This Square ‘Steering Wheel’ Could Only Work With Steer-by-Wire

The 2026 Paris Motor Show (Mondial de l’Auto) kicks off today, and I’m delighted to report that the French have already trotted out a crop of truly bizarre concept cars there. We’ve got a cyberpunk 2 CV, a space-age E-Space, and a “hyper hatch,” not a hot hatch, with the wackiest steering wheel I’ve seen outside Formula 1.

First, behold the Peugeot E-T16 Concept.

It’s a tri-motor electric hatchback that, Peugeot’s release claims, “can complete three laps of the Nürburgring Nordschleife—more than 60 km—in Performance mode, with no power limitation!” But, I mean, it’s a concept car, so the “specs” could say anything.

The project is aesthetically a callback to the 205 T16 of the mid-’80s, which was a rally beast in its day (famously winning the 1985 and 1986 World Rally Championships back-to-back).

I’ll let you scroll through images of it below, but here’s what the Stellantis-owned French automaker has to say about its bizarre steering wheel that’s not really a wheel at all. It looks like a charcuterie board of buttons—Peugeot calls it the Hypersquare.

“Inspired by the steering wheel of the PEUGEOT 9X8 competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship, the Hypersquare® steering control of E-T16 CONCEPT demonstrates the adaptability of this new steer by wire technology, here developed in a performance-focused configuration. For the first time, the Hypersquare® integrates a configurable central display showing essential information such as speed and lap timing according to driving conditions. The outstanding ergonomics of Hypersquare®, allowing access to key functions with a simple finger movement, are particularly valuable in sporty driving situations. Combined with the specially calibrated steer-by-wire system, Hypersquare® also delivers exceptional precision and agility.”

On a normal car, your steering wheel is physically connected to the front wheels through a column and a rack. That’s why a regular wheel takes a couple of full rotations to go from full left to full right, and why you end up shuffling your hands around the rim when you’re parking. It’s also why the Tesla yoke got so much grief: Tesla chopped the top off the wheel but left the conventional steering underneath, so drivers were still trying to go hand-over-hand on a thing that didn’t have a top to grab.

Steer-by-wire cuts that physical link. Your inputs go to a computer, and electric motors do the actual turning of the wheels. Once software is in charge, the steering ratio doesn’t have to be fixed. At parking-lot speeds, a small twist of your hands can mean full lock, and on the highway, the same movement can be dialed way down so the car stays calm. If you never have to rotate the thing very far, it doesn’t need to be round. That’s what opens the door for a square full of buttons and a screen that stays where your hands are.

There’s a tradeoff, of course. Without a mechanical connection, everything you feel through your hands is simulated, and whether that can feel as natural as a good old-fashioned rack is the big open question. Steer-by-wire isn’t brand new, either. The Cybertruck and Lexus RZ both offer it. But the Hypersquare is one of the first designs I’ve seen that really leans on what it makes possible, instead of just being a regular wheel with fewer parts.

I don’t know how outstanding the ergo really is, but there will be a demo unit at the auto show for anybody who’s out there and wants to check it out. Peugeot’s pretty committed—it’s trotted out the Hypersquare on a few other concepts, including a non-performance variant in a getaround car called Polygon.

There are short interviews with Peugeot execs extolling the virtues of this idea on YouTube. It basically comes down to “steer-by-wire means more context-specific steering response so we can put more buttons near your hands.” I’ll be interested to see real, live demos. For now, I think I’ll stick with regular-ol’ wheels.

You Francophiles in the audience can get your full Peugeot download from its Paris press conference:

Paris Motor Show

More Peugeot E-T16 Concept Pictures

This thing is so freaking rad.

More 2026 Paris Auto Show Highlights

While you’re here, take a quick look at some of the other wild designs coming out of France this week.

Citroën 2 CV Concept

Citroën, another Stellantis brand, is also doing the “icon reinvented” thing, revisiting the iconic 2 CV as a modern EV with a car version and a mini Euro-style breadvan version. The 2 CV was never popular in the United States, but it’s about as iconic as the VW Beetle in Europe and many other countries around the world.

The 2 CV was built for decades and has been made to endure everything from big-city post-war daily driving to African taxi duty over the course of its long production run. Unlike the Peugeot Hyper Hatch, which will probably not make it to production, a nouveau-style 2 CV is apparently in the pipeline.

Citroën’s release says:

“The 2 CV Concept embodies the vision for a model that the brand will unveil within the next two years; manufactured in Europe, it aims for a starting price of around €15,000 [about $16,700] and will comply with future E-Car regulations.”

The commercial variant is being described as more of a “passion project.”

Renault E-Space Concept

The Renault E-Space is yet another new-version-of-old-icon (nostalgia sells). The E-Space minivan might ring a bell because an insane V10 track-ready variant of it was in Gran Turismo.

This new concept doesn’t have anything to do with that; it’s more focused on the practical peoplemover aspect. As the French company shared:

“The modern-day successor to the original 1984 Renault Espace, the concept car reboots the founding principles of the MPV as part of an ultra-modern vision.”

“Designed first and foremost as a living space, it is very much a people-centred vehicle, with an innovative, airy and modular interior created for comfort and family time together.”

Anything else crazy going on at the Paris Motor Show we should be talking about this year? Drop me a line at andrew.collins@thedrive.com if you want to put something on my radar.