Peugeot’s sleek, sophisticated but pricey 508 plug-in hybrid delivers a sporty and eco-friendly drive
If you’re looking for a car that goes against the grain, the Peugeot 508 GT Fastback Plug-in Hybrid should pique your interest. Hidden beneath its unique French design is a petrol-electric hybrid powertrain that allows the svelte sedan to drive up to 55km (WLTP) in silence, by switching off the combustion engine and using only its electric motor. The swish four-door saloon is crammed with premium features, but a word of warning: you have to be prepared to pay handsomely for the privilege.
Premium packaging
Launching at the same time as the Peugeot 3008 GT Sport PHEV, the 2022 Peugeot 508 Fastback Plug-in Hybrid shares the limelight as the first electrified models offered by the French brand in Australia.
And just like the plug-in 3008 SUV, the 508 PHEV makes a big impact when you meet it for the first time.
Priced from a hefty $76,990 plus on-road costs, the fastback sedan has a striking exterior design that’s unlike pretty much anything else on the market today, which will win over some buyers right there and then.
Open the driver’s door and get an eyeful of the leather seats, the dashboard design, the sporty cockpit layout and the sheer attention to detail, and it’s hard not to be impressed.
It’s powered by an efficient 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine augmented by a single electric motor and a 11.8kWh lithium-ion battery pack, enabling zero-emissions driving for up to 55km (claimed) – but like the 3008 PHEV, you’ll be hard-pressed to achieve that range.
The equipment list is generous, with high-end seats finished in full-grain Nappa leather with contrasting double stitching and unique patterning. They look and feel tremendous and are arguably the most comfortable seats you’ll find bolted to any car today.
The driver’s seat gets eight-way power adjustment and a relaxing eight-prong massage function with various intensity and patterning.
Other notable items include a gorgeous flat top/bottom steering wheel finished in Mistral full-grain perforated leather with chrome ‘GT’ emblem. Above the compact tiller is a 12.3-inch iCockpit digital driver’s display that further adds a premium feel to the cabin, while a 10.0-inch central touch-screen and a 10-speaker sound system (with amp and subwoofer) by Focal delivers good quality audio. Dual-zone automatic climate control is in there, too.
Subtle blue LED cabin lighting adds a bit of panache at night, and you can option a panoramic glass roof for $2500.
Our vehicle also had the most expensive $1050 Pearl White paint job, but I reckon for almost $80K the 18-inch alloy wheels are too small. You get 19-inch rims on $46,000 Hyundai Tucson, for Pete’s sake!
Other missing features include a head-up display, and although the front seats are heated, they’re not cooled or ventilated, and they should be at this price.
Peugeot backs the 508 PHEV with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre vehicle warranty, plus eight-year/160,000km cover for the battery, which is par for the course.
In terms of servicing, if you take it to a Peugeot dealer you can get capped-priced servicing pegged at $2638 over five years, or around $527 per annum on average. Service intervals are every 12 months or 20,000km.
The good and the bad
When you step inside the 2022 Peugeot 508 Fastback Plug-in Hybrid for the first time, it feels ultra-modern thanks to the nicely-integrated dual LCD screens, fancy switchgear and French design flair.
It comes with four USB-A ports (two fore, two aft), wired Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto.
But there’s no wireless phone charger, no head-up display projected onto the windscreen, and no auto-hold function for the electric parking brake – except a hill hold function.
Most of the tech features included as standard work very well, such as the lane keep assistant and adaptive cruise control, which adeptly steer, accelerate and brake the car during freeway cruising.
The car comes with automatic headlights (with auto high-beam dipping), plus you’ve got a blind spot detection system, speed limit recognition, driver attention alert and electronic stability control.
There’s also front and rear parking cameras and a 360-degree surround view which has an average resolution but does make parking a lot easier, especially when parking closer to kerbs on tight urban roads.
There’s also semi-autonomous parking assistance if you’re game enough to let the car park itself.
The 508 was awarded a five-star rating from independent safety authority ANCAP in 2018, but it’s not clear whether it would get the same rating if tested in 2022 given the stricter test parameters.
Hybrid hang-ups
At the heart of the 2022 Peugeot 508 Fastback Plug-in Hybrid is a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine developing 133kW at 6000rpm and 300Nm at 3000rpm.
Those aren’t particularly earth-shattering figures, but a single front-mounted synchronous electric motor is also on-board, adding 81kW/320Nm for extra oomph.
Combined output is rated at 165kW/360Nm, which is enough mumbo for the front-drive Frenchie to accelerate from 0-100km/h in 8.2 seconds. It’s not rapid by modern standards but the torque push feels burly and there is a sense of sportiness about it.
Engine power is funnelled through an eight-speed automatic transmission that delivers smooth and refined shifts for the most part, although we did note a couple of jarring shifts between first and second gear under full throttle.
Weighing in at 1720kg, the Peugeot is no bantamweight fighter but running in electric mode it delivers acceptable acceleration for urban driving, and commuting is super-smooth and relaxing.
But I reckon if the plug-in 508 was offered with the same all-wheel drive/dual electric motor set-up as the Peugeot 3008 PHEV, which packs a muscular 222kW/520Nm, it would be a far more compelling vehicle.
Driven in pure EV mode, the 508’s 11.8kWh lithium-ion battery is claimed to be good for up to 55km (WLTP) before the CO2 generator kicks in, but the best we could manage was 39km.
That particular drive involved a few kilometres on the freeway, 10km at 80km/h and the rest at 60km/h, consuming energy at a rate of 18.3kWh/100km.
The official combined-cycle fuel consumption figure is 1.8L/100km, but to achieve that would require frequent charging – something that’s not always possible. We ended up with 6.8L/100km.
Charging the battery is easy; just plug it in to a household power point via the included cable, wait roughly five hours and Bob’s your uncle.
While the 2.3kW charging rate via conventional household plug is low, the maximum charging rate of 3.7kW is not much better, meaning a wallbox charger is almost pointless – taking charge time to “a few hours”, according to Peugeot.
For this plug-in hybrid application, Peugeot’s charging framework is nothing like the more advanced 800V electrical architectures seen new-generation EVs like the Hyundai IONIQ 5.
But as a PHEV, there’s never any concern about running out of battery power.
When the battery is completely dead and you can’t be bothered charging it, the car will still crawl to around 15km/h using only the electric motor before the petrol engine comes alive, which still goes some way to reducing CO2 emissions and fuel economy in lower speed zones.
Silky-smooth drive
Peugeot has done a tip-top job blending ride comfort and handling dynamics with the 2022 Peugeot 508 Fastback Plug-in Hybrid, which together with the responsive powertrain and lavish seats culminates in a rather addictive experience.
Never thought I’d say that of any Peugeot car that didn’t have the GTi or RC-Z letters attached. Then again, the older I get, the more my tastes (and needs) shift.
Set to Comfort mode, the adaptive suspension delivers a smooth and serene ride quality, the softer damping rates soaking up bigger hits rather well. It’s a very relaxing experience in EV mode, although sometimes it’s too quiet and you can hear the suspension thumping as it pumps vertically over speed bumps, for instance.
Whack it in Sports mode and suspension and electric power steering firm up, bringing better mid-corner body control and improved roadholding, allowing drivers to have a bit of fun on snaking sections of road.
Cabin comfort is excellent, thanks to Peugeot’s supportive and form-fitting front pews, and even the rear seats are fairly comfortable and offer enough room for two large humans, three at a pinch.
The power-operated liftback tailgate delivers a huge opening area and cargo space looks greater than the 487 litres listed on the spec sheet. Fold the back seats down and you get 1537 litres, and a long load area.
Crunched by numbers
The 2022 Peugeot 508 Fastback Plug-in Hybrid provides a compelling driving experience, thanks to its lavish cabin, cushy seats, unorthodox digital iCockpit concept and balanced dynamics.
But just like the 3008 PHEV, this plug-in sedan needs more razzle-dazzle to justify the high price of entry.
If the EV range was greater, the performance stronger, if both front seats had a massage function and a few other obvious omissions were corrected, it might make a bit more financial sense.
But as it stands it’s hard to see the value when there’s a variety of hybrid and full-electric options now on the market, from the Tesla Model 3 (starting at $60,900) – and a variety of other cutting-edge EVs – to the super-impressive BMW 330e PHEV (from $77,900).
The Peugeot 508 PHEV is a cool car with an uncool price. If it has to be a Peugeot, the regular 508 GT Fastback that costs $17,000 less would be my choice.
Or I’d be waiting for the high-performance Peugeot Sport Engineered PHEV, although it’s sure to be a pricey proposition as well.
How much does the 2022 Peugeot 508 Fastback Plug-in Hybrid cost?Price: $76,990 (plus on-road costs)Available: NowPowertrain: 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol-electricOutput: 133kW/300Nm (electric motor: 81kW/320Nm)Combined output: 165kW/360NmTransmission: Eight-speed automaticBattery: 11.8kWh lithium-ionRange: 55km (WLTP)Fuel: 1.8L/100km (ADR Combined)CO2: 40.1g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2018)
Keyword: Peugeot 508 GT PHEV 2022 Review