Peugeot e-2008 GT Line – long-term review

Peugeot has made some of my favourite cars – the 205, 504 and 604, to name but three – and right now is demonstrating more bravery than most other mainstream car makers. That includes rethinking the interior as an entire concept, and even reinventing the wheel. It’s a policy that could easily alienate the average Joe without adding a great deal to the experience, but I love the configurable data screen ahead of the driver. The rest of the interior ergonomics are disharmonious, though.

The central touchscreen is a bit laggy, and works in parallel with the row of ‘piano key’ buttons underneath. And that’s the problem. The functionality is split randomly between them so that you access audio, climate and navigation by pushing one of the keys, then doing the work via the touchscreen. But inevitably there are separate sub-menus within that, some of which are easy to use, some that are teeth-grindingly counter-intuitive.

Peugeot, like everyone else, fills its cars with all the assistance systems that a top Euro NCAP score demands. The first thing to go as soon as I get in is the lane departure warning, which is at least disabled via a physical button to the right of the wheel. There’s a well-intentioned speed (erm, safety) camera warning alert that sounds like R2D2, but getting rid of that is a ludicrously complex process.

Also into Room 101 goes the e-2008’s bipolar remote keyless entry which manages to unlock the car when you don’t want it to then sheepishly responds to your irritation by then stopping working. The radio hunts around between FM and DAB, creating a three-second lag like something from a satellite TV broadcast circa 1985. To paraphrase Eric and Ernie, the e-2008 is playing all the right notes, just not necessarily in the right order. But then I can’t think of a single car maker that’s fully nailed the new-age UX.

Right now, KS20 KNH is also telling me that it’s due a service. It isn’t, but the little orange warning spanner graphic isn’t going to disappear without a dealer re-set. There’s a ghost in the machine somewhere, who along with his motley band of gremlins is undermining my appreciation of an otherwise extremely fine 2021 family car.