In this review
Costs & verdict
Everyday costs, plus how reliable and safe it is
The Peugeot e-208 costs quite a bit more to buy than some small electric cars, such as the Seat Mii Electric, Skoda Citigo e iV and VW e-Up, but then you'd expect that; it's a bigger car that can travel a lot farther between charges.
Indeed, prices are broadly in line with the similar-sized Renault Zoe and Mini Electric, although the e-208's price does rise above those cars if you go for range-topping GT trim. We wouldn't recommend doing that, but we would advise avoiding entry-level Active because this doesn't even have alloy wheels.
Allure trim gets you 16in alloys, automatic air conditioning and power-folding door mirrors, and is our favourite model. GT Line trim adds 17in alloys, front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera. If you do go for a top-spec GT model, you'll also get adaptive cruise control and heated front seats.
You can charge the e-208's battery at speeds of up to 100kW, which takes around 30min for a 0-80% charge (assuming you can find a CCS charger that powerful, most are 50kW). From a 7kW home charger, a 0-100% charge will take 7hrs 30min.
Peugeot finished roughly mid-table in the 2019 What Car? Reliability Survey (18th out of 31 manufacturers) but it’s too early to say how the brand’s first ever electric small car will perform where reliability is concerned.
However, every e-208 gets a three-year warranty, consisting of two years of unlimited-mileage cover from the manufacturer and an additional year provided by Peugeot’s UK dealer network. Meanwhile, the battery is covered by its own eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty – similar cover to that offered by rivals.
Euro NCAP tested a petrol-powered e-208 and gave it a decent four out of five stars for safety. That suggests it’s safer than the Mini, which, as a petrol-engined car, was given four out of five in older, less stringent testing. However, both cars have automatic emergency braking (AEB) as standard, a feature that not all rivals possess.
