Peugeot e-2008 review

First impressions don’t break from the electric car norm, but if you’re new to EVs with the e-2008 – as we suspect a vast swathe of buyers or leasers probably are – there is much novelty value to be had here.

The e-2008 is an everyday family car. That makes itself apparent when you nail the throttle. It doesn’t have the ridiculous acceleration of some electric cars, which is definitely a good thing in this context.

So it’s not very fast then?

Well, 0-62mph in 9.1 seconds isn’t going to get anyone particularly excited, but it's exactly the same figure as the petrol auto version of the 2008. It's brisk enough for a crossover.

That said, like all EVs its acceleration tails off at speed and you'll want to be in Sport mode if you're pulling sharply out into the outside lane of a motorway before that blacked-out Audi Q8 plugs the gap.

Yes, you can switch drive modes between Eco (93bhp), Normal (123bhp) and Sport (the full 154bhp) modes, which allows you to balance performance and battery range as you see fit.

There are two reasons to call on Eco. First, obvs, when the next charger looks ominously far away – it softens off the air-con and heater power too. But also for driving more smoothly in stop-go traffic, thanks to the more gentle accelerator take-up.

A switch beside the transmission selector brings in B mode, for a little more regenerative braking, but it's pretty subtle. More regen comes from using the top fraction of the brake pedal – a dial on the dash shows the limit of this before you start wasting energy with the discs.

Mind you the brake pedal isn't completely progressive – as you reach this transition between regeneration and friction, the pedal droops a bit. Disconcerting at first, easy to get used to.

What about the ride?

Some EVs don’t ride especially well, stiffened up to counter their extra weight over internal combustion. The e-2008 is absolutely fine. The fundamental springing is pretty soft, and it absorbs big hits well. Coarse sharp bumps cause a bit of wheel flutter but it's not an issue.

The body will sometimes float as you cross big undulations, but that's just the dampers allowing the springs to do their job. It even rolls and pitches a bit.

Yet once you're accounting for the softness, it's actually quite a fun thing to steer through snaky bends. You can feel the tyres working beneath you and if it's wet or greasy they'll gently move about, with that characteristic Peugeot balance. The steering is quick but not nervous.

The highly assisted drive option pack is well priced. That's a combo of lane centring assist and all-speed adaptive cruise control, plus blind-spot assist. The controls' logic is good, and steering assistance is reasonably smooth provided the road's white lines are clear.

Anyway, the 2008 tracks well on motorways without that help. It also runs pretty quietly through the air at speed.

What about range?

Ah yes. 250 miles is the promise, but we reckon closer to 210 is more realistic. Even in grizzly weather, which isn’t bad going at all. On a 50-mile autumn drive we managed 4.1mi/kWh, which is excellent efficiency for that time of year (3.0 and below is meh, 5.0 is world class). The two caveats here are that we started with a warm battery and stayed clear of the motorway, so we’d expect less of a return on faster roads with no warm up. Still though, the e-2008 is no electron guzzler.