Over the decades, Peugeot has earned a reputation for developing zany concept cars, like the Jetsons-like 1986 Proxima, the rocket-shaped Asphalt, the Onix, or Moovie
— an urban two-seater that looks more like a computer mouse than an
actual car. The French manufacturer's new Instinct concept, unveiled at
Mobile World Congress today, doesn't look as wildly futuristic as some
of its previous creations — but according to Peugeot’s design team,
that’s exactly the point.
"In the future, maybe you will have cars that can be only
autonomous, and it will be forbidden to drive anymore,” says Matthias
Hossann, head of concept car and advanced design at Peugeot. “But this
transition will be very long, and what we wanted to illustrate here is
part of this transition, because this will take time.”
The Instinct is certainly a nice looking car, and the
design of its interior seems particularly clean and intuitive. But like
many other connected car concepts, so much of its promise — the idea of
cruising around in an autonomous, intelligent remote home that talks to
all of your other devices — is predicated on a near-future that is still hard for most consumers to envision.
Speaking to journalists at Peugeot’s design complex
outside Paris last week, Hossann said that unlike previous concept cars,
the Instinct was designed from the inside-out. The idea is that drivers
will be able to choose how much control they want to cede to the car —
there are two self-driving modes and two active modes — and that the
car, in turn, will be able to adjust its driving based on data collected
from connected devices. (The car is designed to integrate with
Samsung’s Artik IoT platform.) If you just logged a hard workout on your
smartwatch, for example, the Instinct could automatically shift into an
“autonomous soft” mode to let you relax.
The plug-in hybrid’s interior design is clean and austere, with a more pared-down version of the i-Cockpit
that Peugeot first announced in 2010. The steering wheel and gas pedal
are both retractable, and the center console consists of a large screen
and an “i-Device” — a small, mouse-like handle that drivers can use to
adjust interior controls or switch between driving modes. The floors are
finished with a thin concrete layer, and its four seats are made of 3D
mesh that is designed to adjust to the contours of a passenger’s body.
The Instinct’s exterior is a combination of sharp angles
and curves — the company says it was inspired by its “great
coachbuilding tradition” — though it wouldn’t look entirely out of place
on roads today. (It’s about the same size as Peugeot’s 308 hatchback).
The car’s large, five-spoke wheels convey a powerful aura (it makes 300
horsepower), and there are colorful lighting flourishes under the
grille and taillights.
An air duct system has also been subtly
integrated into the car’s body for enhanced aerodynamics.
“When you see a car with aerodynamic features, it looks
like add-ons put on the car, so it’s difficult to have something simple
and really elegant,” Hossann said.
The Instinct will make its official debut at the Geneva
Motor Show next month, though Peugeot says that the technology
underpinning the car likely won’t enter production until 2025 at the
earliest.
The Interior
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