![Peugeot e-208 electric car on long-term test - with Vicky Parrott](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/images/2020/10/06/TELEMMGLPICT000240066957_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqsvEi3P8Qkw0HLYn_ZSpoxzPYg1MzZcyp7jNZ8S-xakc.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Is the Peugeot e-208 the car to finally convince you that electric is the way to go?
The French firm believes electric car driving is becoming normal so it offers batteries in familiar models. Might the electric 208 sway you?
![Peugeot e-208 electric car on long-term test - with Vicky Parrott](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/images/2020/10/06/TELEMMGLPICT000240066957_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqsvEi3P8Qkw0HLYn_ZSpoxzPYg1MzZcyp7jNZ8S-xakc.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Long-term test: we find out what this electric supermini is like to live with one a day to day basis
- Our car: Peugeot e-208 GT
- List price when new: £30,275 (after Government plug-in grant)
- Price as tested: £30,820 (after Government grant)
- Official range (WLTP): 217 miles
The Peugeot approach to electric cars (EVS) seems like common sense to me. While I like the extrovert, deliberately unusual EVs such as the Volkswagen ID.3 and BMW i3, which shout very loudly that they’re a bit different, Peugeot thinks it won’t be long before electric power isn’t ‘different’ at all.
Hence the e-208; virtually undistinguishable from the Car of the Year-winning 208 models with petrol or diesel engines, but with a pure electric powertrain underneath. The 50kWh battery delivers a range of 217 miles and, given that you can get the e-208 from less than £27,000, that all seems very tempting.
![Peugeot e-208 electric car on long-term test - with Vicky Parrott](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/images/2020/10/06/TELEMMGLPICT000240066908_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqFJLOqx0oUZqv4IWc0H-fMTQ3D1RCejbBD2gd7dQOqeE.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Especially because it looks fantastic. Maybe the best-looking small Peugeot since the 205? I’ll let you be the judge of that, but we went for our top-spec GT car in metallic Cumulus Grey – a £545 option.
As you’d expect of a 208 costing more than £30k, the GT gets everything you’d want. LED lights, keyless go, adaptive cruise control, heated part-leatherette seats, touchscreen with nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto… It really has got everything you’re ever likely to want. The only luxury that some might be tempted by is the panoramic glass roof; a £500 option that’s not fitted to our car.
Range wrangling?
Of course, the first thing that anyone wants to know about any electric car is how far it goes, even more than how efficient it is. Well, the e-208’s official range is very promising, and after a week or so of fairly mild weather and a fair few motorway miles, as well as some pottering around town, I’m seeing some 160 miles to a charge.
![Peugeot e-208 electric car on long-term test - with Vicky Parrott](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/images/2020/10/06/TELEMMGLPICT000240066967_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpvhYCxZ1zyEMRa-WSVMKo5xWLfs5mAvkbXYQqrLnBas.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Cold weather reduces the range of any electric car, but some are more affected than others so it’ll be interesting to see how the Peugeot’s range fares as winter creeps in. I’m expecting around 130-140 if there are motorway miles involved, but we’ll soon find out.
I haven’t needed to use a public charger yet since I have a PodPoint wallbox at home (somewhere among the greenery) that does a great job of my routine charging needs.
On the road
The e-208 is definitely a grower. I started out feeling that the fast steering rack and tiny steering wheel made it feel a bit neurotic at times, even while I enjoyed the stream of electric power and excellent refinement. But with a few miles covered in the last couple of weeks, I’ve decided that I actually rather like the darty steering. It’s far from an organic or terribly involving steering set-up but it is quite fun the way the Peugeot tips eagerly into a corner.
![Peugeot e-208 electric car on long-term test - with Vicky Parrott](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/images/2020/10/06/TELEMMGLPICT000240066915_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqwgmZAKMH_6iRSo83uc6HO_ERLkUwqSNB-X-w_vUYagU.jpeg?imwidth=350)
In fact, there’s more fun about the e-208 than you might expect. I’ve even stuck it in Sport a few times and the drive mode lives up to the title more than it does on any other ‘affordable’ electric car I’ve driven. It’s properly responsive and disguises its weight quite well, too. It really is a fun little car.
The ultimate ‘starter’ EV?
But being fun is one thing – in the coming months what I really want to find out is whether the e-208 really is the best option for a ‘starter’ EV.
That first jump into pure electric ownership is really scary for anyone, and the familiarity of this being a 208 in every recognisable way besides the plug socket on its flank could well make this a reassuring option. Not only that, but the combination of that long(ish) range, fantastic interior finish and the general lustre of the e-208 could also make it the most desirable, too.
![Peugeot e-208 electric car on long-term test - with Vicky Parrott](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/images/2020/10/06/TELEMMGLPICT000240066961_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bqoy0UijBRPlBgfQSD9mX1zZxWLfs5mAvkbXYQqrLnBas.jpeg?imwidth=350)
My typical motoring existence isn’t restricted to about-town hops, so with plenty of long journeys and rapid charges on the cards, not to mention a four-year-old and a large dog to lug around, mine is a more extreme lifestyle than most e-208s will deal with. It’ll be a great chance to really find out if this is the best affordable small EV out there.
Small car, big ability
The Peugeot doesn’t just have to be a good electric car, it needs to be a good small family car as well. On that front, it’s done well. I recently had my daughter and nephew – both four years old – in the back seats, in chunky car seats and perfectly happy. I would say that the Peugeot’s rear legroom means that you’ll have little feet scuffing the seats in front, and I had to slide the drivers seat forward to get Reggie out of his seat easily.
But this is a small car and, given that the e-208 routinely deals easily with our large dog and little people with relative ease, I’d say it ticks the boxes. Proper cable storage underneath the boot floor should be a given in every EV, I reckon, but other than that the e-208 is doing a fine job of fitting our family in, despite its compact size.
More than that, the e-208 just doesn’t feel like a little car in the way it drives. On the motorway it is absolutely unflappable even in crosswinds and rain, the cabin is so well appointed that you’d be happy with it in a car from many classes above this, and everything about it feels confident and grown-up despite its stubby length.
It is the chief aspect of the Peugeot that could sway me in favour of this over the slower and more ‘city car’ feeling alternatives like the Renault Zoe and Fiat 500e.
For that big car feel in a small car package, and for those brilliant looks that still have me glancing back at it when I walk away, life with the 208 is only solidifying my belief that this is one of the best cars in its class.
Erratic range
I’m 2,500 miles and three months down in the Peugeot e-208 and I’ve gone from quite warm Indian summer weather to chilly and wet winter. And I still can’t really get my head around the real-world range that the Peugeot achieves. Most of the time, it averages around about 150 miles, almost regardless of how and where you drive it.
That’s a fairly middling efficiency of 3.2 miles/kWh given the car’s usable battery capacity of 46.2kWh (total capacity is 50kWh). Nothing special, but nothing terrible either since I generally see similar average efficiency from cars like the Nissan Leaf and VW ID.3 in the moderate mix of motorway, suburban and country roads that I typically cover.
Yet, the Peugeot definitely favours free-flowing 40-to-50mph use. I’ve seen 4.1 miles/kWh (totalling a range of 189 miles) from it a number of times in this sort of use, even in heavy rain and wind.
I’ve also done loads of solid motorway journeys, when you can expect more like 130 miles, or in the interests of blunt honesty, you will even see it drop to around 110 miles or less if you are something of an outside-lane warrior. Don’t forget that nothing kills range in an electric car like sustained high speeds. They are single-speed cars so, in simple terms an electric motor is working twice as hard (actually more, factoring in wind resistance) at 60mph as it is at 30mph – unlike a geared petrol or diesel car.
Eco drive mode certainly helps to improve these figures, which I’ve achieved using Normal mode, but it’s annoying that Eco turns off the heater. The neutered throttle response it also introduces I don’t mind at all, but on a chilly day I can only last a few minutes on Eco before it gets uncomfortably cold. If I could keep the climate control and heater functioning to at least some extent, I’d be perfectly happy to use it all the time.
Without it, I genuinely think that most people will – like me - find the Peugeot’s most efficient mode too much of a compromise in anything but clement weather.
A user-frustration interface
I hate the word ‘infotainment’. It’s such a middle management term, but it does sum up the systems that are increasingly the most important thing about how you interact with a car on a daily basis. Touchscreens, of course, are now standard fare even in budget cars, and the Peugeot is no different.
Our GT trim car is the range-topping model, so you get the biggest 10-inch touchscreen that Peugeot makes, although it’s worth pointing out that you get a 7-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Still, the 10-inch widescreem does look fantastic, as do the gloss black ‘piano’ switches and touch-sensitive buttons underlining it.
If only it were more logical to use. It responds quickly enough, and the graphics are fine if not class leading. But even after a few months and some 2000 miles in the e-208, there are a number of things that really frustrate me about it.
First, it is almost impossible to find the setting to dim the screen at night. I did find it once, after parking and spending more than 15 minutes digging through endless menus, but I tried again recently and gave up in the end. I can find the screen off option, although even that is well hidden. I suspect that the screen dim menu moves around the Peugeot’s menus to ever more unexpected places every day, like an ever-moving target. It’s infuriating, since even after it’s automatically switched to night-mode I often find the screen too bright.
I honestly believe that screen off and screen dimming settings should be instantly findable on every touchscreen for genuine safety reasons.
While we’re on the subject of safety and screen distractions, it is still annoying - even after becoming very familiar with the Peugeot – that the cabin temperature has to be changed via the screen. Even more annoying that it doesn’t then reset to whatever screen you were on before.
Other niggles include a camera warning beep that appears to be impossible to turn off. No matter which of the safety driver aid settings I turn off it continues to dim the radio in order to beep as you approach and again as you have passed a camera. Which, on the camera-infested M25, is less than enjoyable.
I’ve not finished the moaning yet, either... There is no home page on the Peugeot’s system – you just hop between nav, media, climate etc via the touch-sensitive shortcut buttons. I understand the thinking behind this but I still miss having a ‘go-to’ hub, not least because I still have to pause and look at the shortcut buttons to figure out which one I need.
With the rant over, I would add that the system is just fine much of the time – particularly since I nearly always stick it in Apple CarPlay and forget about it. There is no doubting that the Peugeot has all the music, nav and smartphone connectivity features that you could possibly want. I also love the 360-degree birds-eye view parking camera that it displays (as standard on this trim), and while not terribly user friendly the whole screen and its surrounding architecture – digital drivers readout included – looks fantastic.
Touchscreen rage is just a change of temperature away, of course, but there is still a lot to like about the system if you can forgive its many flaws.
Winter range
The recent cold snap, with temperatures rarely creeping above freezing, highlights the effect of cold weather on the range of any EV. The e-208 has been showing a maximum range of 118 miles, although I’d add that I haven’t been using Eco mode as this restricts the heater – also not what you want given the brisk temperatures.
I’d add that this range is something of a worst case scenario given the icy conditions, and the fact that I’m often doing motorway stints. It equates to around 2.5 miles/kWh, while in the summer I’ve seen the Peugeot return over 4.0 miles/kWh, or somewhere around 188 miles in between charges.
For all that, it’d be good to see better efficiency from Peugeot’s EVs; I covered 9,000 miles in a Kia e-Niro in 2019, and found that it’d still do over 3.2 miles/kWh even in wintry conditions on the motorway, or it’d regularly do more than 5.0 miles/kWh in the summer.
To be hones, the Korean brands seem to have nailed real-world EV efficiency, while Peugeot, Volkswagen – even Renault and Nissan – appear to be lagging in comparison.
Still, for every person that would find the e-208’s winter range restrictive, there’s another who wouldn’t be troubled in the least. As ever, with an EV even more than a ‘normal’ ICE car, it comes down to whether your lifestyle suits.
Family motor
The e-208 is an unlikely car for a family that includes a four-year-old and a large dog, but it’s done a fine job so far. However, Santa delivered a new bike for Christmas, and that’s definitely pushing the limits of what the 208 can accommodate; I have to release one of the seat backs to get it in.
However, I am really impressed with the upholstery in the e-208 GT, which is described as ‘Capy’ leather effect and ‘Isabella’ cloth. I don’t know who Isabella or Capy are, or why they have been immortalised as vehicle upholstery, but I do think it looks and feels fantastic.
More than that – it’s stood up remarkably well to small welly boots, muddy towels and dog hair. It always hoovers up nicely, and mud just brushes off when it’s dried. I feared that the pale grey, textured material would look like the ‘before’ shot in a detergent add by the time it’d had a few stray crisps and bribery chocolates pressed into the seams, but it’s definitely proven me wrong: Four months and plenty of in-car toddler treats later, it still looks brilliant.
Even the ‘Cumulus Grey’ metallic paintwork (a £545 option) still looks great, despite a good few months of winter grime. It’ll get a thorough clean – inside and out – very soon, but I’m not terribly motivated given how well the paint hides the filth.
Basically, I can’t really blame the e-208 for being small for my undeniably ‘large car’ lifestyle, and in every other way it’s standing up brilliantly to the often destructive forces of family life.
Six months and now gone, so is it the best “starter EV”?
We’ve said goodbye to our Peugeot e-208 after six months and more than 3,500 miles. I’ve become much more attached to it than I imagined I would, too. After all, I attended the international launch of the Peugeot 208 and was left underwhelmed by electric version’s ride comfort and unintuitive infotainment.
But I was keen to run this car because, for all its apparent flaws, I think that Peugeot’s (and Citroen’s) aim to “normalise” electric cars by making them look and feel like the everyday, household name models has real merit. That a buyer can walk into a showroom because they fancy upgrading to the new 208, and then find that they have the option of pure electric, promises to bring battery power into the consciousness of a wider audience that’s unlikely to be easily swayed to electric cars otherwise.
Of course, nobody has been able to walk into a showroom in the last six months. My typical mileage has also been cut by some two thirds as a result of the pandemic. Even so, I’ve had time to figure out if this is the best “starter” EV, which was my aim all along. And I think it is.
Much of that lies in the desirability. The 208 looks utterly brilliant. It looks catwalk-worthy even on a murky grey day in a murky grey services, and it looks fresh, classy and appealing inside, too. In short, it has kerbside appeal to far outweigh its mass market footing. Which is good because, frankly, it could drive like a Porsche 911 and cost less than a used Ford Fiesta, but if it looked a freshly clubbed fish it still wouldn’t sell. Thankfully, it doesn’t.
Now, the range. The best real-world range that I saw from the e-208 was 190 miles, and the worst was 111 miles. This disparity – a result of variables in ambient temperature, ancillary usage and driving speeds – is one of the hardest things to stomach with EVs. It’s why electric cars are not ideal for a lot of drivers right now.
![Peugeot e-208 EV being charged](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/images/2021/03/24/TELEMMGLPICT000228243615_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqDOZNUyHJj8lAAk3cUDsIT91XPAP7a6EhaE0tf2nd818.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Still, the e-208’s is still one of the longer ranges by the standards of the sub-£300pm small EV class, and for every driver that finds the range an instant deal-breaker, there’s another who would seldom need to worry about it.
I’ve not had issues with fast charging on the e-208. I’ve typically seen it peak at more like 80kW rather than the 100kW it promises when I’ve charged at ultra-rapid stations, but the result is still a 100-mile top-up in less than 30 minutes.
Far more irritating is that there’s no way to cap the battery charge at 80% when you’re charging at home, which seems peculiar since it’s much better for battery longevity to top up to 80% when you don’t need the maximum range.
How long will an electric car’s battery last? Read our explainer
Still, I’ve really enjoyed the way the e-208 drives. It’s got proper gumption to it, with a sort of zingy willingness for tight corners and hard acceleration that suits its youthful look and feel. I’ve even decided that the ride comfort is acceptable, if it’s still lumpier over urban roads than is ideal. It’s easy and secure to drive in any conditions, yet great fun if you want it to be, which is precisely what a 208 should be.
What I still can’t forgive is the infotainment system. The climate controls in the touchscreen, the lack of a ‘home’ menu to default to, the touch-sensitive shortcut buttons that have indecipherable icons… It’s just a faff.
![Peugeot e-208 electric car - side view, static](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/images/2021/03/24/TELEMMGLPICT000228243668_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq51yc8faBWV7a7-oF7du_XN8ZDh9SZVigeyj1Uv9nnEc.jpeg?imwidth=350)
It’s got all the features you want, and with familiarity you can do most of the stuff you need to do on a daily basis with reasonable ease, but with six months of experience I still can’t tell you how to dim the screen. I found it once (after 15 minutes of annoyed screen prodding) but, alas, never again.
Beyond that, the Peugeot has been a real delight to live with. Of course there are other great, affordable small EVs – just look to the new Fiat 500e for what could be another gamechanger on that front. But I reckon that the Peugeot’s five-door practicality, long(ish) range, low monthly finance costs, and those fantastic “normal car” looks make it a strikingly compelling happy medium for anyone who’s tentatively considering the switch to EV.
Is it the best “starter” EV, then? Well, the Fiat and the Peugeot’s own non-identical twin – the Vauxhall Corsa-e – are equally worthy of the title, I’d say. But yes. Given the heads it’s turned, how easily it’s fitted into life with my small family, and the fact that I still can’t walk away from it without an admiring glance, I’d say it is.
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