Europe’s carmakers drive hard for hybrid with diesel

Ray Hutton
Belatedly, European manufacturers are getting into hybrid cars — but with diesel rather than petrol engines in combination with electric motors.
At the Frankfurt motor show, which opens on September 16, Peugeot will unveil the 3008 Hybrid 4.
It will be the first volume production diesel hybrid when it goes on sale in the spring of 2011. Alongside it will be a prototype of Peugeot’s RCZ sports coupé with the same diesel-electric system. The RCZ Hybrid 4 should go into production within three years.
Japanese carmakers, specifically Honda and Toyota, led the way with models that combine a petrol engine with an electric motor to increase efficiency and reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. Toyota will be first with a hybrid made in Britain when it starts production of the Auris Hybrid at Burnaston in Derbyshire at the end of this year.
Europe’s indigenous carmakers have consistently argued that diesel cars can achieve fuel-consumption and carbon-dioxide figures similar to the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid and that their diesels are less expensive to make.
However, with the new Prius and Honda Insight achieving more miles per gallon and lower emissions, and the prospect of even more economical plug-in hybrids from Vauxhall and others, Peugeot decided that it must have a hybrid in its range.
Pierre Louis Colin, director in charge of hybrid and electric car development for the Peugeot Group, said:
“Our diesel-engined cars can already match the fuel economy of cars like the Prius, so we have to go one step further and combine the greater efficiency of the diesel with an electric motor.”
The 3008 is a tall hatchback, 4.3 metres long — about the same size as a Renault Scenic. Compared with the regular diesel version of the car, the 3008 Hybrid 4 produces 35% less carbon dioxide. That means an overall fuel consumption of 70mpg and a carbon-dioxide figure of 99g/km — under the 100g/km threshold for road tax in Britain.
Peugeot had intended to make a smaller car its first hybrid but struggled with the extra cost of the electric motor, battery pack and power electronics. It decided instead to equip the larger 3008, reasoning that a price premium would be acceptable on the more expensive model.
The Hybrid 4, with a 2-litre diesel engine developing 163bhp and a 37bhp electric motor, is a good performer.
It will be the top model of the 3008 range, the first (conventional) versions of which go on sale in Britain at the end of this year. The price is likely to be about £23,000.
Peugeot’s hybrid system can be applied to most of its vehicles. The diesel engine drives the front wheels. The electric motor is housed, with the battery pack and control system, at the back and drives the rear wheels.
The power flows to and from the engine, motor and batteries are controlled by computer. At low speed, or when “EV” is selected, traction is electric. In “sport” or “4WD” modes, engine and motor work in concert and all four wheels are driven.
Peugeot’s French rival, Renault, has eschewed hybrids in favour of pure electric cars whose batteries are charged by plugging them into the mains. The first of those, developed with Nissan, is promised for 2011.
Peugeot is also planning to launch an electric city car towards the end of next year.