Peugeot E-208 review
The Peugeot E-208 is a stylish electric supermini with an upmarket cabin, but it could be more practical
Our opinion on the Peugeot E-208
Subtle upgrades have helped maintain the visual appeal of the Peugeot E-208 amid a barrage of newer rivals, but the small EV market has moved on since this car came out. It’s still sound enough to drive, has a premium cabin, and offers enough range for those who rarely venture out of town, but even though a series of price cuts have helped to keep it more competitive amongst its rivals, there are a number of more practical options available.
About the Peugeot E-208
Unlike the regular petrol or hybrid-powered Peugeot 208 supermini, the E-208 is all-electric. Launched in 2019 as the e-208, the brand’s smallest electric car was facelifted in 2023, when it became the E-208. Its closest rival is the Vauxhall Corsa Electric, with which it shares numerous Stellantis-sourced components.
We’ve lined up the facelifted Peugeot E-208 against a MINI Cooper Electric in a twin test in order to find the most appealing small EV. Although the little Peugeot returned respectable real-world efficiency and a healthy list of kit, we still came away thinking that the MINI is the better car due to its sharp handling and punchier performance.
Peugeot E-208 prices and latest deals
There are three trims to choose from with the Peugeot E-208: Allure, GT and GT Premium. Each comes with the choice of either a 134bhp electric motor and a 50kWh battery or a 154bhp electric motor and a 51kWh battery.
Used - available now
Prices have been cut since this car was launched, now starting from around £25,000 for an Allure with the 50kWh pack, rising to just shy of £30,000 for the GT Premium with the 51kWh battery. And there's further good news because all E-208 models qualify for the Government's Electric Car Grant (ECG), meaning there's a further £1,500 discount that's automatically applied during purchase.
If you're interested in getting yourself an E-208, we can help. Configure your ideal Peugeot E-208 now to get top offers from local dealers, check out the latest Peugeot E-208 leasing deals, or search for used Peugeot E-208 models with our Buy a Car service. You can even sell your existing car for a great price with Auto Express Sell my Car.
Performance & driving experience
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Even before the introduction of the more powerful 51kWh version, the E-208 was a well-sorted supermini, with decent road manners and plenty of instant punch at low speeds to nip into gaps in the traffic.
In a bid to improve efficiency further, the amount of power the electric motor puts out depends on which drive mode you’re using. The 51kWh version has enough shove in Normal mode for most situations, although stamping on the throttle will activate a ‘kickdown’ that overrides the settings and brings in the full 154bhp and 260Nm of torque. You pay a high price for choosing Eco mode, mind you; it detunes the motor down to 80bhp, and even with 180Nm of torque, you can feel this shortfall.
The 50kWh isn’t too far behind the 51kWh when it comes to power, with 134bhp and 300Nm of torque on tap, and in truth, there’s very little difference between the 50kWh and 51kWh versions in terms of performance.
| Model | Power | 0-62mph | Top speed |
| E-208 Allure 50kWh | 134bhp | 8.1 seconds | 93mph |
| E-208 GT 51kWh | 154bhp | 8.2 seconds | 93mph |
| E-208 GT Premium 51kWh | 154bhp | 8.2 seconds | 93mph |
Performance, 0-60mph acceleration and top speed
For the quickest sprint, you’ll actually want the more modestly powered 134bhp 50kWh car because it’ll launch from 0-62mph in 8.1 seconds. That being said, the 154bhp 51kWh manages it in 8.2 seconds, so the former won’t exactly be leaving the latter in its dust. Either way, the pace is steady rather than speedy.
Town driving, visibility and parking
The E-208 is in its element when pootling around town thanks to its light steering and tight turning circle. Unlike some EVs, the throttle is easy to modulate, so you won’t be constantly lurching in stop-start traffic. The suspension does suffer from a little bit of fidgeting at these sorts of speeds, but it’s perfectly tolerable.
Every E-208 gets front and rear parking sensors, but you’ll need to fork out £300 for the parking pack on Allure trim, or go for GT trim and above if you want a reversing camera. You’ll probably want to make this investment because the back window isn't particularly large, and the rear view mirror is a bit on the small side, so seeing what's behind without using the camera can prove to be an issue at times.
Along with this, the windscreen pillars are rather chunky, and when combined with remarkably wide B-pillars, it can be difficult to see the other cars around you. A blind spot warning system is part of the parking pack on Allure and GT trims (standard on GT Premium), and lets you know of vehicles alongside you when you indicate to change lanes.
Country road driving and handling
On faster roads, the steering weights up a little inconsistently, and there’s a fair bit of body lean and head toss, but in general, the E-208 remains safe and predictable in bends. We wouldn’t say there’s much fun to be had here, though; this is not a car that really appreciates being chucked around. It does, however, have decent cruising comfort and a refined electric powertrain.
Motorway driving and long-distance comfort
That aforementioned refinement and comfort pay dividends when the Peugeot E-208 reaches a motorway. This is one of the better superminis you can buy for the purpose of taking on long journeys. However, road noise and a very slight whine from the electric motor can be heard.
“Step from the MINI Cooper Electric into the Peugeot, and on a twisty road, the first thing that’ll strike you is that there’s quite a bit less grip in the E-208. That’s more of a reflection of just how resolutely the MINI’s front end sticks to the road than it is a criticism of the Peugeot, though.” - Alex Ingram, special contributor.
Range, charging & running costs
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The Peugeot E-208 has been available from launch with a 50kWh battery that can deliver a driving range of 225 miles on a combined cycle. A slightly larger 51kWh battery and more efficient electric motor joined the range in 2022, and it boasts a range of up to 268 miles between charges.
When we tested the GT model with a 51kWh battery against the MINI Cooper Electric, we saw an average efficiency of 4.3 miles per kWh, which equates to around 219 miles of range. The MINI, meanwhile, managed 4.5 miles per kWh from its 36.6kWh pack, returning around 165 miles - which was also some way below its official claim (190 miles).
The E-208 features 100kW DC charging as standard, so en-route recharges of 10 to 80 per cent should take around 30 minutes, whichever battery size you go for. Those using a typical 7.4kW home wallbox can fully recharge an E-208 in seven-and-a-half hours for the 50kWh car, and just over eight hours for the 51kWh car.
The E-208 is supplied with a Model 3 Type 2 cable for wallbox charging, but you’ll pay extra for the cable required for charging via a three-pin domestic plug socket. An 11kW three-phase on-board charger is also available as an option on all models, although this might not be worth having if you don’t have a three-phase electricity supply at home.
| Model | Battery size | Range | Insurance group |
| E-208 Allure 50kWh | 50kWh | 225 miles | 31 |
| E-208 GT 51kWh | 51kWh | 263 miles | 32 |
| E-208 GT Premium 51kWh | 51kWh | 261 miles | 32 |
Insurance groups
Despite its size, no variant of the Peugeot E-208 will bring particularly low insurance premiums, as the line-up sits in groups 31 to 32 (out of 50). Compare this with the Renault 5, which ranges between groups 18 and 22.
Tax
The revised £50,000 electric luxury car tax surcharge won’t be an issue here because even the range-topping E-208 ducks well below this threshold. Company car buyers can breathe an even bigger sigh of relief, because fully electric cars attract the very lowest Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) tax rates.
Depreciation
Our market data shows that the Peugeot E-208 EV is only expected to retain around 36 per cent of its original value after a period of three years or 36,000 miles. Other electric superminis do better, with the Renault 5 holding on to between 46 and 49 per cent over the same period.
Interior, design & technology
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The Peugeot E-208 has been around a while, so it has received upgrades designed to pile on features and keep it looking fresh. The most obvious evolution is at the front, where the E-208 has been brought sharply into line with the Peugeot 308 and Peugeot 408. The ‘claw’ daytime-running-light motif remains, but it’s been pushed towards the edges of the car’s nose, making it appear wider. There’s a redesigned bumper, too, plus Peugeot’s updated logo and some flashes of body colour in the (flush) grille. These are worthy upgrades to our eyes, giving the car a slightly more aggressive appearance.
Trim levels of the electric E-208 are simpler than the petrol 208, and we'd recommend sticking with the entry-level Allure trim, because it comes with:
- 16-inch alloy wheels
- Front parking sensors
- An auto-dimming rearview mirror
- Privacy glass
- A 10-inch digital instrument cluster
Mid-range up to GT spec adds 17-inch alloy wheels, automatic high beam assistance, eight-colour ambient lighting, plus a 180-degree colour reversing camera. For £500, heated front seats can be added to the GT trim, while a further £500 adds Alcantara seat trim and an electric driver’s seat.
The range-topping GT Premium has adaptive cruise control and wireless smartphone charging.
Interior and dashboard design
Peugeot’s i-Cockpit arrangement is as divisive as ever. With its tiny steering wheel and a driver’s display designed to be looked at over the wheel rather than through. It all takes quite a bit of getting used to and can be a dealbreaker for some buyers.
Materials and build quality
The materials chosen for the cabin are a prime example of the difference between perceived quality and structural quality. They generally looked smart enough to us in our GT test car, but the carbon-fibre weave-effect door panels and swathes of piano-black plastic don’t feel premium to the touch. There was a considerable disparity between the dashboard tolerances on either side of our car’s cabin, too – surprising on a car that’s been in production for several years.
Despite all of this, it’s still a slightly plusher environment in an E-208 than you’ll find in Vauxhall Corsa, and the materials are probably better resolved than they are in the likes of the BYD Dolphin or the MG4.
Infotainment, sat-nav and stereo
A 10-inch touchscreen is fitted to all post-facelift E-208s, along with a 10-inch digital instrument cluster. The GT and GT Premium also overlay projection-based 3D graphics onto the display.
The infotainment system is packed with features, but the menu system can be confusing at times, and it’s less intuitive than the units you’ll find in an equivalent electric Hyundai or Kia.
Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity are standard across the range, as is voice control and DAB radio. The GT Premium model is also equipped with a wireless charger for keeping your smartphone topped up on the move.
“Compared with the open, airy feeling you get from the MINI Cooper Electric’s interior, the Peugeot seems much more snug. The high dashboard line plays a large part in that, giving the impression that you’re sitting quite low, but in reality making it just slightly harder to see out.” - Alex Ingram, special contributor.
Boot space & practicality
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The Peugeot E-208 offers a reasonable amount of boot space compared to some key players in the supermini sector, but it’s a long way from being a practicality class leader.
Dimensions and size
The Peugeot E-208 is ever so slightly shorter than the Vauxhall Corsa Electric with which it shares a platform, but it boasts the bigger boot of the two.
| Dimensions comparison | |||
| Model | Peugeot E-208 | Vauxhall Corsa Electric | Renault 5 |
| Length | 4,055mm | 4,060mm | 3,922mm |
| Width | 1,765mm | 1,765mm | 1,774mm |
| Height | 1,430mm | 1,430mm | 1,498mm |
| Wheelbase | 2,540mm | 2,540mm | 2,540mm |
| Boot space | 309 litres | 267 litres | 277 litres |
Seats & passenger space
Climb aboard the E-208, and you’re instantly reminded that this is one of the more compact superminis that’s devoted to stylish touches more than outright practicality. The header rail feels low as you slide into either of the front seats, and with our road testers’ ample frames, we felt like we were wearing the car instead of sitting in it, and had to pull the wheel out too far for our liking, just for it to clear our knees
Things are even more compromised in the back, where headroom, legroom and kneeroom are all tight for anyone over six feet tall. If you're likely to carry passengers regularly, the MG4 Urban is a much better bet in our view.
Boot space
The boot is a respectable 309 litres, but this is achieved through a fairly high load lip, and there’s no space beneath the floor, so you’ll have to throw your shopping on top of the charging cables. If you’re carrying something bulky, you can fold the rear seats flat to create up to 1,118 litres of luggage space.
While those might be typical of a small car, there are better alternatives out there for similar money. Take the MG4 Urban, which has a whopping 577-litre boot with the seats up, or a colossal 1,364 litres of space with them folded. Plus, it has a 98-litre hidden underfloor storage area you could go potholling in, let alone store its charging cables out of the way.
Reliability & safety
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According to our latest 2026 Driver Power best cars to own scoreboard, the Peugeot 208 (the E-208’s combustion-powered twin) finished in a very creditable 15th place out of 50 cars, which is above the Vauxhall Corsa (16th), Renault Clio (24th) and Volkswagen Polo (43rd). In the various categories, the 208 scored highly for its styling and driving experience, but didn't do quite so well in terms of the costs involved in buying and running it, and visibility also came under fire.
The Peugeot brand wound up in a respectable seventh place out of 31 brands on the best manufacturer list, beating many of its rivals. Vauxhall fared even better, though, in fourth place.
Less positive is the fact that the Peugeot 208 could only muster a four-star rating when it was tested by independent safety experts Euro NCAP in 2019, but due to the ever-increasing stringency of NCAP’s testing, this rating has now expired. However, it’s still important to be aware that the 208 was criticised for its poor whiplash protection for rear-seat passengers, and because a more advanced autonomous emergency braking system that recognises pedestrians and cyclists at night is reserved for GT trim and above.
On the plus side, all versions of the E-208 are equipped with six airbags, a speed limit recognition system to prevent you from breaking the law, lane-keeping assist to keep you in lane on a motorway, two Isofix points in the back, cruise control with speed limiter and tyre pressure monitoring. Unfortunately, blind spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control are only available as options, or reserved for the most expensive GT Premium model.
Buying and owning
Best buy: Peugeot E-208 Allure 51kWh
While we wouldn’t go wandering too far up the trim-level list, we do think that it’s worth paying a bit extra to fit the larger 51kWh battery to the base Allure model. This way, the price is kept in check, but you’ll still get a decent level of standard kit along with increased battery range. It’ll also be worthwhile adding the £300 parking pack for the benefit of a reversing camera and blind spot monitoring to aid your visibility, and a £400 heat pump will help preserve your driving range in colder weather.
Peugeot E-208 alternatives
The E-208’s closest relation is the Vauxhall Corsa Electric. Thanks to price cuts, the E-208 is cheaper than its Corsa Electric equivalent despite the Peugeot having a more upmarket feel and a more eye-catching design.
A number of competitive electric superminis have arrived from other brands. If you want a similarly stylish EV, consider the retro Renault 5 or the more premium MINI Cooper Electric. If you require practicality, then either the BYD Dolphin or MG4 Urban should fit the bill. There’s also a former Auto Express Car of the Year to consider, the Citroen e-C3 and its Fiat Grande Panda sibling.
Key updates of the Peugeot E-208 review
12 June 2026: Updated with the Peugeot Care extended warranty for electric vehicles and the price cuts to the E-208 range.
10 April 2026: Updated to include the latest trim level, pricing and powertrain information.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Peugeot E-208 is covered by a standard three-year, 60,000-mile warranty, but all Peugeot electric cars qualify for a service-activated extended warranty. Provided you have your car serviced in accordance with the service schedule at a franchised dealer, the warranty will continue to be extended up until the car is eight years old or has covered 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. The battery pack is covered by a separate eight-year/100,000-mile plan
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