Peugeot have given their e2008 a bit of a mid-life facelift and in the process, increased the size of the battery slightly and fitted a newer, more powerful but more efficient motor.
Little enough has been done with the exterior styling, although the front now features Peugeot’s latest family face with a new lion logo, a wider grille and new DRLs with three ‘claws’. It’s still one of the best looking cars in its class.
Range and Charging
The e2008 now has 156bhp to call on through its front wheels and the range is appreciably better. The bigger batters is now a 54kWh unit, up from 50kWh. Between that and the new motor, the result is a claimed range of just over 400km.
When I collected the car in Dublin, I was grateful that it had a full charge as I was in a bit of a hurry back to Clare and had no time to stop, even for a quick top up.
Neither was I in the mood to baby it at 100km/h on the motorway, so it was 120 all the way back down, which hits the battery hard.
My range predictor said 400km as I left, but that dropped quickly on the motorway as expected. I’ve no doubt 400km is achievable, but only in the right conditions. Somewhere in the mid 300s is probably a more realistic proposition, but that’s not a bad result at all.
When you need to charge you have up to 100kW DC charging available, with 7kW AC charging standard, although there’s the option of bumping that up to 11kW.
The cables can be stored in an underfloor compartment in the boot and there’s a clever arrangement that holds the boot floor upright while you’re taking them in and out. It’s a surprisingly useful feature.
There are two levels of regenerative braking available, although neither of them are strong enough for one pedal driving. Instead of steering wheel paddles, there’s a B mode, selected with the gear lever, which maximises the regen.
Interior
Talk of steering wheels brings up the famous i-Cockpit, a combination of small steering wheel and raised instrument panel that Peugeot have used for some years. Generally I like the setup, but in the 2008, I felt it was taken to extremes and although I liked the tiny steering wheel, flattened top and bottom to make almost a hexagonal wheel, I found it was difficult to get the right seating position to be able to see all the instruments clearly.
That said, the cabin itself is nicely styled and well built, with an upgraded 10” touch screen now standard across the range. For higher trim levels this also gets HD technology. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard and the screen is easy to use.
I was disappointed that the climate controls don’t have their own physical buttons though. They’re so often needed while driving and proper knobs and switches are so much easier to find. There are a couple of physical buttons below the screen and these help make the systems easier to control.
Driving
In performance terms, the 2008 won’t set the road on fire but it’s a brisk performer all the same, particularly in Sport mode. There’s Normal and Eco modes available as well and Eco mode genuinely seems to increase the range while if you take full advantage of Sport mode, it will affect the range adversely.
It corners nicely, although like its rivals, it doesn’t encourage spirited driving. Best to relax and enjoy the airy, comfortable cabin and fine ride, even on the 18” wheels of the test car. It’s noticeably quiet too, with little road or wind noise coming through.
Pricing
The 2008 is available with trims ranging from Active, through Allure and topping out with top of the range GT.
The range starts at €31,040 for the e2008 Active, with the GT coming in at €38,095.
It’s a very worthy and good looking car and well deserving of close consideration in its class.
