Peugeot will unveil the most fuel efficient Peugeot 208 ever at the Paris Motor Show as part of a demonstration of compressed air technology that could filter down to its production cars.
The Peugeot Hybrid 2L Demonstrator gets its name from sipping two litres of fuel per 100km. That’s an impressive 141mpg, folks, while CO2 emissions are less than 100g/km. Suffice to say, you would be spending less time at petrol stations.
Those impressive efficiency figures are largely down to the use of carbon composites for the body panels, doors, roof and even the coil springs in the suspension, giving the Hybrid 2L Demonstrator a kerb weight of 860kg – 100kg less than the standard car.
Other parts such as the exhaust have been redesigned to save even more weight. Improved aerodynamics, meanwhile, have also been deployed to reduce drag so your fuel goes even further. Peugeot has also added a few blue accents here and there to improve the look.
The use of a Hybrid Air system that uses a mixture of compressed air and petrol is the real fuel-saver. The former propulsion method is used during ‘transition phases’ such as starting and acceleration – times when the most petrol is used up.
The Hybrid Air system features a compressed-air tank below the boot, another low-pressure tank near the rear axle and a hydraulic system comprised a motor and pump in the engine bay. It is unclear how much interior space is eaten up by all the extra parts.
The Peugeot 208 Hybrid 2L is capable of using zero fuel and emitting zero fuel emissions in Air (ZEV) mode. Petrol mode uses only the 1.2-litre petrol engine, while Combined offers a potent mix of the two for the best fuel consumption figures.
Like in the Vauxhall Ampera and virtually identical Chevrolet Volt hybrids, the 208 Hybrid 2L Demonstrator uses the petrol engine to help recharge the secondary motor. The energy in slowing down is also used to compress air, with both methods achieving maximum pressure in just 10 seconds.
Instead of your typical manual gearbox, the concept Pug has a bespoke ‘epicyclic’ automatic transmission that is designed to tame both energy sources.
The Peugeot 208 Hybrid 2L is just a concept at the moment but we may well see air used to benefit the Pug of the future. In the meantime have a look at the pictures below.
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