cells in as little as five minutes.

There’s a motor on each axle for four-wheel drive, amounting to 671bhp. Coincidentally this is the exact same figure achieved by the next generation of top-tier Le Mans competitors, of which Peugeot is one with its wingless 9X8. 0-62mph takes less than three seconds.

It uses induction charging too, apparently, so no need to carry around a bulky cable. At least not in the fictional world in which this concept exists.

"Peugeot is changing, but the Peugeot Inception Concept remains unmistakably a Peugeot,” says Hassann. “It expresses the timeless feline attraction of the brand and shows how optimistic we are about the future of the car and the emotions it provides.

“Bright and full of light, the Peugeot Inception Concept reinvents the spatial experience of driving while illustrating some of our thinking behind reducing Peugeot’s carbon footprint by more than 50 per cent by 2030.”

Some key features you should note: ‘smart glazing’ uses a special glass chosen for its thermal qualities, while multi-chrome treatment is the same used on NASA astronauts’ visors; a ‘tech bar’ on the doors that displays messages on the car for driver and passengers before they get in; aerodynamic wheels; a ‘Hypersquare’ interior that completely rethinks Peugeot’s existing i-Cockpit system; plus the front grille signature and three-claw headlight and taillight design.

Let’s be realistic, it’s the latter of those that are most likely to make production, but we can still dream. Would you buy a Peugeot if it looked like the Inception Concept? Verdicts below please.