PSA considers launching electric Peugeot 3008

The PSA Group has recently decided to produce the next generation of the Peugeot 3008 at the Sochaux site from 2022. Meanwhile, French media report that the new 3008 will come in a plug-in hybrid version as well as a purely electric offshoot.

According to a report by L’Argus, the basis will be the new EMP2 V4 platform, further development of the EMP2 platform. In the passenger car models based on the EMP2, only plug-in hybrids are available so far. In the commercial vehicle segment, however, from the end of the year, PSA will also be launching battery-electric models on the market that also use EMP2 technology.

The EMP2 V4 is thus to be expanded as a multi-energy platform. According to the report, changes have been made to the electrical and electronic architecture “to obtain electrical, mild hybrid and rechargeable hybrid systems”. Specifically, electric motors from the joint venture between PSA and Nidec are to be used in the e-3008, and the battery cells are to come from the Automotive Cell Company – the company that emerged from the German-French consortium around the battery manufacturer Saft and the PSA Group.

The hybrid versions will use the seven-speed dual-clutch transmissions from the joint venture with Punch Powertrain – the 48-volt version for the mild hybrids, the high-voltage version for the PHEV. The transmission, called e-DCT, is to replace the current eight-speed automatic E-EAT8, which is purchased from Japan. But there will also be a change in the internal combustion part of the hybrid drives: According to L’Argus, the 1.6-litre gasoline engine is to be replaced by an optimized version of the 1.2 PureTech engine in a few years.

An electric version of the compact model 308, whose production PSA will transfer from Sochaux to Mulhouse, has not yet been decided. In future, the group will make only SUVs in the C segment in Sochaux. In addition to the Peugeot 3008, the sister model Opel Grandland X is already being built there. According to the French trade union FO, the decision to build the new 3008 in Sochaux should secure production at the site until 2030.

A few days ago it was also announced that a DS model would also be built at Opel in Rüsselsheim from 2021 – but still based on the current EMP2 version. Now there are reports that the DS model has already been determined: According to French media, this is to be the new DS 4, which will also be purely electric as the DS 4 E-Tense.

It is still open which drive the E-Tense version will receive. French media speculate about a drive power of 100 kW and a 50 kWh battery – precisely the same data as the PSA Group’s small electric cars. However, with a reported basic price of at least 45,000 euros, customers are likely to expect a little more from a “high-end compact car”. There could be certainty at the end of 2020: That’s when PSA will officially present the DS 4.

largus.fr, francetvinfo.fr, auto-moto.com (e-3008), automobile-propre.com, estrepublicain.fr (DS 4, all in French)