Most Reliable Car Award
In a recent survey of the cars most and least likely to give you mechanical trouble recently, the Peugeot 207 came out as the most reliable car sold in Europe. With an incident rate of just 6%, costing owners an average of £331 to put right this small hatchback was streets ahead of its nearest rival, the Fiat Panda, which has an incident rate of 14% - nearly double that of the 207. Why is this an important green credential? Well, every breakdown experienced by a vehicle requires a new part, which greatly adds to the carbon footprint it creates. Less fixes and new parts simply means the car creates less of an environmental impact. It’s not just the 207 that’s featured highly on the list either – the 206 came in third with an incident rate of 17%, making Peugeot the most reliable manufacturer in Europe by far.Peugeot 3008 Hybrid
The Peugeot 3008 Hybrid was incredibly well received by the motoring community, winning two major green engineering awards. First was the Best Eco Car of the Year 2011 title from Diesel Car Magazine, then the more prestigious What Car? Green Car award for the SUV category. At the time it was the world’s first full diesel hybrid, using an engine that combines diesel and electrical power. The What Car? award not only considers the amount of CO2 emissions produced by the vehicle, which was very low for an SUV at 99g/km but also looks at the amount of nitrous oxides and particulates that were also at very low levels. As you’d expect from a hybrid engined car it also produces exemplary figures for its fuel consumption running at an astounding 74 mpg – a figure that normal petrol and diesel powered SUVs can only dream of.World Records
In 2008 a Peugeot 308 HD 110 hatchback managed to break two world records for economical engineering. A couple drove the car on a 9,000 mile trip round the coast of Australia, recording an average fuel consumption of 75.6mpg and travelling an astounding 1192 miles on a single tank of petrol. In addition to the weight of the passengers the car was also fully stocked up with luggage and supplies for the trip, adding to this phenomenal achievement. Although this figure has now been surpassed in recent times by the Volkswagen Passat, it still shows that the manufacturer have been producing cars that are absolutely world class in terms of their efficiency over the last decade.Blue HDi
One of Peugeot’s latest advancements is the development of their Blue HDi system. This is a diesel engine that the manufacturer has created in response to the challenge of reducing emissions throughout their range. When compared to a petrol engine it consumes approximately 25%, which means that it therefore produces around 15% less CO2. It uses a special mechanical system known as a DPF that permanently traps all particulates, which are then automatically burned during regeneration. This even manages to reduce the amount of nitrous oxide produced by the engine. According to Peugeot’s website, this is the most effective diesel emission control system in terms of reducing the amount of pollutant emissions.48V Mild Hybrid
In January 2013, at its Innovation Day in Paris, Peugeot announced the development of a next generation air hybrid engine. This system uses a 10kW electric power unit coupled up with a 48 volt lithium ion battery, which can be combined with gasoline and diesel engines and normal gearboxes. This new type of engine promises even better performance than their e-HDi technology, reducing fuel consumption by 10-15% and cutting CO2 emissions 15g/km when compared to similar engines. The electric motor is powerful enough to drive the car up to 12mph and can be used to help park the car or it can be used to offer greater acceleration out on the road.Peugeot iOn
Of course, it’s not just hybrid engines that are rolling out of the labs at Peugeot. They’ve also created their very own brand of electric car, the iOn. The vehicle won the Next Greencar City Car award in 2011 thanks to its urban friendly style and design. Although critics of the car have said that it is a little pricey when compared to similar sized hybrids and diesel run cars, this still shows that Peugeot are capable of producing a road worthy electric car, and from now on the cost of subsequent models is only likely to go down. The car uses a 66 bhp motor that’s powered by lithium ion batteries giving drivers a range of around 90 miles.Overall Performance
Peugeot are showing a firm commitment to green motoring. They released a statement earlier this year revealing that the average emissions from their model range has dropped from 121.5g/km to 116.3g/km in 2012. This is in no small part due to their increased use of hybrid engines as well as various engineering advancements that have seen an increase in efficiency, such as their stop start technology. With more and more consumers now demanding green vehicles, being ecologically friendly is no longer just about savvy marketing. In order for any car manufacturer to remain competitive in today’s world, they have to show that they are environmentally conscious – and right now Peugeot look like they’re leading the pack.This article was written by Justin Smith who blogs regularly for the used car parts location service Breakerlink who you can follow on Twitter or Facebook for more motoring musing.
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