Gone is the small round steering wheel. Peugeot will start using a rectangular steering wheel from 2026. At its Vivatech stand this week at the Porte de Versailles in Paris, the French manufacturer exhibited a draft of this steering wheel called “Hypersquare”, a steering wheel already visible in the Inception Concept, a concept: futuristic car revealed in 2021.
The opportunity for the manufacturer to announce that in 2026 this conceptual steering wheel will arrive for the first time in a production version, in a marketed model. “It will sign all future Peugeots that are subsequently developed,” the manufacturer’s product manager, Jérôme Micheron, explained to AFP.
Less effort, more agility
“With this steering wheel, you control the car only by making 150° movements: it requires less effort and maintains a feeling of agility,” emphasizes Jérôme Micheron. And this gives a “techno” image to the model, he continues.
The steering wheel is also equipped with a technology (“steer by wire”) that eliminates the classic steering column, which mechanically connects the steering wheel to the wheels, in favor of electronic connections.
Drivers adapt very quickly to this system, according to the manufacturer who tested it with customers. Four holes in the steering wheel house buttons with functions such as cruise control, while the turn signals remain in their usual place behind the wheel. The electronic system is duplicated so that the steering is not cut off in case of a problem.
Peugeot has not indicated with which equipment manufacturer it is developing this steering wheel, but several suppliers such as the Germans ZF and Schaeffler believe in the rapid development of this technology. Many manufacturers already use this technology to turn the rear wheels. But only a handful of vehicles benefit from this for the front wheels, such as the Tesla Cybertruck, on display near the Peugeot stand at Vivatech, as well as the Chinese models. Toyota plans to take advantage of its bZ4X electric model soon.
Source: BFM TV
