What will cars and mobility look like in 2019 and the years to come? Students from French engineering school ESILV have visited the Mondial Paris Motor Show. They have identified the most innovative French vehicles and equipment.
Florent Martimort, ESILV Class of 2020 and Alexandre Bruneau, Class of 2019 are both students in ESILV’s Computational Mechanics and Modelling major.
Concept cars and autonomous vehicles at Mondial Paris Motor Show 2018
By Florent Martimort, engineering student.
Peugeot e-Legend Concept : at the centre of attention
Undoubtedly, Peugeot e-Legend Concept is the car that made all heads turn at the 2018 exhibition, to the extent that a petition was launched online, asking for its commercialisation!
The manufacturer managed to show all its skills in this model, with looks similar to an American muscle car, like a Chevrolet Camaro or Ford Mustang.
The Peugeot e-Legend Concept is full of technologies, some of them inspired by its predecessor Peugeot 504. Particularly its driving modes: manual shift, which enables a projection of the road on a giant 49 inch curved screen, located under the dashboard and on the door screens; or entirely autonomous. In this case, the retractable steering wheel disappears, letting the car decide of all actions.
This 100% electric model has a 340 kW power, i.e. 460 horsepower and a 600 km autonomy.
Who said France wasn’t a serious competitor?
Renault EZ-Ultimo: a giant leap toward autonomy
Through this futuristic-looking concept-car, with impressive measurements (5.8 m long but only 1.35 m high), Renault shows that they want to be one of the leaders in shared and autonomous mobility, as soon as 2022.
EZ-Ultimo is one of three concept cars. EZ-Go, EZ-Pro and EZ-Ultimo have many things in common: they’re electric, level 4 autonomous, without a steering wheel and with only one side-door.
The inside of EZ-Ultimo is designed to maximise passenger comfort. It may be used as such: a vehicle for hire delivery for airline first classes, a limo for luxury hotels, a touristic vehicle and many more.
Whatever the final use, the EZ-Ultimo will not hit the roads any time soon but it does remain a great concept by Renault, which will celebrate its 120th anniversary in 2019.
Bugatti Divo: French excellence
It’s a supercar, and it may be the next worldwide #1. Hurray, it’s French! It’s called Bugatti Divo. 1500 horsepower.
Even if Volkswagen did not attend the Mondial Paris Auto Show this year, its subsidiary made up for its absence by introducing its latest car, designed to gather speed in turns.
Bugatti Divo, a French power car
Designers rethought the design of the Chiron’s sister, both on the car body and chassis, to allow an addition of a 90kg aerodynamic support and 35kg on the total weight.
The front of the Bugatti Divo has agressive looks, but so does the back, with its gigantic smoke extractors and its aileron towering over an enormous W16. Last but not least, one detail makes the difference: the blue white and red French flag on the lower body frames.
Feeling like buying this jewel of a car? If you own the 5 million Euros, you will still have to wait a few more years, for the 40 first models have already been sold.
Shared mobility, state-of-the-art equipment and a futuristic wheel.
By Alexandre Bruneau, engineering student.
Citroën Advanced Comfort, comfort for all!
After giving up the hydropneumatic suspension it invented, Citroën is getting back to basics. Its innovative programme Citroën Advanced Comfort is deployed on most of its vehicles.
The C4 Cactus and C5 Aircross models, introduced for the first time ever in Paris, both feature the programme’s latest innovation: the progressive hydraulic cushions.
The French manufacturer aims to offer high-end comfort features, with a technology no more bulky than a regular shock absorber.
This technology may be adapted on earlier Citroën models. It is entirely mechanic, without electronic commands and is reasonable in price and weight, in comparison with a traditional shock absorber.
Michelin Vision Concept: an airless monobloc wheel
Equipment manufacturers also came to the exhibition with innovative products. Among them, Michelin introduced a futuristic tire, free from all current norms.
It imagined a monobloc wheel, replacing both the tire and the rim.
Vision Concept is an “airless, rechargeable, 3-D printed organic tire, developed from bio-sourced, biodegradable materials. A connected tire, it provides real-time information about its condition and is integrated with innovative services”.
With over a million visitors, the Mondial Paris Auto Show 2018 has once again showed the skills and innovations of many car and equipment manufacturers, including French ones. See you next year in Paris!
Interested in automotive and mobility? Find out more about the Master’s Programme offered at ESILV, engineering school in Paris.
