You must have this plug-in hybrid 308
At a time when the new Peugeot 308 is increasingly popping up in the streets, we are already handing in our endurance tester. Half a year has passed, so time to look back on six months with the plug-in hybrid 308 SW.
We drove almost 15,000 kilometers with this 308 SW Hybrid 180 Allure Pack Business, which cost 42,730 euros new. The beautiful green station wagon has often been featured in this magazine in recent months. Two weeks ago, he was allowed to pull up with his brother, a Hybrid 225. That taught us that you can just as well leave that more powerful variant of the same plug-in hybrid powertrain. If you still want to plug in as much as possible, you will not notice the difference because electrically they are exactly the same and they do it with the same 109 hp electric motor. Even if you ask for full power, the 225 is hardly faster, so why would you go for a more powerful version with such an efficiency-oriented car that hardly adds anything. They both come 55 kilometers on a charge current, which is not far from what Peugeot states as electric range, if you drive without the battery to leave, a fuel consumption of 1 to 18 is feasible. With that comparison, we could immediately see how much added value the station wagon offers compared to the hatchback. It has a longer wheelbase and even as a plug-in hybrid, the compact middle class still offers sufficient cargo space.
We drove the Hybrid 225 next to our Peugeot 308 Hybrid 180. Go for the 180!
B position for regeneration works fine
Besides that the hybrid powertrain is economical, it also works neatly as long as you don’t ask for too much power. The transition between driving on petrol and driving electric is then neat and barely noticeable. The B-position of the automatic transmission is very nice, where the car brakes strongly on the engine and thus regenerates energy. You will drive in it more and more over a longer period of time. When charging at the plug, 3.5 hours was usually sufficient to be able to leave full again. It’s nice that the tailgate is at the rear, left, mirrored to the fuel filler flap. When closing, it didn’t always close in one go, by the way. During the entire period, which ran from April to October, we were on an electric range of 52 to 56 kilometers, before the cold starts, the endurance tester is back in its trusted stable with the importer of the Stellantis brands. Experience shows that in winter temperatures there will still be some reduction in the practical range. While driving, you can see via beautiful displays how many electric kilometers are still ahead, or when the battery is empty, how many electric kilometers have been covered in percentage during the journey. We are missing one thing: exactly how many kilometers were there electric? You only see that when you turn off the car on arrival. We would like to see it as a point of improvement. We have not become friends with the multimedia system. Initially, we were still happy with the improvements compared to previous Peugeot touchscreens. For example, the 308 has a nice shortcut to Apple or Android Carplay, but as quickly adjusting the temperature is still not there. You then have to go to a physical button of the climate menu and then you can set the temperature. At least, if the system reacts immediately. That sometimes took a while and it even happened that the entire screen went black. The low point was a ride in which even the radio was lost. If the car was then stopped and restarted, everything worked again.
Give starting aid
During this endurance test, we learned that giving starting assistance with a plug-in hybrid is also fine. An editor’s neighbor needed starting help for his Toyota RAV4, a hybrid, and luckily we were able to use the endurance tester for that. The 12-volt battery is located under the hood of the 308, somewhat hidden under the windshield wipers. The red cable must be connected to the positive terminal of the 12 volt battery. The negative terminal is tucked away too far to allow a clip on it. That is not necessary. According to the manual, the strut mount has a protruding piece of metal with a blue edge, especially for negative jumper cable clamps. The 308 even has two 12-volt batteries (called service batteries by Peugeot), one large and one small. That small service battery is similar to a motorcycle battery and is located under the center console. We have already seen the large service battery when giving the starting aid. It normally ensures that the combustion engine can start, in addition, it supplies all control units so that the hybrid system can function. The small service battery powers the 12-volt circuit when its big brother has to give everything under the hood to start the combustion engine.
Comparative test
In a comparative test, the endurance tester competed against a Renault Mégane E-tech Hybrid, the plug-in hybrid station wagon and then the 308 SW Hybrid turns out to be a very good offer in its class. Because we have not only made trips of less than 60 kilometers, the petrol engine often had to do its job with less support from the electric motor. As said, you get 1 to 18 quite easily, but what is the total fuel consumption including all charging sessions? Almost 1 in 22. That includes various trips to France where loading was not always possible. But as we always write: the electric range that we achieve and the average consumption that we give when not plugging in is always a better indication of what a PHEV can provide for everyone. If you have a lot of journeys of less than 55 kilometers and you can charge well everywhere, then completely different figures are achievable.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl