The immediate giveaway on the 3008 is in the title, ‘Hybrid’ - but, unlike other hybrids we’ve looked at in the past, this one has a diesel engine. Although the Hybrid4 was the first diesel passenger car, it was soon joined by the 508, 508 RXH and, from Peugeot’s sister company, the Citroën DS5. The “4” denotes 4WD but the 3008 does not use a conventional 4WD transmission set up.
The 2.0 turbo-charged engine drives an electronically controlled manual gearbox (electronically operated clutch and gear selection) and can be used in ‘auto’ mode or ‘manual’ using paddles on the steering column. Drive to the rear wheels is through an electric motor mounted centrally in the rear drive train and supplied by the high voltage Ni-MH battery.
Though 4WD is used on the display screen it really is more of an All Wheel Drive configuration, where 2WD is default and 4WD cuts in where power demand dictates. That said, 4WD can be selected for slippery conditions.
So can we MOT it? In a word: yes! As with all electric vehicles, there is high voltage so beware of heavy orange cables. Though the engine/gearbox assembly is a separate unit, the engine still powers the generator to charge the high voltage battery and -
like other hybrids - can suddenly start depending on battery condition. If 4WD is selected the engine automatically starts - and it may also start when the throttle is depressed.
We tested the brakes (including the EPB which is similar to that used on the Citroën Picasso) in both Standard and ATL brake test mode without any problems. We repeated the test with the vehicle mode selector in each of the four positions - Auto, Sport, 4WD and ZEV - again without any problems. Default mode is Auto, which always utilises the electric motors for pulling away, so our advice is to leave it in Auto (with gear selector in Neutral) throughout the test.
For those who are wondering… ZEV stands for Zero Emissions Vehicle!
Feature image courtesy of Shutterstock images.