Peugeot Designs A Scooter That Wants To Be A Car

Peugeot's three-wheel drive HYmotion3 Compressor hybrid scooter drew quite a lot of attention at the Paris Auto Show (2008 Paris Mondial De L'Automobile) last week for its innovative engineering. Peugeot says its like a scooter with a bit of car in it. The HYmotion3's rear wheel is powered by 125 cc 15 kW (20 bhp) gasoline (petrol) engine and the front wheels are powered by two 3 kW synchronous permanent magnet electric motors. So in essence the HYmotion3 Compressor is a hybrid powered three-wheel drive scooter.

The Peugeot HYmotion3 Compressor hybrid scooter has a top speed of 110 km/h (68.8 mph) and accelerates from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 11.2 seconds. The tires have been developed by Michelin and are Michelin Gold Standard 120/70R14 on the front and 140/60R14 on the rear. The HYmotion3 Compressor has a 13-litre fuel tank and its fuel consumption is 2L/100 km (117.6 U.S. MPG) on the gasoline engine and 0L/100km on the electric motors. On short trips in the city at slow speeds, the Peugeot scooter can go 10 km (6.3 miles) just on battery power alone.

Peugeot will probably produce a version of the HYmotion3 Compressor for production as the concept is bound to take off in warm climates. The two electric motors are powered by a high-voltage lithium ion battery pack and the overall weight of the scooter with full fuel tanks is 250 kg (approx 550 lbs). Braking is provided by an ABS electronically controlled hydraulic system and the two electric motors recover electricity as regenerative braking during deceleration.