► Popular electric car enhanced
► Uses drivetrain tech from e-308
► Now goes further, faster
Peugeot has announced an upgrade to the all-electric e-208 that brings a useful boost to performance in all respects. Acquiring the e-motor from the larger and newer Peugeot e-308 and an enhanced battery pack, the 2023 e-208 will go further and go faster.
This builds upon the previous revision introduced into the UK in 2022, showing the pace of change in this area of technology right now. But does the new e-208 go far enough to challenge the very best electric cars available?
The e-208 is a bit of a CAR favourite, isn’t it?
It won our electric supermini Giant Test against the Honda E and Mini Electric, but EV development is moving fast at the moment. Not least thanks to the coming influx of Chinese tech, such as that behind the MG 4 EV and the BYD Atto 3 – albeit the latter is an electric SUV.
The MG 4, for instance, offers 201bhp and 281 miles per charge (WLTP), and is available to buy – with those stats and a seven-year warranty – from £28,495.
So how much has the Peugeot e-208 been improved for 2023?
At launch the e-208 was powered by a 100kW electric motor and a 50kWh (46.6kWh useable) battery pack delivering 134bhp and a claimed 217 miles of driving range (think more like 150 miles in real life).
In late 2021, technical changes – optimisations, Peugeot calls them – added a heat pump, A+ tyres with lower rolling resistance, and a revised transmission ratio. These hit the UK in early 2022, and saw claimed range increase to 225 miles per charge.
Now for this 2023 upgrade, Peugeot has given the e-208 a 115kW motor and a 51kWh (48.1kWh useable) battery pack. This sees power output jump to 154bhp and claimed WLTP driving range increase to 248 miles.
Those are impressive increases of 15 per cent more power and 10.5% more range. But compared to that MG 4 – which is also a slightly larger car – the e-208 doesn’t look great value considering it’s currently priced from £30,195 with the existing 100kW motor.
Still, we’re sure there are plenty of buyers out there who will continue to prefer the reassurance of a familiar European brand. We can probably also expect to see the same enhancements appearing in the Vauxhall Corsa-e and the e-208’s other sister cars in the not-too-distant future.
What about charging time?
The same 100kW DC capability as before, which means 20-80 per cent in 25 minutes on a rapid public charger (but note the sneaky use of 20 per cent instead of the usual 10 given for those kinds of figures – we’re seeing EV makers doing that quite a bit recently).
It’s also compatible with 7.4kW singe-phase and 11kW triple-phase wallbox chargers. You’ll need hours on those, however.
When does the new Peugeot e-208 go on sale and how much does it cost?
‘From 2023’ in the UK is all the detail we’ve got so far – with nothing yet on pricing.
This will in large part depend on exchange rates, so no wonder Peugeot isn’t releasing anything specific on the cost at this stage. We fear present calamities are unlikely to make the new model any cheaper…