What's this?
A Peugeot 2008 with pure electric power. We've yet to drive the 2008 in its regular combustion-powered guises, although a UK review will be on its way to you very soon, but while driving the French manufacturer's latest range of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) - in the form of the
508 Hybrid and the
3008 Hybrid4 - we were also given the chance to revisit the e-208 itself, as well as this e-2008.
This uses the same 100kW (136hp) electric motor with a 50kWh battery pack and the same Common Modular Platform (CMP) as the e-208, only in a slightly taller, slightly larger and slightly heavier shell. At 1,548kg, the e-2008 is no featherweight and it's nearly 100 kilos up on its hatchback relation (1,455kg), but as it's a crossover it might be better equipped to get away with such portliness. Like the e-208, it comes in Active, Allure, GT-Line and full GT specifications, but prices start at more than £30,000, even for the base e-2008. Mitigating this somewhat, the Peugeot qualifies for the £3,500 Plug-in Car Grant, so even a high-ranking GT-Line as tested will be around £32,000 on the road. That's perhaps not cheap, and yet on the other hand it doesn't seem a lot for a full-electric, family-sized car.
A family-sized car which looks as good as this. Maybe the exterior of the 2008 is a little more divisive than the stunning
208 hatch, but it's still easily one of the best-looking things in its segment, without going down that route that other manufacturers seem to do with electric vehicles, by having them look a bit gawky in order to stand out - such as the otherwise excellent
Kia e-Niro or Hyundai Kona Electric rivals. Inside, it's also the wonderful Peugeot iCockpit arrangement with the 3D digital dashboard, plus lovely sculptural layers to the fascia, top-quality fixtures and fittings, a fabulous driving position and a smattering of EV-specific displays for the capacitive touchscreen in the centre console, plus that futuristic instrument cluster too. Factor in decent space for passengers in the rear and a 405-litre boot that is unchanged from the combustion-engined models in the range (that's the glory of CMP, it was always designed for electrification), and what you have here is a product that'll look very,
very strong on showroom floors. So if it turns out it drives well, to back up all this early promise, we could be looking at something rather special in its class, eh?
How does it drive?
Brilliantly. OK, it's not some sort of pseudo-sports crossover, or an electrified and modernised 205 GTi on stilts, but there's enough bite to the steering and enough control to the body to make the e-2008 surprising fun in the corners. You'll feel its mass, most notably on the regenerative brakes when you want maximum stopping power, but actually it doesn't feel appreciably blunted when compared to the e-208, which we found rather lacklustre. Maintain the EV's pace through a series of bends and it proves to be fairly quick across ground, which is all the more amusing when you're whirring along in the near-silence of a motor lacking for any reciprocating parts.
Admittedly, the extra weight of the e-2008 means it is not as quick as the hatchback source material from 0-62mph (adding a further 1.2 seconds to the e-208's 8.1-second sprint) and it also doesn't have the same range, Peugeot quoting anything from 193 to 206 miles on a single charge, when the e-208 is said to go up to 211 miles (the e-2008 has all the same charging features, options and times as the e-208, by the way). But these are marginal sacrifices to make for what the e-2008 brings to the party, which is a far superior ride to the hatchback and improved refinement levels too.
Although the car we tested was a GT-Line, it rode with a grace and suppleness that we just didn't experience with the e-208, so either the added 93kg ties the suspension down better, or the GT-Line is not as firmly set-up as the full GT, or Peugeot has simply not bothered trying to inject too much 'faux dynamism' into the e-2008's spring and damper settings... because it's a crossover, not a hatchback. Whether we're just pegging our expectations at a lower level for the e-2008 because of its vehicle type or not, we drove the e-2008 GT-Line near Barcelona and marvelled at the minimal wind noise seeping into the cabin, at the lack of tyre chatter that was allowed to permeate the interior, and - most pleasingly of all - the almost total absence of lumpiness and thumpiness we'd experienced from the e-208 GT during its first drives in Portugal. And it's not as if the Portuguese have much worse roads than the Spanish.
A word in defence of the e-208, at this point. We also managed to drive another version of that on the same event as this e-2008, and this time it was an Allure, rather than the GT. The softer suspension definitely helps the e-208's case, so we'd suggest steering clear of the sportier models in Peugeot's burgeoning electric-car line-up for the best possible ownership experience.
Verdict
Peugeot's move to electrification has already dealt up some pretty impressive products, but we reckon the e-2008 is the most impressive of the lot. Avoid the temptation of picking the hard-riding GT and what you have here is a zero-emissions family chariot that is easy to use, conventional to look at without being boring, and as practical as you could want of a crossover. OK, the e-2008 GT-Line isn't exactly inexpensive at £32,000, but thankfully it feels worth such money. It's an excellent EV machine.
Passenger Space
