A masterful work for the electrified era—Test drive of the Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4

PEUGEOT 3008 HYBRID4 | The Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4

A masterful work for the electrified era—Test drive of the Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4

The C-segment SUV "3008," which forms the backbone of Peugeot's lineup, has undergone a facelift, and a plug-in hybrid model, the "GT Hybrid4," has been added. We test-drove this model, which officially began deliveries this early summer.

Text by NANYO Kazuhiro | Photographs by MOCHIZUKI Hirohiko

Peugeot Remains Exciting Even as a PHEV

A PHEV has been added to the model that has been the backbone of Peugeot's strong performance in Europe and Japan even before the minor change. This is the "3008 GT Hybrid4," which officially began full-scale deliveries this early summer. Concurrently, the 5008, a 7-seater with three rows of seats, has also received a facelift, but the PHEV version is initially available only for the 3008. The 5008 continues to offer the conventional 2-liter diesel BlueHDi with 177ps and the 1.6-liter PureTech turbo gasoline engine with 180ps. Therefore, this report will focus primarily on the former, the 3008 Hybrid4, which is the first PHEV to be introduced to Japan by Peugeot.

A masterful work for the electrified era—Test drive of the Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4 | PEUGEOT

While the 3008 Hybrid4 is often described as Peugeot's first 4WD, first hybrid, or first PHEV, this is not entirely accurate. Peugeot has offered diesel hybrids in its European lineup since the first-generation 3008 and the previous 508, and these were 4WD models based on FF with rear electric motors for drive. Furthermore, Peugeot's history of commercially available 4WD vehicles dates back to the "205 T16," a Group B homologation model from the 1980s. Additionally, a purely FF PHEV version with 225ps was already available in the 3008 lineup in Europe before the 3008 Hybrid4, and the distinction of being Peugeot's first 4WD PHEV production model will be ceded to the upcoming 508 Peugeot Sport Engineered (PSE).

In essence, while it might seem like a "first" in the Japanese market due to a somewhat forced interpretation, Peugeot possesses extensive experience in both hybrid technology and 4WD control, which does not diminish its interest or value. For Peugeot, the 3008 Hybrid4 represents the second generation of its hybrid systems, and research and development for PHEVs on the EMP2 platform have been ongoing for a considerable time. As previously reported in our test drive review,The "308 R Hybrid4"
is an example. The fundamental configuration, featuring an FF-based EMP2 platform with a rear motor and a part-time 4WD system powered by a drive battery, remains the same. This configuration has been most aggressively realized in the 508 PSE for production models. Ultimately, while not a hot hatch, it has evolved into two PHEV variants for the 3008 on the same EMP2 platform: a 4WD version with a combined system output of 300ps and 520Nm, and a 225ps FF version not yet introduced in Japan.

While prototypes from several years ago boasted a combined output of 500ps and 720Nm, the 300ps system output of the 3008 Hybrid4 might seem modest by comparison. However, for Peugeot, which has always prioritized chassis performance to maximize powertrain efficiency, "300ps" is a significant milestone, and its 520Nm of torque is unparalleled among European C-segment SUVs. It's worth remembering that even the "RCZ" and "308 GTi" from the 2010s were capped at 270ps, and the road-going version of the "205 T16," a full-time 4WD Group B homologation model from the 1980s, was a modest 200ps.

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