New 308 Electric Planned, Hot Hatch Unlikely Says Peugeot Product Chief

The new generation 308 will be offered initially with two plug-in hybrid powertrains, besides the usual petrol and diesel engines, but Peugeot won’t stop there.

In fact, the French brand, which is now part of the Stellantis group, is planning the launch of mild-hybrids (MHEV) and a battery-electric powertrain for their new compact car.

“We want to give the customer the power of choice, because the market is evolving so fast, but we want to have the right answers”, product chief Jerome Micheron told Autocar. “We’re launching the new 308 with petrol and diesel, we’ve already decided a roadmap in which we will launch MHEV and we also have a plan for an EV offer on the 308.”

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Built on the EMP2 platform, which is used in a wide variety of PSA cars, the zero-emission 308 is rumored to employ the powertrain from the electric variants of the Peugeot Traveller, Citroen Spacetourer and Opel/Vauxhall Vivaro. These models have a 136 PS (134 HP / 100 kW) and 260 Nm (192 lb-ft) of torque electric motor, a 50 kW battery as standard and a 75 kW one as an option.

However, the new 308 probably won’t be getting a PSE (Peugeot Sport Engineered) version as the company doesn’t believe it is viable due to low sales and emissions regulations.

“It’s still under assessment, but the market has been shrinking very significantly,” said Micheron. “We’re considering some options for PSE products, but today we don’t see that much volume for a very powerful engine, and when you look at CO2 regulations and limitations, we’re not sure that’s the right foundation for the performance vehicle.”

Nevertheless, the performance sub-brand will soon grow to include yet another model that will join the likes of the hot 508. Micheron didn’t go into specifics, saying that “neo-performance brings new performance with a very low level of CO2 emissions, and also the right level of pleasure for driving. So, this is part of our strategy, and we’re assessing another product in PSE. We’re not keen to discuss future products, but we will bring to the market one product which fits with the CO2, driving pleasure and performance.”