Peugeot EX1 electric concept car scares the merde out of Tesla

French carmaker Peugeot is about to celebrate its 200th birthday. Rather than hiring scantily clad models to hop out of a giant brioche, or quaffing a skyscraper-sized bottle of champagne with its 200 closest mates, it's marking the occasion by building an insane electric sports car.

The Peugeot EX1 concept is based on Peugeot's previous Asphalte and the 20Cup concepts, but unlike those cars (which looked slightly weedy) this thing looks as if it might tear your spine out through your nose if you looked at it wrong.

We're particularly fond of the shiny gunmetal finish, the evil Maserati-looking front grille, and the way the narrow rear axle makes it look as if it's running on three wheels. Peugeot says it's styled to look like a water droplet, but we reckon it more resembles a demilitarised version of the Batmobile, especially the two-bikes-glued-together back end. Or maybe it's a training shoe on vehicular steroids.

The car is powered by two electric motors, one located at the front and another at the rear. Together, they squeeze out a fairly impressive 340bhp and provide a constant torque of 240Nm at the front and rear. That's nearly 100hp and 40Nm more than a Tesla Roadster, so it's no slouch.

Peugeot reckons the car car will do 0-60mph in 3.58 seconds and can reach its maximum speed of 162mph from a standing start in a mere 6.6 seconds. The Tesla Roadster Sport in contrast, does 0-60mph in 3.7 seconds and has a top speed of just 125mph. Meh.

According to Peugeot, the EX1 has already broken several international speed records for an electric vehicle. Apparently it'll do an eighth of a mile in 8.89s and a quarter of a mile in 14.4 seconds. That's not particularly quick by conventional sports car standards (petrol-powered sports cars can do that sort of sprint in around 12.5 seconds) but it's hugely impressive given that the EX1 is fully electric.

The car gets its juice from a 30kWh lithium-Ion battery pack that Peugeot says can provide a range of up to 280 miles, if driven sensibly.

The EX1 can be recharged from a standard electrical outlet or by parking it inside the custom-built Bat Cave garage Peugeot has built to go with it. This, the company says, has solar panels on the roof, which stores electricity inside a separate battery, which in turn charges the EX1 when docked.

It all sounds pretty good to us. The car is sure to dazzle at the Paris Motor Show at the end of September, so we'll make a beeline for it and bring you some hands-on pics and possibly even some video. In the meantime, click through the photo gallery above for a closer look.