MOTORS: Peugeot gets its claws out to reinforce its identity
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It may be the fierce King of the Jungle but the lion is a friendly face for the owners of cars from a historic French carmaker.
It has featured on Peugeot cars for much of the company’s 210-year history and it has held it as a trademark for most of that time. Peugeot hasn’t always been in the car industry. It began with a steel foundry making saws and hand tools, then coffee and pepper grinders before moving into transportation building bicycles, followed by basic cars in the late-1800s.
But the lion has always been there in various guises over the generations and the latest version of the logo – a roaring lion’s head rather than a full animal – is the bold face in the centre of the grille of the newest models. What’s called the E-Lion Project is part of the company’s move towards full electrification by 2030 with an electrical element in all their models within the next year which it says will create the widest electric range of any European brand.
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The new models include a 2008 compact SUV, all-electric 308 hatchback and 508 fastback and estate plus a livelier version, called the PSE, standing for Peugeot Sport Engineered. It’s been created from the brand’s participation over many years in motorsport and not least the World Endurance Championship.
The featured car is the standard 508 SW, or estate version, which adds a boot space extending deep into the cabin without encroaching on rear passenger space, making it very practical for family use. There are no fewer than four ways of opening the powered boot lid either from a button on the tailgate, through the remote control key, from a push button on the dash or sweeping a foot under the rear bumper when your hands are full.
Its new front end has the lion face emblem as its centrepiece along with three distinctive lion claws built into the lighting while at the back the three claws are also in the scrolling indicator lights.
According to the company it reinforces Peugeot’s technological and feline identity – and looks pretty good too.
It also has an advanced infotainment system with a 10ins high-definition central screen with advanced satnav, voice recognition, wireless smartphone connectivity and over-the-air updates.
The interior and dash is also incredibly stylish and I loved the row of ‘piano’ keys – chrome-plated toggle switches running along below to give shortcuts to important and regularly-used functions like climate control, apps, telephone and media.
There’s Peugeot’s signature small leather steering wheel which not only looks dramatic but helps with agility and precision on the move through the bends and when manoeuvring.
The centre console contains a new automatic gear selector along with the control for the different driving modes of Electric, Eco, Hybrid, Normal and Sport while the top-of-the-range PSE version also comes with four-wheel-drive.
It’s deliciously simple and a delight to use without being distracted from the road ahead.
The test car looked particularly stunning in its Selenium Grey metallic paintwork, a £650 option. It also came with a panoramic opening glass roof with electric blind which added £1100 to the not-inconsiderable price tag. But it didn’t stop there. There was also Night Vision (£1300) which detects hazards such as pedestrians and animals in front of the car at night or in reduced visibility and for a touch of luxury, the driver and front passenger pneumatic massage function on the electrically-adjusted heated leather seats pushed up the final bill by another £2050.
The electric element is important for bolstering the power from the petrol engine – either a 150 hp or more powerful 180 hp. They’re both super-efficient and depending on how much you demand in performance you should be able to get just over 30 miles from a full charge which should take just over 90 minutes on a domestic wallbox.
Peugeot 508 SW GT Plug-in hybrid
PRICE: £47,640 (£55,765 as tested)
ENGINE: 1598cc inline turbocharged 4 cyl transverse petrol/electric
POWER: 225hp combined petrol/electric
TOP SPEED: 149 mph (sport mode)
0-62mph: 8 secs
