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Peugeot’s revolutionary ‘Hybrid Air’ promises 140mpg

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3 June 2013

Peugeot 2008 crossover
Peugeot’s Hybrid Air technology takes the electric motor out of hybrids. It uses a petrol/compressed air combination in the Peugeot 2008 crossover due to launch in 2016

PEUGEOT is on target to launch a completely different type of hybrid car in 2016.

Instead of the now familiar combination of a petrol or diesel engine with an electric motor, the Peugeot 2008 Hybrid Air uses Peugeot’s new generation of 3-cylinder petrol engines with compressed air as the secondary power source. The system has been developed in conjunction with Bosch.

The car will launch with CO2  emissions of 69g/km and fuel economy of 97.4mpg. But the French car company is convinced that its 2008 Hybrid Air vehicle will ultimately be capable of 140mpg. Company car tax at today’s rates will be 5 percent.

The non-electric hybrid

  • 3-cylinder petrol engine mated to compressed air
  • 97.4mpg on launch with 140mpg predicted
  • Clever engine management optimises the two power sources
  • Company car tax of 5%

An advanced engine management system combines the two energy sources to achieve the highest efficiency in various situations.

The compressed air will assist, or even take the place of, the petrol engine during acceleration and moving off, the times when the most energy is needed.

Using compressed air in tandem with a petrol engine means the vehicle is much lighter than a diesel or petrol electric hybrid with its heavy batteries. Nor is there any compromise on space.

Peugeot’s current diesel-electric car, the Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4, is capable of 74mpg and has emissions of 99g/km. And like all hybrids it’s not subject to the 3 percent diesel company car tax surcharge.

The 3008 HYbrid4 uses a 2.0-litre, 163bhp diesel engine to drive the front wheels and a 37bhp electric motor to power the rear, ensuring both economy and the sporting response of a 200bhp performance hatchback.

Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4
Peugeot’s 3008 HYbrid4 is a diesel/electric hybrid with sports hatch performance

Gareth Foden, Peugeot’s head of leasing and rental, said the race was on to introduce a wider range of hybrid vehicles to meet company car demand for low emission, frugal vehicles.

“Hybrid is the growth area,” he forecast at the recent ACFO Conference, organised for operators of company car fleets, but added that there would still be room for traditional internal combustion engine and electric powered vehicles.

He predicted that electric vehicle sales in 2020 would be 4-5 percent, half of what was previously forecast by some experts, due to infrastructure and range issues.

And he said that the traditional company car model was coming under question from vehicle mobility schemes like Peugeot’s Mu scheme, which lets customers rent anything from a car or van to a scooter for a specific journey – thus eliminating the standing costs of a traditional company car.

Peugeot is well-placed to meet the shift to low emissions vehicles; it has the lowest CO2 emissions in Europe – averaging 121.6g/km in 2012 with two in every three Peugeot vehicles emitting CO2 of less than 130g/km.

Peugeot won the category for Most Cost-Efficient Car for an SME to Buy in Business Car Manager’s SME Company Car of the Year Awards.

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Matt Morton

Matt Morton

Matt Morton is an automotive content writer for Business Car Manager

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