New Peugeot E-208 GTI on sale now! French hot hatch goodness for under £34k
The electric hot hatch genre is heating up with Peugeot looking to return to former glories
Orders have opened for the new E-208 GTi - marking Peugeot’s long-awaited return to the hot hatch sector.
Only available in one trim level, the Peugeot E-208 GTi costs £33,495 after the government’s £1,500 Electric Car Grant is applied. That makes it less than the top-spec £34,245 Alpine A290 GTS+ and the £36,310 Cupra Raval VZ Extreme.
Powered by a 277bhp front-mounted electric motor, the GTi can sprint from standstill to 62mph in just 5.5 seconds. That’s around one second quicker than the Alpine and Cupra, plus the Raval’s sister car - the upcoming Volkswagen ID. Polo GTI. The Peugeot is even quicker than the 254bhp MINI JCW, which dispatches the same benchmark in 5.9 seconds.
But there’s a baby elephant in the room: the GTi’s Stellantis stablemate, the Vauxhall Corsa GSE, which shares the Peugeot’s performance drivetrain and chassis, is expected to undercut the E-208 GTi on price. The French can claim to be the originators, however, with Peugeot Sport kicking off the skunkworks electric hot hatch project and shaping the weapons-grade mechanicals. These are exciting times for hot hatch vans.
Peugeot E-208 GTi: confirmed power and specs
Out goes the regular E-208’s 154bhp motor, upgraded for a unit codenamed M4+ that punches out 276bhp and 345Nm of torque. Managing that power across the front axle is a mechanical limited-slip differential, built into the reduction gearbox. Mid-range acceleration should be fine with 50 to 75mph taking 3.2 seconds, while top speed is 112mph – way up on the boggo E-208’s 93mph.
Peugeot Sport claims the motor’s control software originates from the 9X8 racing car’s; appropriately the new GTi made its debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours race, exactly 100 years after Peugeot first competed.
The 54kWh (gross) battery is standard equipment but its bespoke thermal management is designed to avoid limiting power in extreme conditions. “If someone is driving up a mountain pass, they should be able to stay in Sport mode throughout,” says Christophe Auriault, the E-208 GTi’s project manager at Peugeot Sport.
With the GTi in Sport, the recalibrated ESP allows a little more slip, while the motor’s regenerative braking function is deactivated for more consistent brake pedal feel.
Other chassis modifications include wider tracks to handle the extra grunt, a 25mm-lower body, stiffer suspension with motorsport-inspired dampers packing hydraulic bump stops, and a new rear anti-roll bar. While the back brakes are the same, the 355mm front discs are clamped by four-piston calipers painted red. The steering is said to be more direct than the standard car’s too.
What is the GTi’s electric range and charging capability?
The E-208 GTi rolls on 18-inch alloy wheels with their ‘holed’ design reminiscent of the classic 205 GTi 1.9’s 15-inchers. The standard tyre is a Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, good for 219 miles of range – though not if you drive the GTi as Peugeot Sport intends. A slightly smoother-rolling Hankook Ventus S1 Evo3 musters another 14 miles.
DC charging the 51kWh (usable) pack from 20 to 80 per cent takes less than 30 minutes; the peak rate is 100kW. Using a 7.4kW home wallbox, that time stretches to four hours 40 minutes. The battery (and the GTi itself) is covered by an eight-year, 62,000-mile warranty.
Sporty styling and design
Peugeot showed the GTi as a concept at the 2025 Le Mans 24 Hours race; this year’s production version is just as sporty.
Eight colours are offered, including this Okénite white, which emphasises the red GTi accents in the grille and headlamps, and on details such as the badges. Flared wheelarches cover the stretched tracks, while a larger rear spoiler is paired with a gloss black rear diffuser featuring a racecar-style foglight. A black splitter completes the look up front.
What does the Peugeot 208 GTi look like inside?
The red and retro theme continues inside, where the E-208 GTi gets two-tone upholstery inspired by the 205 GTi 1.9’s. Patches of Alcantara are dotted throughout the cabin for a more premium and sporty appearance, red stitching adorns the compact steering wheel and the seatbelts and carpets are also coloured to make a bull charge.
Standard equipment is plentiful. All UK GTis get sport seats and a central touchscreen with TomTom navigation, plus wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. The seven-shade ambient lighting naturally defaults to – you’ve guessed it – red.
The E-208 is the first Peugeot to get the GTi badge since 2016, when the last petrol-powered 208 GTi arrived. In the interim, Peugeot launched one performance model – pumping up the 508 hatchback – under the ‘Peugeot Sport Engineered’ banner.
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