Before you go and remind yourself of the lap times set by Chevrolet’s ZR-1, Nissan’s GT-R or Porsche’s 911 GT2 RS around the Nordschleife – fear not, Peugeot were not gunning for an outright record, but instead the lap record for a fully-electric vehicle.

And which record holder did they send packing with a bloody nose? Was it Tesla? No. Perhaps that sexy-looking Fisker Karma? Not even close.

It was in fact the 9:51:45 record set by the MINI E Race just 12 months ago.

Stéphane Caillet, driver and tuner-technician from the Company’s Research & Development Centre, was at the wheel of the EX1 Concept Car, which covered the circuit’s 20.832 kilometres (12.944 miles) just over 50 seconds quicker than the MINI E.

9 minutes 1.338 seconds (9:01.338) was its lap time, at an average speed of 138.324 km/h (85.951 mph) which was set in weather foggy and damp conditions – far from ideal for setting records – but then the same was true for MINI.

The record achieved by EX1 was formally recognised by WIGE Performance, the official time-keeping body for the Nordschleife, but surely it can’t be long before one of the better-known ‘ring-based manufacturers comes along and trounces it.

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