Peugeot e-2008/2008 review: Same car, different power, both disappoint

We are taking a slightly unusual route this week with our testing duties as we are looking at two entirely different cars which are actually sold under the one single banner.

At hand we have the new Peugeot 2008, but in two separate guises – electric and petrol – and while both share an awful lot of common components, one has an engine and the other has an electric motor.

Some might say it’s foolhardy to try and compare two such expressly different machines, but I feel this is a worthwhile experiment right now given that so many punters are confused by what is currently on offer for them on garage forecourts the length and breadth of the country.

Some people are anxious to do their bit to protect the planet by purchasing a zero-emission vehicle and yet many others, while wanting not to be net polluters, feel forced into continuing to buy either petrol or diesel-engined cars because the electrics on offer to them have no hope of meeting their daily requirements.

While it is our opinion that there are some really good electrics out there right now – and we’ve tried a good few at this stage, the best of which being the Skoda Enyaq iV – and Peugeot produce some of them, notably the e-208 which generally does exactly what is claimed for it by the manufacturer.

The e-2008 is a horse of a different colour though as it is a small SUV rather than a small hatchback and that means it carries a good bit more weight and therefore does not have the same heft when it comes to range issues. That said, Peugeot still claims it to be good for 320 km or so.

It is worth remembering that the e-2008 is very closely related to Opel e-Mokka and Citroen’s eC4, both of which we have tested in these columns in the not too distant and both of which we found wanting in certain circumstances. This electric Peugeot mirrored the disappointments we found in both those cars.

From a visual viewpoint the e-2008 is differentiated from its diesel and petrol siblings by virtue of a unique grille which has colour coded elements rather than the standard black and it also has a 3D-effect Peugeot logo. There are also a couple of ‘e’ badges dotted around the exterior.

Other than that, it is as stylish and good looking as any other 2008 and is also imbued with a beautiful interior design which is possibly the most visually striking as anything in the class and among the best built too.

But, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, as the old saying goes and in this case there are quite a few holes in the performance parameters of this car. Fully charged it has that claimed range of 320 km, but depending on the questions asked of it, the car may or may not have the answers.

Motorway driving will chew the hell out of that range expectation in rather short order, so don’t expect to be able to make a Cork-Dublin trip without having to boost charge en route. Even on medium journeys – say of the 150 km variety – you might find yourself getting a tad anxious about making it to your destination if you are too keen with the right foot.

On one such journey, when the car was showing a range reading of 290km, we completed the trip with just 40km left in the tank, sorry, battery. That was without putting any excessive pressure on the car, performance-wise.

It was good to know that the e-2008 could do that and once you had a handle on what the range parameters actually were, you could plan and execute various trips accordingly. 

But the obvious conclusion was – with a little bit of wiggle room – the car was most at home in an urban environment where it will dutifully serve those potential owners who would regard it as a second car.

Best suited therefore for shopping trips, school runs and all the other day-to-day things people require their cars for, with perhaps a quick trip down the country to go to matches or visit the relatives, thrown in every now and then. It was a very capable machine in such circumstances.

But, when asked to go the further mile, it will need very careful tending to get it to go exactly where you want it to go.

On the road, the car was also a little disappointing and it was certainly not as well sorted in the ride and handling departments as its stellar brethren, such as the 208, the 508, the 3008 and the 5008, which was disappointing.

And the same conclusion was reached when we drove the petrol version of the 2008 because it is certainly nowhere near the best in class on the driving front. While we did love the 1.2 three-cylinder Puretech petrol engine (130 bhp, 198 km/h top speed and 8.9 second 0-100 km/h, as well as 5.7 l/100 km, or 49.1 mpg) for its’ strong performance and thrummy soundtrack, the car was once again a good bit away from the class leaders in the handling department.

Ride quality was quite good – and in keeping with Peugeot’s long-standing remit of producing really comfortable cars, but get too heavy with the accelerator and you will induce nothing other than wheelspin and in mildly damp or truly wet conditions it will understeer heavily, which can give the sphincter muscle an unexpected work-out.

Such characteristics were not in keeping with the standards Peugeot has set – and continues to maintain – in other core models and overall made the 2008 a little bit of a disappointment, all told.

The modern generation of Peugeot products has set a very high standard for the company and made them not only comfortable and attractive, as they have always largely been, but has also moved the company much further up the automotive food chain in desirability terms.

But the 2008, in certain areas, seems to have fallen through the cracks a little as it is not as polished an on-road performer as its siblings.

The electric is a good-looking and – in the GT Line trim we tested – was truly well specified with an excellent infotainment system, Peugeot’s gorgeous piano-key switchgear layout. Its range limitations, however, will also limit appeal.

The petrol, on the other hand, has no range issues and once again is well specified and well-built, all within a really striking design. But it falls short of what’s required from the class leaders here on driving dynamics, which is a pity given the sort of form Peugeot is in right now.