FURTHER evidence that the traditional performance car powered only by a warmed up petrol engine is an endangered species comes from Peugeot.
It is "paving the way for a new era in which the kilowatt is king", no less, with a four-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid version of the gorgeous 508 spearheading its foray into this brave new electrified world.
The car wears a 'Peugeot Sport Engineered' badge, making its full name a rather emphatic 'Peugeot 508 Peugeot Sport Engineered'. That's a lot of Peugeot for anyone...
You can tell this is no ordinary endeavour because the 508 long-name comes with a light signature made up of what Peugeot calls "three Kryptonite claws" - watch out, Superman.
It's the most powerful production car ever built by Peugeot, with a total of 355bhp and 384lb ft of torque at its disposal. That means the 0-62mph sprint is over and done in 5.2 seconds, with 50-74mph dispatched in a flat 3 seconds. Top speed is an electronically limited 155mph.
There's a lower driving position than in a regular 508, the front and rear tracks are wider, variable dampers, 380mm diameter front brake discs with four-piston callipers and 20-inch alloy wheels.
The battery can be charged in less than seven hours from a standard house socket, while a 7kW wall box drops that to less than two hours.
Other equipment includes night vision, adaptive cruise control, a lane departure warning system and automatic emergency braking.
There's also a digital head-up display, an embracing set of sports seats upholstered in leather and Alcantara, complete with heating and massage functions, and a top-of-the-range Focal sound system.
