PSA Peugeot Citroën planning diesel hybrid for 2011
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Apr 30th 2009 at 4:01PM 
Peugeot 3008 crossover - Click above for a high-res image gallery
PSA Peugeot Citroën has announced plans to introduce a new diesel hybrid drivetrain that will conveniently do away with the need for a complex system of driveshafts and transaxles. The clever HYbrid4 system – sometimes referred to as a through-the-road hybrid – is contained inside a new rear axle assembly that incorporates an integrated electric motor. This arrangement will allow for any combination of front-, rear- or all-wheel drive, with power coming from the diesel engine alone, the electric motor alone or from the two powerplants combined.
Due to its modular design, the technology can quickly spread across the automaker's entire line. The first model slated for the fuel-saving tech is the Peugeot 3008 crossover, prototypes of which are already in the testing phase. Next down the line will be the Citroën DS5. All told, the automaker expects to see a 35% reduction in CO2 emissions with an attendant improvement in fuel efficiency.
Gallery: 2010 Peugeot 3008
[Source: PSA Peugeot Citroën]
PRESS RELEASE:
PSA Peugeot Citroën Launches Pilot Process Engineering Phase For Diesel Hybrid Production at the Mulhouse and Sochaux plants
Several months ago, PSA Peugeot Citroën's Mulhouse and Sochaux plants launched pilot projects to process engineer the new HYbrid4 hybrid diesel 4WD technology.
Applying highly innovative quality and lean manufacturing methods, the two plants have put together in-house teams to engineer the processes and facilities for HYbrid4 technology, scheduled to enter production in 2011.
HYbrid4 technology combines an HDi diesel engine and an electric motor, which is located on the rear axle. To support this technology, the Group has developed a unique rear-axle assembly on which the electric motor will be mounted. The modular architecture of this technology means that it is portable across several vehicle types, irrespective of the engine type.
Over recent months teams at the Mulhouse plant's mechanical assembly unit have deployed a series of lean manufacturing projects aimed at improving the organization of the workshop that will assemble the new electric drivetrain. PSA Peugeot Citroën's lean manufacturing enables efficiency, quality and costs to be optimised through teamwork.
This is a highly complex process, because it involves the assembly of both conventional mechanical parts and newer electrical components. By using a full-scale 3-D model to create a virtual workshop, team leaders and technicians are identifying ways to drive improvements in both efficiency and quality. These simulations are designed to optimize use of floor space, enhance workstation ergonomics and generally facilitate handling and assembly while streamlining logistics flows. Their outcomes will also be used to prepare precise specifications for suppliers.
Several prototype Peugeot 3008 vehicles fitted with HYbrid4 technology have already rolled off the prototype assembly line at the Sochaux plant. The Integration of the hybrid drivetrain into the vehicle was completed in record time by leveraging the extensive hybrid-drivetrain expertise acquired in recent years, most notably on the Citroën C4 and Peugeot 308. Development work was further accelerated by routinely using digital tools, which model both physical and virtual aspects of the process and by locating the entire Hybrid project team on-site. Cellular working also got the best out of the teams and accelerated development.
Several months from now, PSA Peugeot Citroën will finalise how the production of this future technology will be organized.
PSA Peugeot Citroën unveiled its HYbrid4 diesel-electric technology at the 2008 Paris Auto Show. With an HDi diesel engine and an electric motor at the rear, the innovative technology delivers a multitude of benefits. In addition to considerable fuel savings and around a 35% reduction in CO2 emissions, the technology introduces a new breed of all-wheel drive thanks to an electric motor, which powers the rear wheels. It also opens the door to more extensive use of electric vehicles as a choice for city driving. From 2011, the crossover Peugeot 3008 followed by the Citroën DS5, will be the first of the Group's vehicles to benefit from this cutting edge technology.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
BoxerFanatic 5:28PM (4/30/2009)
I think they need a new name...
Through-the-road sounds to me like two separate drivetrains, not connected, even by a wire.
It seems like the front drivetrain would be dragging the rear drivetrain around, the rear-drivetrain being electric, when the wheels turn, would spin the motor like a generator, charging the battery... Basically a constant recouperative braking system, dragging the car to charge the battery. (hybrid is a drag inducer anyway, whether mechanical energy or electrical energy is used to transfer.)
Conversely the front drivetrain being idled or off, while being pushed around by the electric rear drivetrain.
The actual system has a charging circuit, where the diesel charges the battery and helps power the electrical drive system, through a wire, rather than two tires dragging two other tires over the ground. Otherwise it works somewhat like that.
Diesel as a torque unit, driving a generator makes sense, even in a series hybrid system. It is unfortunate that it isn't employed more. A diesel at steady-state can be pretty clean (full burn of a lean mixture of fuel, rather than acceleration which dumps far more fuel, and doesn't burn it all...), and very fuel efficient.
But I still think a diagonal flow compact turbine is the best option for a series-type on-board power system for electric drive, but that is just me, and nobody is building that... :D
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Rich 6:06PM (4/30/2009)
Hey, remind me not to hire you for drivetrain design...
You don't have to charge the batteries all the time with an electric motor in the axle -- when it's electrically disconnected, the physical load is much lower.
But even so, you don't need to engage the motor mechanically all the time, either. Ever heard of clutches? You can even make them electronically controlled.
BoxerFanatic 8:52PM (4/30/2009)
I was just saying what comes to mind as a visual when one says "through the road hybrid"
Not that they actually do charge all the time.
And actually without a mechanical connection between the drivetrain, you don't even need the clutch. An electrical disconnect will disengage the electric drivetrain, and it will free-wheel.
But when they do charge, or convert mechanical energy to electricity and back to motive mechanical energy, it is drag, and transitional and transfer losses. Energy conversion is not 100% efficient. That is drag that a normal car doesn't have. Weight that a normal car of otherwise similar spec doesn't have, and electrical load that a normal car doesn't have or need.
The only offset for all the additional complexity, materials, and losses of a mechanical-to-electrical-to-kinetic energy transfer drivetrain, is if the power source is smaller, more efficient at a near steady-state, and isn't required to have the wide range of flexibility of a mechanical connection to the road. The small, efficient power source that does generate energy from fuel on board, which is much more energy dense, and easily transferred than an external electrical source charging hundreds of pounds of batteries that degrade by the limitations of their design.
If the car is going to have a traditional automotive drivetrain, it may as well stay a traditional mechanical to kinetic energy drivetrain, and leave the electrons to other, secondary tasks, and save the weight and drag. Adding electrical drivetrains to traditional cars adds complexity that doesn't necessarily pay off in efficiency over diesel or hcci or other fuel based efficiency improvements, without the added complexity of the hybrid drive.
if the engine is going to drive wheels, make it drive wheels. If the engine is going to drive a generator, then have it drive a generator, and choose the best engine for the purpose. An axial-rotating engine, such as a turbine, with high efficiency, full fuel burn, and not required to change engine speed instantly makes a lot of sense for a generator. There is a reason that steam turbines are used to generate power in electrical power plants, not pistons driven by steam to turn a generator.
Protzenegger 4:45PM (4/30/2009)
Hybrid or not, that thing looks bloody awful. And the interior is a blatant copy of Audi and Gallardo elements.
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Matthew 6:59PM (4/30/2009)
Don't see any clue of Audi design there, except maybe for the perceived fit and finish which isn't a bad thing actually. As for the aviation styled buttons a la Lamborghini, it couldn't be a bad thing either.
Flamespoke 9:25PM (4/30/2009)
Matthew that interior is straight out of an Audi R8. Still nice though. Imagine if Chrysler could have made a deal with Peugeot?
IK 10:50PM (4/30/2009)
the interior looks extremely audi/vw
I was even wondering whether this car is based on the golf or something
but it doesn't mention in the article?
am I missing something?
Tourian 5:50PM (4/30/2009)
Is this the vehicle that Mitsubishi produces for them based on the Outlander?
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Protzenegger 6:20PM (4/30/2009)
No, that would be the 4007.
pmgpmg 11:14PM (4/30/2009)
Deja Vu!
1989 Audi 100 duo hybrid system
http://www.avants.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=107
2010 Audi 1 metroproject quattro
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_A1
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ToddL 4:22PM (5/01/2009)
Looks like a Jeep Compass.agggggghhhhh Why?
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