The week with the facelifted Peugeot 3008 went by like water. With its eye-catching HYbrid4 designation, which thanks to its plug-in hybrid powertrain not only offers the possibility of pure electric driving, but with the contribution of an electric motor on the rear axle, it also has all-wheel drive. For its class of SUV, the 3008 also boasts a respectable 5.9-second zero to 60mph acceleration time, which puts a heap of pre-wheel drive hot-hatches in its pocket. Will this be the holy grail of the outgoing 3008 generation?!
A few days ago Peugeot unveiled the all-new E-3008, which will arrive on the market in next year. But here we have a tricked-out current generation in the most powerful, 300bhp engine in hybrid format.
We tested the pre-facelift plug-in hybrid version against the Opel Grandland X Hybrid4 a while back. The latter equally benefited from the increased power of the PureTech petrol engine to 143kW, a front electric motor with 81kW and an added rear electric motor with 83kW. The combined maximum power output is thus a cool 220kW (300bhp) and, more importantly, a lovely 520Nm that can be transferred to the road via all wheels.
And that already looks like a nice rocket. The downside is that all these gizmos weigh something. The HYbrid4 is only 70kg heavier than the plug-in with the pre-wheel, but up to over half a tonne heavier than the petrol-engined version. That’s just to illustrate how much such electrification “weighs” and, more importantly, what effect it might have on the agility of such an SUV.
In front of us is a beautiful vehicle with a new, typical look for current Peugeot models. Lights in the form of lion tusks at the front and with three claws at the rear add to the fact that the 3008 is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful SUVs on the current market.
So the upgrade has brought a slightly tweaked look, an expansion of equipment where you can have, for example, great night vision at an extra cost, and then there’s the larger infotainment display or the completely “unnecessary” option of a backlit chapel with a digital instrument cluster.
As part of the upgrade, a few minor interior changes have been made, the most notable being the installation of a new i-Cockpit digital dashboard screen. The latter has a new 12.3-inch diagonal from base trim and its panel features “Normally Black” technology, which should offer better contrast and a more comfortable reading experience.
With the upgrades came some new materials, and in this case, the interior features a tasteful “denim” décor. The comfortable seats in this version are also equipped with a spot massage function, or an extendable seat cushion. The very ideal of what you could wish for on long journeys.
The aforementioned two large displays look nice, although the animation when redrawing the dashboard display types takes quite a long time and as we know Peugeot also offers a 3D display in new models, it’s a shame it didn’t make it here. But at the end of the day, one only drives with one type of display anyway and doesn’t really need the third dimension, so it’s not too bad.
The main display (unfortunately) also integrates the climate control, so touching it is rather unavoidable. In conjunction with the phone’s mirroring, however, it works reliably, it’s just that switching between Apple CarPlay and climate control, for example, requires quite a bit of unnecessary tapping and toggling through menus. I also miss some sort of “home” button, which newer models already have.
As we’ve written before, the Peugeot 3008 relies on a trio of engines in the HYbrid4 plug-in hybrid version. At its heart is a turbocharged 1.6 PureTech petrol four-cylinder with 147 kW (200 hp), supplemented by two electric motors: the front one – with 81 kW – is integrated into the eight-speed automatic gearbox, the second one – with 83 kW – is part of the rear axle, together with an inverter and a differential. Electricity is supplied by a battery with a usable capacity of 10.4 kWh, the total then being 13.2 kWh.
The hybrid drive offers four driving modes. In pure electric mode, the 3008 feels quite nimble (at least in the city, certainly) and can go up to 135km/h on pure electricity. The minor problem is again with the paper and real-world range. Peugeot gives a maximum electric range of 59km, but I practically didn’t get over 45. Charging from a domestic socket will give the 3008 8 hours and on a public charger (AC only of course) it will only pull 7.4kW, so you have to extend your shopping for a good 2-3 hours. Again, I don’t understand why the plug-in can’t have a normal on-board charger with a DC connector and fast charging…
Then there’s the Hybrid driving mode, which is also the default if the vehicle doesn’t have enough electricity for pure electric motion. In this mode, the energy flow is handled by the vehicle itself so that it burns as little fuel as possible while driving. So as soon as it can, it kills the internal combustion engine and spins the primary rear wheels, or connects the front electric motor or combustion engine for heating or the need for a short-term power boost.
There’s also a Sport mode, using the maximum available power from all engines, and a 4WD mode that takes care of all-wheel drive. The latter, by the way, is also available in electric mode and doesn’t need an internal combustion engine to function, which is nice. We didn’t venture into more challenging terrain with the 3008, but even on a relatively slippery surface that combined grass, gravel and mud, the presence of all-wheel drive was noticeable. Somewhere for a cottage in the mountains ideal and “ecologically” interesting if you save battery capacity and for example, through the forest go purely on electricity.
We got the car to test it out and so we left it in Hybrid mode. Of course, the battery is not completely drained in plug-in hybrid even when it shows 0km range. The car keeps a reserve of say 20, 30% of the energy to be able to drive like a hybrid and in this case also to have all wheel drive working. The consumption after reaching the finish line was 6,5 l/100 km, which I consider a great value for a 300 hp car with my driving style.
Unless you have the ability to charge at home, then a plug-in hybrid doesn’t make sense for you. Charging and being able to drive purely on electricity makes it quite difficult to give us some simple “in town, out of town and motorway” style consumption totals, because the Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4 doesn’t need to burn any petrol at all in certain circumstances (short journeys and an always-charged battery).
The overall average consumption over the approximately 800 kilometres driven, with several recharges, was 5.4 l/100 km. I know I should add kilowatt hours of electricity to the litres of petrol, and based on the data provided by the car, that’s about 22kWh/100km. So we’re somewhere on the average of 7l/100km, as with conventional petrol, but with much less power and no all-wheel drive.
In terms of performance, there’s nothing to fault the Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4. This compact SUV can be very fast and, thanks to the presence of electric motors, pleases with a pleasant willingness to accelerate immediately. In fact, the electric motors clearly aid the smooth and decently quick powertrain take-up. You don’t have to wait for the turbocharged engine to breathe and engage, the HYbrid4 serves up a pull virtually as soon as you step on the throttle. And no matter what speed you’re traveling at, this serving of horsepower and newton meters can show off even at temps far above highway highs.
The 3008’s weight is perilously close to two tonnes, but in straight-line traffic the powertrain can cope with that mass beautifully. By the time the motorway is over and we get to the county roads, you can kind of feel the weight of the car in the corners, and the hybrid mode often shuts the engine off, only to start it up again after a while, and the like, which disturbs the acoustic comfort on board a bit.
The aforementioned heavier weight has to be stored somewhere as well. And much of it is stored at the rear axle, which has the effect of reducing the boot volume to 395 litres. That’s relatively small for a 4447mm-long car, and may not suit the family’s requirements very well. Especially as otherwise there is an abundance of interior space everywhere and three people can ride relatively comfortably in the back.
The list price for the 3008 hybrid currently starts at €39,990 for the 180k or €41,490 for the 225k version and that’s with front-wheel drive only. If you want 4×4, you need to reach for the test piece and there we start talking about prices from 45.490€ or 47.990€ for the GT version, to which we can add Night Vision, panorama, 19″ wheels and stuff like that and we get well above 50k…
The Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4, together with the Toyota RAV4 plug-in for example, is a rather specific kind of electrified SUV that offers above-average performance, allows pure electric driving and solves all-wheel drive with an electric motor on the rear axle. The advantages are the possibility of economically viable operation on electricity, the strength of the powertrain and a wealth of equipment, including night vision. We’ll see what the new generation brings, if only in pure electric form…
