Longer-range battery system and revised infotainment aim to make life easier
The Peugeot e-2008 is the latest of the Stellantis horde to receive a mildly updated version of the e-CMP platform that houses a bigger, 54kWh lithium ion battery. It’s up by 4kWh to 54kWh (50kWh usable), helping push the car’s WLTP range up from 214 to 251 miles.
The new battery system also brings better efficiency, if the official figures are to be believed. It manages 5.0mpkWh, which is substantially better than the efficiency claimed in rivals like the MG ZS EV Long Range, which manages a longer official range of 273 miles but has a much bigger battery, at 72.6kWh. Mind you, the ZS EV is quite a bit cheaper, too – and there are plenty of other longer-range alternatives that the e-2008 must face off with, including the Kia Niro EV and Hyundai Kona Electric.
Also tweaked on the e-2008 is the styling, to now include a more aggressive, wider-looking front end and 508-esque headlight and tail-light signatures. Inside, there are some new materials on offer in higher-spec cars, but more importantly there’s also a new 10.0in touchscreen on every model. Provided you go for mid-spec Allure trim or up, that also includes wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus a new home page with configurable tabs, better graphics and more.
It’s worth mentioning here that the venerable 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol will also remain an option in the popular 2008 range, complete with the same style and interface updates.
There aren’t any alterations to the suspension or steering of the e-2008, but it does now have a more powerful 154bhp motor driving those front wheels. Even so, it will come as no surprise that the e-2008 isn’t really about performance, although the 0-62mph of 9.1sec doesn’t really do the pleasantly hearty, mid-speed urgency justice. Ultimately, the e-2008 feels more than pokey enough, even for fast motorway merges and the like.
More importantly, even on the 18in alloy wheels of our test car, it rides with decent pliancy and generally feels composed, smooth and secure. The small steering ‘wheel’ does give a rather fake sense of urgency around the dead-ahead, but otherwise the steering is weighted nicely and there’s a satisfying slickness to the way the e-2008 goes down the road.
Accelerate hard from a standstill with a fair amount of lock on and the front tyres scrabble and squirm, even in dry conditions, and the e-2008 will simply understeer if you try to corner with too much ambition. It’s no hot hatch, then, but it does gel nicely and is a quiet, intuitive drive whether you’re winding through town or ribboning down a scenic road.
The infotainment is a big improvement, too, with the mirroring working well alongside a more responsive touchscreen and new menu layouts. It would still be better if the screen dimming and various other deeper menu settings were easier to find, but this is now a perfectly usable system with all the features that you want, including over-the-air software updates.
Perhaps more importantly, the real-world range and efficiency are decent. On our test drive in hot weather and through fast, sweeping mountain roads in Spain with some urban whataboutery thrown in, we averaged 4.0mpkWh. That’s good for a real-world range of 200 miles, and with more slow-speed stuff, you will see that creep up to 220 miles and more in the summer. Expect to see about a 25% drop in that real-world range come winter, though.
So, Peugeot has solved two of the biggest issues with the e-2008: its mediocre range and annoying digital interface. Good for them and good for it. But there’s another problem now, and that’s the price. The e-2008 starts at £36,350 in the rather basic Active trim, while the Allure and GT models that most buyers will want come in at £38,350 and £40,550.
That’s a lot of cash and represents a vast jump of some £10,000 over the equivalent petrol auto 2008. Not only that, but finance prices look alarmingly high, too, with Peugeot quoting some £700 per month for an e-2008 Allure with a £4000 deposit over 37 months. A Niro EV 3 on the same terms currently comes in at £100 per month less. Despite the e-2008’s merits, we know where our money would go
Source: Autocar
