Until now, hybrid cars used a combination of petrol engines and electric motors to power their wheels. But by the end of the year, French giant Peugeot will sell its 3008 in diesel hybrid form.
The front-wheel drive, 1.6-litre diesel 3008 is a car that we know well in Ireland. It's a great launch car and a previous winner of Irish Car of the Year. From December 1, however, you will be able to pre-order a 2012, ultra-green, four-wheel drive version.
Peugeot uses a similar four-wheel drive set-up that Lexus introduced with its first four-wheel drive car, the RX400h - namely an internal combustion engine to power the front wheels and a hybrid electric motor to power the rear wheels. Unlike conventional four-wheel drives, there is no mechanical link between the two axles. Peugeot has designed a compact hybrid unit, built using the rear axle of a 508. The rechargeable battery pack sits on top of the motor and 508's multilink suspension set-up is used. A small amount of the boot space is lost to the electric motor, so sadly the much-loved adjustable boot floor has been dropped.
3008 HY4's front wheels are powered by a 2-litre, 163bhp diesel engine, while a 37bhp electric motor powers the rear wheels, adding up to 200bhp. HYbrid4 has plenty of torque, with 470nm combined motor output.
So the car should be no slouch despite the extra weight (140kgs) and a bit sporty... but it isn't.
HY4, with its stop/start system and other energy-saving technologies, is tuned primarily to deliver very good fuel consumption figures and tiny emissions - 3008 HY4 produces just 99g of CO2 (103g/CO2 if larger wheels are specified).
So what is it like to drive?
A six-speed 'Ecomatique' automatic gearbox with paddle shifts is standard. This gearbox is a little frustrating for enthusiastic driving as it reacts slowly to driver input - almost like it is telling you it knows best. There are four electronic driving modes you can select via a rotary controller, namely Auto, ZEV, 4WD and Sport. Auto lets the car's ECU (brain) decide what wheels to power and what individual power source or combination to use. ZEV is zero emissions electric vehicle mode. In this mode the car can travel only a few kilometres on stored battery power alone - again Peugeot has designed HY4 to be an aid to fuel economy in the true hybrid sense and not an EV car. HY4 can be driven in true four-wheel drive mode at up to 120km/h; above that the car switches to front-wheel drive mode.
Generally, HY4's ride quality is firm and this is more pronounced when you venture off-road. On the rough stuff HY4's ride is too harsh when compared to other soft roaders - ground clearance is fairly limited too. On a test in soft sand the automatic driving mode setting was fine and even a stop and start off again test was no hassle for the car to perform.
3008 HY4 is clearly clever but, like all new technology, it's not going to be cheap! The greenest 3008 will only sell in tiny numbers in Ireland, but that's not really important: The big story is Peugeot has put diesel hybrid technology on the road first.
Michael Sheridan
