Peugeot’s nifty hat-trick
As motoring fashions undergo a radical transformation, are you struggling to decide what type of car to buy next: petrol, diesel or risk a punt with a pioneering pure electric set of wheels? Well, i’ve been driving Peugeot’s perky new 208 high-tech hatchback — in all three power options — before it arrives in the UK early next year. the good-looking and sportily designed 208, priced from £16,250 to just under £30,000, is set to become Peugeot’s biggest seller, but it’s the electric e-208 that’s creating a buzz, and predicted to account for one in five 208 sales.
Peugeot’s plan is to build one hatchback body which can take all three forms of power — the latest and cleanest Euro 6d petrol and diesel engines plus an all- electric zeroemissions e-208 that runs off batteries.
or as Peugeot UK’s managing director David Peel puts it: ‘First choose your Peugeot, then choose your powertrain.’ the new 208 has four spec levels: Active, Allure, gt Line and gt, the latter of which will be available only as pure electric. And will there be a sporty gti version of the 208? Well, the British team at Peugeot are pushing hard for one — and it’s most likely to be electric.
i tried out the 208 trinity at their launch near Lisbon. the 1.2 litre Puretech 130 petrol with its 8-speed automatic gearbox in gtLine trim is a sprightly combination, accelerating from rest to 62 mph in 8.7 seconds up to a top speed of 129 mph. Fuel consumption is between 46 mpg and 51.9 mpg with Co2 emissions between 101 g/km and 108 g/km.
By comparison, the 1.5 litre BlueHDi 100 hp diesel is available only with six-speed manual gearbox which feels imprecise, wallowing and rubbery. rest to 62mph is 11.4 seconds with a top speed of 116 mph. its strongest suit is fuel economy of between 60.8 mpg and 71.4 mpg.
But the real game-changer is the all-electric e-208 combining a 50kW battery with a 136 hp electric motor to give a range of 211 miles.
it certainly has oomph, accelerating from rest to 62 mph in 8.1 seconds — 0.6 seconds faster than the petrol version — up to a top speed of 93mph. no hybrids will be offered, but all petrol and diesels have ‘stop and start’ technology to save fuel.