Back to Page 1: Introduction and Design

Driving Experience 

The major point to note here is that the Peugeot e-2008 is not fast. It’s not even very quick either. 0 to 100km/h comes up in 10.1 seconds. That’s slower than a Skoda Scala and Karoq, but still marginally faster than a Hyundai Avante and of course the glacially slow Mitsubishi Attrage.

Even modest electric cars like the BYD Atto 3 are pretty punchy in a straight line, so the e-2008’s relative lack of punch in comparison may seem odd. Yet, this is a Category A COE EV, and so will never be in the same power category as a BMW iX3.

What it really sells you is a pleasantly smooth driving experience, without unnecessary gimmicks. The one-pedal drive that was used in the now-retired BMW i3 EV and Nissan Note E-Power is not found in the e-2008, and the accelerator functions like that of any other petrol-powered vehicle. 

It’s wholly un-intimidating to drive thanks to good all-round visibility and the generally small footprint for an SUV. There is a pretty chunky B-pillar though, and the blind spot behind the driver is slightly bigger than expected because of this.

The chassis balance is pretty dynamic and agile while still being stable at highway cruising, but the brake pedal suffers from a very long stroke and is very vague on the engagement point. Without digging into the schematics it’s hard to see what the deal is, but the brakes feel overly assisted and the pedal feels like it overcompensates and you either brake too little, or too much. It takes some time to get used to and is different from every other car we’ve driven, except its sibling the Opel Mokka-e which has the same brake pedal feel.   

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There is regenerative braking, so the batteries get power back into them when braking and coasting while providing some ‘engine braking’. As with almost all EVs, there is no multi-speed gearbox; it’s just one gear and the motor speed dictates the car’s speed directly. It’ll top out at 150km/h, and in practice it’s most efficient when cruising along at a steady 80 to 85km/h pace. 

The absence of engine noise and vibration makes for a very smooth cruiser, and while the car’s overall weight and dynamic balance is different from the non-electric Peugeots due to the weight of the battery packs at the bottom of the car, most daily drivers will not really notice the difference. 

The quoted power efficiency of 14.5kWh/100km is achievable with smooth driving, but it’s not the most efficient EV we’ve driven so far, with the larger BYD Atto 3, and surprisingly the Opel Mokka-e both able to achieve better efficiency than the e-2008.

Battery capacity is pretty average and you can expect just over 300km per charge, but the car supports 100kW DC fast charging which can top up the batteries in just 30 minutes. Commercial public chargers from SP Power island-wide mostly put out 50kW DC for now, but even with that, it’s less than an hour to a full charge. For most drivers you’ll need to charge the car at least once a week, and if there is a bank of chargers in your office carpark it’s a very convenient matter. 

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Conclusion and Competition 

Once we get over the sad, dreary fact of high COE prices that are not coming down this year, or even the next, the Peugeot e-2008 is, objectively, a very refined and posh EV that’s great for urban driving. As of September 2022 it costs around S$160,000 inclusive of COE, which of course fluctuates every second week.

The most obvious competitor to it is the identically powered Opel Mokka-e, but what the Opel gives away in refinement it gains in slightly better power efficiency. Both have a comprehensive amount of active safety features fitted too, which these days is really what you should expect from a new car.

As far as footprints go, the really small Mini Cooper SE is the littlest EV you can get here but it’s expensive and it also slightly handicapped by a sub-300km range and so not a real competitor in this space. The Toyota Yaris Cross Hybrid is within shooting distance of the e-2008 where size and power is concerned, though the Hyundai Kona Electric is a viable alternative if you are really keen on the electric mobility thing and don’t want to ever step into an overpriced petrol station ever again. 

But, as we mentioned in the beginning, Peugeot’s car allocation is nowhere in the region of what Toyota can do, so best head to the showroom early or get left out in the cold.  

Peugeot e-2008 GT

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