Full review: e-208 takes 300-mile test in wintery conditions

Words Chris Chilton | Photography Sam Chick

• Full road trip review of Peugeot’s electric 208
• We test the e-208’s 217-mile range on 300-mile trip
• Tough test: Land’s End to Birmingham – in winter

A storm is brewing. And that means the famous Land’s End sign, recognisable from a million family snaps and charity walk/ride/crawl snaps, isn’t a sign today but a stick. The storm that’s brewing ominously out in the abyss that is the Atlantic Ocean, the waves rising and crashing almost in slow motion, has forced the guardians of the sign to remove the top to prevent it absconding on an epic journey to South America.

This is where we start our own journey, a Land’s End to John O’Groats epic drive in Peugeot’s 208 and 2008 (undertaken before the spring Coronavirus lockdown). Ben Barry will be tackling the northernmost part of the trip in the 2008 small SUV, but before he can do that I need to get from Land’s End to Edinburgh using the 2008’s supermini brother, the new 208.

Make that three 208s. Peugeot’s thinking is that there’s a 208 for everyone, so offers its compact all-rounder with three different powertrains. The bulk of the range is made up of petrol-powered cars which we’ll drive for stage three, but before then we’ll sample the 73.6mpg clean diesel for those who really want to go the extra mile, as well as the e-208, a fully electric supermini that’s quickest of the lot on paper. It claims a real world range of up to 217 miles – we’ll put that to the test right now.

zap-map we love you

I opted to overnight in Penzance, rather than at the Land’s End Hotel where I’m currently enjoying a morning coffee because the Ecotricity charging point in the car park is broken. I knew this because I’d downloaded Zap-Map to my phone, an excellent tool that allows you to see where the UK’s chargers are located. Users can upload information to let other drivers know if a particular charger is not working, and you can filter your searches so you see only the type of chargers you want. This bit is crucial, because not all chargers are created equal, as we’ll find.

But right now we’ve got half a dozen counties to cross en route to tonight’s stop in Birmingham and a full charge in the 208’s belly. Not that most people would know its power source. The only real giveaways that this Peugeot is electric-powered is the small e-badging and a blue tint to the Peugeot lion and grille.

Other than that it looks like any other 208. Which is no bad thing. Surely the best-looking Peugeot supermini since the millstone around Peugeot’s neck that is the 205, the latest 208 radiates confidence. The proportions, the stance, the mischievous scowl: it’s a masterclass in small car attitude. And in GT spec, with its black arch extensions and dark grille, our car has more attitude than most.

VIDEO: click here to watch our e-208 video walkaround

Inside the peugeot 208

If anything, the cabin is even more stylish than the wrapper. All but the entry-level Active Premium and Allure get the 3D i-Cockpit digital instrument pack, which, as with all modern Peugeots, you view by peering over, rather than through the flat-topped steering wheel. That’s housed in a dash clothed in a fabulous textured faux-carbon material, while a horizontally-mounted bank of switches provide short-cuts to functions working in tandem with the large touchscreen above.

That screen measures seven inches across on lower trim levels but a chunky 10-inch on the GT and toppy GT Premium, where it provides 3D navigation mapping in both cases. And with Birmingham plugged into the system, we’re away.

Far away. Almost 290 miles away, though it feels like further. I live in South Devon, not far from the Cornish border. As far as everybody else in the office is concerned it’s the capital of nowhere. But even compared with my home, down here feels like a lifetime away, being closer to France than Birmingham as the crow flies.

an electric driving experience

Electric superminis like the e-208 aren’t really intended for the kind of intercity use we’re putting it to. But from the moment we slot the very normal gear selector into Drive, we get a feeling it’s not as crazy a challenge as it seems.

There’s a real maturity to the way the e-208 goes about its business. Unlike some EVs the throttle mapping is perfectly judged so it’s easy to pull away smartly, but without snapping your head back against the head rest.

Not that it can’t do that, too. The e-208’s key hardware is a 134bhp electric motor drawing current from a 50kWh battery pack. Stomp on the gas (amps? volts? watts? joules?) and the e-208 surges forward with almost hot hatch-like urgency, but limo-like serenity. By the time you hit the legal limit the push in the back has dimmed and an electronic limiter calls time at 93mph. Still, a 0-62mph time of 8.1sec means it’s the quickest 208 right now, at least until Peugeot Sport gets busy on a 208.

gently does it

But flattening the right pedal means flattening the battery in short order, so after a brief, gentle meander along Cornwall’s north coast, including a nosey down spectacular Sennen Cove with its wide sweep of surf-friendly water, we settle into a sensible 70mph cruise up the A30 towards Devon.

We knock the driving mode selector into Eco to maximise efficiency and a warning pops up on the gauge pack telling us we’ll have to make some performance and thermal comfort compromises. In other words, don’t expect hot hatch poke, or to keep really toasty in the cabin in winter, and get great range. Though with the MyPeugeot app, e-208 owners will be able to programme their car to warm up before they set off on frosty mornings, using electricity from their wallbox.

For the most part there are no compromises necessary. The e-208 cruises happily and quietly at the legal limit, and because the electric motor is where you’d find a combustion engine in other 208s, and the batteries are under the rear floor, you get exactly the same 311-litre luggage space as other 208s (though the bag for the charging cable eats into that if you choose to carry it).

The weight of that 50kWh battery pack means a portly 1455kg kerbweight, but the upside is that mass is located evenly, and much of it low in the car’s body. So you feel the weight under braking on the way into roundabouts on the lower section of the A30, but the e-208 feels happily planted through the curve of the roundabout itself, with plenty of grip to keep you on the black stuff.

how far can we actually go?

By the time we pass a smashed up Aston that obviously wasn’t quite so tied down, it’s looking like we need a fill so we stop for a top-up at Whitehouse Services near Okehampton. Although the e-208 has a WLTP range of 217 miles, that testing procedure assumes near-tropical 23˚ weather, a 29mph average and 82mph max. Tasked with maintaining a constant 70mph, fully-loaded, in near-freezing British winter, the trip computer predicts 125 miles today. We play it safe, and elect to stop every 100 miles or so.

We pull onto the Okehampton forecourt to find there’s only one charging unit, and someone is using it. A Nissan NV200 van is plugged in, driver stuffing a limp sandwich into his mouth with one hand and scrolling away on his phone on the other. The NV200, like Nissan’s Leaf, uses the CHAdeMO charging cable for rapid charging, meaning the DC fast charging cable the Pug needs, and a slow AC charging lead, are both free. But the machine can only dish out one DC charge at a time. I can’t get my 50kW top-up until the Nissan leaves, so I try connecting the slow AC plug while waiting. The 208’s i-Cockpit display delivers the grim news: it’ll take over nine hours to top up the battery that way.