Artificial intelligence: Capgemini joins forces with Peugeot sport to accelerate and optimize the development of its hybrid hypercar

The Peugeot 9×8 will be racing in the World Endurance Championship (FIAWEC[1]), an international motorsport competition with several races including the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Paris, April 6, 2022 – Capgemini has signed a multi-year partnership with Peugeot Sport to provide the PEUGEOT 9X8 FIA WEC program team with advanced digital tools. Peugeot Sport is poised to make its return to topflight endurance racing this summer. It will capitalize on Capgemini’s data and AI applications expertise to take the performance of its revolutionary hybrid Hypercar forward, both in the simulator and on the racetrack. This new partnership also embodies the commitment of both companies to the energy transition.

Pooling the capacity of Peugeot Sport and Capgemini’s digital tools will enable the team’s engineers, drivers and mechanics to deepen their understanding of the 9X8, while also accelerating and boosting its competitive potential. In particular, as software development becomes a key factor given that the car’s hardware specification will be frozen for a period of four years, in keeping with the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Hypercar regulations.

With Peugeot Sport at a crucial stage in the car’s development, this fundamental technological support is a sign of how motor racing is evolving. For example, the specific calculations ability, algorithms and artificial intelligence brought to the table by Capgemini will complement the software developed within the sport and automobile industry. This will help deliver increasingly precise energy management under acceleration and during the regeneration phase (capped by the regulations at 200kW), two vital performance and reliability-related parameters. Furthermore, the improvements introduced by Peugeot Sport and Capgemini, to boost the new Hypercar’s performance in the FIA World Endurance Championship, will also go on to benefit PEUGEOT road cars.

The disruptive vision inherent in artificial intelligence fits perfectly with the spirit that guided the design of the PEUGEOT 9X8. The ability to analyze the car’s behavior in real time opens up a whole new world of opportunities for the team. Not only does it complement the fast-evolving technologies that already exist in motorsport, but it will also contribute to the ongoing quest for ever-higher performance, allowing for a much wider spectrum of race scenarios to be taken into consideration.

“We are delighted to have joined forces with the digital technology leader and data and artificial intelligence specialist, Capgemini, to develop and run the PEUGEOT 9X8,” says Peugeot Sport Director Jean-Marc Finot. “Every meter that our hybrid Hypercar covers on the racetrack or on the simulator will be logged, sorted and analyzed using Capgemini’s ultra-sophisticated tools in addition to the data collected by the team itself. PEUGEOT’s association with Capgemini is an example of French technological excellence shining on the world stage and is indicative of how the Group is evolving into a tech company.”

“It is great to be working alongside Peugeot Sport as it seeks to make the PEUGEOT 9X8 hybrid Hypercar an icon of its era,” comments Jérôme Siméon, CEO of the Southern Europe Strategic Business Unit at Capgemini and Group Executive Board Member. “We look forward to making our advanced data analysis and artificial intelligence expertise available to Peugeot Sport’s experts. Together, we will take the performance of its Hypercar forward so that it can make an immediate impact on its race debut. This partnership has a strong technological dimension and reinforces the relationship Capgemini has long enjoyed with the Stellantis Group, while bringing to life our shared values and ambitions to shape the future of mobility through innovative, sustainable solutions.”

Designed entirely by Peugeot Sport in collaboration with PEUGEOT’s Style and Design Department, the 9X8 features a radically new, efficient aerodynamic concept, runs on 100% renewable fuel and is equipped with new-generation batteries, in keeping with the Brand’s commitment to innovative, increasingly sustainable mobility. The extreme conditions encountered in motorsport in general, and in endurance racing in particular, serve as a valuable laboratory that allows the brand to evaluate solutions that are relevant to the strategic challenges it has set itself. Since the beginning of the 9X8’s track-testing program in December, PEUGEOT has focused on accelerating the car’s development – including its powertrain unit and electrified all-wheel drive transmission – to enable everyday drivers to benefit from its research work and progress, with the 9X8 standing out as a flagship for PEUGEOT’s values, namely Allure, Emotion and Excellence.

The partnership also fits perfectly with Capgemini’s global sports sponsorship strategy which seeks not only to celebrate team spirit and boldness through its associations with major brands and sporting events across the world (including the Men’s and Women’s Rugby World Cups and golf’s Ryder Cup), but also to contribute its advanced tools and technological expertise with a view to enhancing performance and the fan experience.

[1] The World Endurance Championship of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) has races taking place in the United States, in France, Belgium, Italy, Japan and Bahrain (https://www.fiawec.com/en/news/2022-fia-wec-calendar-revealed/7132)