Peugeot e-2008

In town

It’s town driving where you’ll find the Peugeot e-2008 to be the most at home. Light steering makes easy work of manoeuvring tight streets and parking. Visibility out of the back isn’t amazing as a result of the partially sloped roofline, but it’s decent out of the front.

A reversing camera comes on top-spec GT models, with top-down and 180-degree views, which all help make squeezing into those tighter spots that much easier. You can add this as an option to Allure models, too.

Comfort is an impressive trait in the e-2008. Electric SUVs can be quite uncomfortable because the high body and heavy batteries require unforgiving suspension systems, but the Peugeot glides over bumps and potholes while barely alerting you to their presence.

On the motorway

This comfort continues on the motorway, where the e-2008 is a relaxing car to drive. Road noise is pretty low, and though there is a touch of wind noise, it’s not unbearable. Cruise control comes as standard but you’ll need to stump up for an optional assistance pack to get an adaptive system.

As well as maintaining a set speed like normal cruise control, adaptive will automatically maintain the distance to the car ahead and adjust and lower its speed accordingly. Super handy if you’re covering long distances. And this option pack also includes a clever system that will keep you in lane if you start to drift across the white lines.

On a twisty road

If you’re looking for backroad fun, the Peugeot e-2008 isn’t going to deliver big. Though you’ll never feel like it's about to fall over, soft-set suspension means that the car leans a lot when you’re cornering hard, which doesn’t give you too much confidence.

And while many electric cars offer thrills through punchy acceleration, the e-2008 gathers speed with all the urgency of a grumpy teenager. It’s not slow, and feels quick enough once you’re on the move, but even in its sporty setting you’re often left underwhelmed when trying to scoot away from a standstill.

No load lip and a square shape make the boot more useful than its capacity suggests, but the rear seats are quite cramped

The Peugeot e-2008’s diminutive stature means it’s not the most spacious car inside. That said, the lovely interior design isn’t just easy on the eyes, it also tricks you into thinking the car is actually quite big and spacious.

However, the devil’s in the details. Taller drivers in particular will find leg space is pretty cramped, especially if you have to push the steering wheel low to see the digital dials. It means knees and hands occasionally compete for space during tight manoeuvres.

Similarly, the door bins are quite small and the door handle makes access trickier than it might otherwise be. The cup holders are fairly deep but quite narrow and the glovebox is small too. Positives are a useful shelf beneath the dashboard where you can put your phone, and a hidden cubby hole just above it to store valuables.

Space in the back seats

It’s not much better in the back seats, either. It’s not like you need to pull off a Houdini-esque escape every time you leave the car, but kneeroom is quite limited and, if you’re in the outer two seats, your head will brush the section where the door meets the roof.

Want to fit three across the back? It’s actually not too bad for shoulder room, but those on the outside will be forced closer to the door where their heads will become even better acquainted with the headlining.

There are ISOFIX points in the outer two seats for a child seat. The door opening is quite narrow, which can make it tricky to fit, but once it’s in there’s plenty of space to the seat in front.

Boot space

The Peugeot e-2008’s boot is a fairly good size, and its square shape means that it’s easy to make the most of the area on offer, so you’ll have ample room for the weekly shop or some suitcase for a weekend away.

You will also find some under-floor storage, which is useful for putting your cables and any other rarely used items, or you can remove the false floor for a little extra space. With this in place, there’s no load lip, so you can just slide heavy items out.

In terms of capacity, though, the e-2008 is pretty average when compared with the competition. With 435 litres on offer, it has nothing on the Skoda Enyaq’s 585 litres. It’s closer to the Kia Niro EV and MG ZS EV, which have 475 litres and 480 litres respectively. The Citroen e-C4 (380 litres) and Vauxhall Mokka Electric (310 litres) fall well behind the competition.

Fold the rear seats flat and you have 1,467 litres of space, which actually makes it one of the more spacious cars among its alternatives, being considerably more than the Citroen and MG, and a fraction more than the Kia.

The interior’s stylish design is a highlight but the infotainment isn’t particularly intuitive to use

While space and practicality might be a mixed bag for the Peugeot e-2008, there can be no denying that the interior is top notch. Peugeot has its sights set on popular premium brands like Audi and BMW, and it’s not as far away as you might think.

The centre console’s piano black trim looks a bit cheap and some of the chunky buttons lack the modern elegance you expect from pricier models, but otherwise there are squishy plastics in all the right places and everything feels well put together.

That combines with the cool two-tiered design that feels much more special than most other cars at this price point.

The 10.0-inch touchscreen sat atop the dashboard also helps, sporting the latest Peugeot infotainment software. The graphics are sharper and clearer, and make the old system look ancient by comparison. It’s also quick to respond to your inputs, but it’s still far from the most intuitive system out there.

Another unintuitive feature is the shelf of touch-sensitive shortcut buttons. The idea is to make it easier to navigate to menus such as the climate controls and media, but they don’t fall to hand easily and require you to take your eyes off the road to use them.

As of 2023, the Peugeot e-2008 has a 54kWh battery pack, which is slightly bigger than what you will find in previous models. The result is that the official range has increased from 217 miles to 250 miles.

That’s a useful bump, and now means that we’d consider this range to be more acceptable than it is in older models. For context, that’s about the same as an entry level Skoda Enyaq or top-spec MG ZS EV, both of which are similarly priced to the Peugeot.

If range is key, the Kia Niro EV will go 285 miles on a charge, and you can go for a bigger battery in the Skoda to travel comfortably over 300 miles. If you’re looking at the top end of the e-2008’s price range you’re getting closer to a Tesla Model Y, which for a few thousand pounds more will go much further on a charge (and has a bigger boot, too).