Peugeot’s first electrified car in Australia is an intriguing, and expensive, plug-in hybrid mid-size SUV
The Peugeot 3008 PHEV is the French brand’s first electrified car in Australia – a plug-in hybrid mid-size SUV which makes a strong first impression. It combines a bold exterior design and lavish cabin with a potent powertrain that produces 222kW of power and offers a 60km pure-electric range before the turbo-petrol engine chimes in. But there’s a catch. The new Peugeot 3008 GT Sport Plug-In Hybrid AWD has a premium price tag attached. Starting at $79,990 plus on-road costs, it’s more expensive than many advanced new EVs, let alone hybrids. So let’s see if it’s worth the investment…
Luxury line
The 2022 Peugeot 3008 GT Sport Plug-In Hybrid AWD is the kind of car that owners will be proud to show off.
It will provoke conversations in car parks with its striking looks, sumptuous interior (complete with massaging driver’s seat) and clever technology aimed at reducing fuel consumption and emissions.
It’s not an EV, but some might consider it the best of both worlds.
Thanks to twin electric motors driven by a 13.2kWh lithium-ion battery pack, the 3008 PHEV enables zero-emissions driving for up to 60km – although as we discovered that claim is a little lofty.
But with its 222kW power output and a 6.5-second 0-100km/h acceleration time, the greenest 3008 is also one of the fastest SUVs in its class this side of an AMG or BMW M equivalent.
It’s brimming with personality but the price tag is an eye-watering $20,000 over its donor car, the Peugeot 3008 GT Sport 2WD (from $59,840), which comes with a similar level of equipment.
Tempering things a little is the high number of appealing upmarket features in Peugeot 3008 PHEV, such as gorgeous full-grain Nappa leather-appointed seats with grey stitching.
The leather is finished in a sporty pattern and makes a fantastic first impression when you first climb aboard the SUV, as do nicely-integrated twin digital screens – a 10.0-inch central touch-screen with satellite navigation and a 12.3-inch driver display.
Both front seats in the French SUV are heated but only the driver’s position comes with eight-way power adjustment and an impressive back massage function that helps make even the most turgid of drives pleasant. The front passenger seat is manually adjusted.
Comfort levels in the five-seater 3008 are very good and the fitment of a 10-speaker Focal sound system, wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a powered tailgate with hands-free operation (foot sensor), digital radio and automatic wipers/headlights makes drive life nice and easy.
Steering assist and adaptive cruise control also help on the freeway.
A large panoramic sunroof with material sun blind is also a standard feature and makes the cabin feel airy and spacious.
Single-colour (blue) ambient interior LED lighting and lime wood dashboard and door accents look really classy blended into the ultra-modern dashboard design.
It’s all capped off with what is the world’s smallest and arguably prettiest flat-bottom (and flat-top!) perforated leather steering wheel.
Smaller touches like stainless-steel front door sill scuff plates, chrome-trimmed pedals and premium ‘Mistal’ black roof lining also underscore the premium look and feel.
On the outside, the plug-in Pug comes with 19-inch alloy wheels, full LED and adaptive headlights with static corner lighting and LED daytime running lights. There’s also door mirror-mounted LED puddle lights that project the Peugeot logo. Cute.
What’s missing? For the price we would have liked to see a head-up display, cooled/ventilated seats and a power-adjustable seat for the front passenger. With massage function.
Warranty and aftersales provisions are pretty good, with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty for the vehicle and eight-year/160,000km coverage for the PHEV’s battery.
Capped-priced servicing will set you back $3108 over five years, or around $620 per annum, on average, based on the 12-month/20,000km service intervals.
Hits and misses
We’ll get to the petrol-electric hybrid propulsion system and charging times in the next section, but tech levels and safety systems in the 2022 Peugeot 3008 PHEV are pretty good considering how rapidly car technology is evolving – and what is essentially a four-year-old vehicle.
For instance, the adaptive cruise control and lane positioning assistance systems are far from crude and can keep the 3008 sailing on its own on the freeway with ease.
Automatic high beam headlights, speed sign recognition and active bind spot monitoring are welcome and effective systems, and with the massage system set to its strongest level while using the wave setting (cat-paw is good too), the Peugeot 3008 delivers a very relaxing experience.
The 10.0-inch central touch-screen has fairly sharp visuals and the infotainment system is intuitive to use. But there’s no direct ‘one-touch’ way to adjust the fan or temperature, which can be annoying until you get used to the menu rhythm.
Peugeot has installed a colossal wireless phone charger, almost large enough to get a phablet in there, and incidental storage is very good with spring-loaded twin cup holders and possibly the world’s biggest central stowage bin.
There’s a USB-A port up front and two in the back, and a trio of 12-volt sockets – one up front, one for back seats and one in the boot.
Despite the absence of a head-up display, the 12.3-inch driver’s display, or i-Cockpit, is mounted high and is easy to read assuming you get the low-mounted steering wheel set up properly. I had no issues with it, but I know colleagues who dislike it with the intensity of a plasma torch.
The rear-view and 360-degree surround-view camera system works well and makes parking easier, but it doesn’t have the high resolution of some new rivals. There is a parking assistant too, which will steer the 3008 into parallel and perpendicular parking spots.
There is an electric park brake but no auto hold function, so you have to ride the brakes at standstill or flick the park brake button. This is a significant oversight for what is one of the most-used functions in any modern car.
The PHEV carries over the five-star rating that applies to the rest of the 3008 model range, handed down by independent safety authority ANCAP back in 2016.
Since then, the testing criteria has become much stricter but we’re unable to see how well this latest model stacks up against other newer cars in the same category.
Hybrid goods
Peugeot importer Inchcape has taken its sweet time bringing the first electrified Pug to Australia, with the powertrain in the 2022 Peugeot 3008 PHEV virtually unchanged since its European debut in 2018.
But it’s a neat system that’s smooth and refined when cruising yet delivers enough oomph when you drop the hammer to keep up with traffic.
At the heart of the Peugeot 3008 GT Sport Plug-In Hybrid AWD is a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine that develops 147kW at 6000rpm and 300Nm of torque at 3000rpm. It’s augmented by two synchronous electric motors, one at the front (81kW/320Nm) and the other at the back (83kW/166Nm).
Combined peak power and torque is 222kW and 520Nm respectively.
The electric motors are powered by a 13.2kWh lithium-ion battery that is good for a range of 60km (WLTP), according to Peugeot, but achieving that figure is trickier than telling your partner you’ve just invested a cryptocurrency named after a dugong. The best we could manage in EV-friendly scenarios was 43km.
Top speed in electric mode is 135km/h.
The French car-maker reckons the Peugeot 3008 PHEV can achieve a combined fuel consumption figure of 1.6L/100km with CO2 emissions of 36.4g/km, but nailing those figures involves charging the battery frequently. We managed a 5.4L/100km during our test.
There are four drive modes, toggled via a push-button near the gear lever, starting with Electric mode that provides smooth and silent propulsion. Hybrid mode delivers a reasonably efficient blend of electric/combustion power, Sport mode offers the full 222kW punch and a hot hatch-rivalling 6.5-second 0-100km/h sprint, while an AWD mode is designed for unsealed roads and rougher terrain.
When you give it the beans in Sport mode the petrol engine makes a bit of a racket and the eight-speed automatic transmission isn’t ultra-smooth, although driving at nominal speeds reveals a more relaxed and quieter nature.
An e-Save function can be accessed via the infotainment system, where battery energy will be saved, or even charged via the engine.
Speaking of which, the 300V battery can be recharged via a standard household power point at a rate of 2.3kW, which takes around five-and-a-half hours. The maximum charging capacity is limited to 3.7kW, so even on an ultra-fast charger it’ll still take “a few hours”, says Peugeot.
That’s a lot of time for around 43km, and when you consider the Kia EV6 can accrue about 400km of range in less than 20 minutes, it puts things in perspective.
When the battery is depleted the 3008 PHEV will still accelerate in electric mode, but only to a low speed of around 20km/h, depending on how assertive you are with the accelerator pedal.
But given the plug-in hybrid model is 418kg heavier than its GT Sport donor car, you’re dragging around a lot of dead weight once the battery is cooked.
Balancing act
Carrying more than 400kg of extra mass sounds ominous, but the 1840kg kerb weight of the 2022 Peugeot 3008 GT Sport Plug-In Hybrid AWD is not considered heavy by modern PHEV or SUV standards.
It turns out the suspension set-up in the mid-size SUV is actually pretty good, delivering decent ride comfort for around-town cruising while allowing keener drivers to increase the tempo on twisty roads.
The plug-in Peugeot tracks quite cleanly through corners and feels fairly secure on more demanding stretches of asphalt, the quick ratio and fast response of the steering making it more enjoyable than expected through corners.
The super-direct steering also makes urban driving a cinch, taking the effort out of U-turns and tighter manoeuvres.
With one of the best driver’s seats you’ll find in a modern SUV and a seamless, intuitive experience from behind the wheel, the Peugeot 3008 PHEV is a very comfortable vehicle to get around in.
Cabin space is pretty good for a mid-size SUV too, with plenty of room up front and reasonable room for two adults or three modestly-sized kids in the back.
The panoramic glass roof eats into rear headroom slightly, but it certainly doesn’t feel squeezy.
In terms of boot space, you get an underwhelming 395 litres expanding to 1357 litres with the rear seats flipped flat, which is down on the non-hybrid model’s 520L (expanding to 1482L).
If you need more space, the similarly-priced Kia Sorento PHEV would be a smarter choice.
Short circuit
The 2022 Peugeot 3008 PHEV is an elegant vehicle with a gorgeous cabin, plenty of high-end, well-integrated features and it’s generally satisfying to drive.
If this was a $60,000 model, there would be cause for celebration.
But the first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle from the French brand won’t give rise to any wild customer stampedes at showrooms.
At more than $80,000 on the road, Peugeot Australia has all but priced the 3008 GT Sport Plug-In Hybrid out of the market.
You’d have to be an ardent Francophile to see value in the 3008 at this price point.
Simply put, it’s not $20,000 better than the regular petrol version.
How much does the 2022 Peugeot 3008 GT Sport Plug-In Hybrid AWD cost?Price: $79,990 (plus on-road costs)Available: NowPowertrain: 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol-electricOutput: 147kW/300Nm (electric motors: 81kW/320Nm front, 83kW/166Nm rear)Combined output: 222kW/520NmTransmission: Eight-speed automaticBattery: 13.2kWh lithium-ionRange: 60km (WLTP)Fuel: 1.6L/100km (ADR Combined)CO2: 36.4g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2016)
Keyword: Peugeot 3008 GT Sport PHEV 2022 Review