Peugeot reveals sketches of Le Mans hypercar

MANILA: Just before the 24 Hours of Le Mans kicked off over the weekend, Peugeot unveiled the preliminary sketches of what will be their Le Mans hypercar.

“This category unites our entire company and all of our entities, with features and technologies similar to those of our production cars. Through this commitment, Peugeot is opening a new register, that of neo performance. We are coming back to endurance racing because we have the opportunity to work the sport in a different way, with the hybridization of gas and electricity. Peugeot Sport is changing its identity and launching its label of electrified high- performance vehicles; Peugeot Sport Engineered with its first 508 model: 360 horsepower, four-wheel drive and 46g of C02. This endurance program allows us to integrate ourselves fully into the transition of energies,” said Peugeot Brand CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato.

In cooperation with fuel company Total, with whom Peugeot has had a 25-year partnership, the French automaker’s Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) project is an expression of their aerodynamic aspirations, which is an electric hybrid four-wheel drive supercar with 670hp.

After having begun the study on the vehicle’s general structure, the aerodynamic concept and the choice of engine architecture, Peugeot is now taking on the challenge of the electrical framework before it tackles the hybrid traction chain.

“We mark 25 years of close collaboration between Peugeot and Total but also of strong involvement in motorsport. Competition, firmly embedded in our DNA, represents a real technical on-hands workshop for our respective brands. It is in these workshops that we can work together, in search of perpetual performance and efficiency, in order to share the best solutions and products from high-level sport to our final customers. The Le Mans Hypercar project provides us today possibilities for joint development on the entire energy system of the car; on the efficiency of our fuels — for all the competitors, as the exclusive supplier — or for the lube, specifically designed for hybrid vehicles. It will also allow Total and Saft to study new battery solutions alongside Peugeot. Total is now a multi-energy company that answers to all mobility demands while maintaining itself as a pioneer. The Le Mans Hypercar embodies this perfectly," said Total Strategy/Marketing and Research Director Philippe Montantême.

Peugeot’s electric hybrid supercar is expected to be on the field at the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2022. The new design means the vehicle will be heavier than the current models in the WEC LMP1 class.

"The car will be four-wheel drive, equipped — as required by the regulations — with an electric motor and a maximum power of 200kW on the front axle. The total power level will be identical to that of a 100% thermal two-wheel drive car (500kW or approx. 680hp) that will be distributed between the two axles. In comparison with what we currently know in LMP1, the car will be heavier so as to be compatible with road vehicles. It will also be longer (5m and 4.65m) and wider (2m and 1m90). This regulation is also different because it incorporates a performance balance (BoP: Balance of Performance). It certainly sets limits, but also allows room for many technical possibilities in our development, specifically on the general shape, as long as a certain overall aerodynamic efficiency is not exceeded. This will be measured in a 1:1 scale wind tunnel and which will be part of the BOP.

To this date, we have confirmed part of the aerodynamic concept, the engine framework has been decided and we have chosen the functionality of the hybrid system and its fundamental design. We still have several steps left before our debut in endurance in 2022, in studies, the production of prototypes and finally, affirmation on the bench and on the track," said Peugeot Sport WEC ProgramTechnical Director Olivier Jansonnie, 

Photos from Peugeot

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