Peugeot E-308 review

One of the most successful facelifts we’ve seen in a good while. See, the Peugeot E-308 launched with a delightfully simple recipe: take one of the most humbly satisfying slices of ‘normal car’ in the business (the stock Peugeot 308), scoop out its engine, gearbox and fuel tank, then replace them with a battery, motor and a charge port.

The resulting car was nice and unpretentious to drive, forgoing the frankly silly acceleration some EVs offer while steering more neatly and riding more comfily than all the electric crossovers it was competing with. Our qualms surrounded its cost and range; a starting price of forty grand felt steep when its range figure barely hurdled 250 miles. Its poor VFM proposition undermined a car that looked and felt good.

So what’s new?

The 308 and E-308 have both enjoyed a visual makeover, one which – predictably – focuses on new lights, wheels and colours. Your standard facelift fare. The outgoing 308 debuted the latest-gen Peugeot ‘shield’ badge, and its replacement illuminates it for the first time, while all of the alloy wheels on offer follow the French firm’s latest, obtuse design code. Which means they often look different to each other when you’re parked up and hypnotise other road users who happen to drive alongside you.

While those new colours are merely fresh shades of blue, this is a car with way more than the usual greys ‘n’ blacks at the back of its brochure. Do yourself a favour and indulge the design team’s whims.

What about inside?

The E-308 is untouched, and retains a conventional (ish) ICE car cabin rather than a revolutionary new EV environment, but the materials are plush and the ambience classy. If a bit dark and moody.

More substantial change comes beneath the skin. Its battery has swelled from 51 to 55kWh (useable) – though the gains come from tweaks to the cell chemistry rather than more bulk – enough to hike the claimed range from 254 to 279 miles on the WLTP cycle.

Helping you land closer to that figure is newly adjustable brake regen, with three different levels on offer, toggled via paddleshifters on the back of the steering wheel. That’s two of our bugbears on the outgoing car fixed – and Peugeot’s sorted the price, too.

How much is it?

Prices start at £30,995, with the latest UK government Electric Car Grant applicable too. So we’ve gone from a mite over forty grand to a smidge under thirty for a car that’s more capable. Winner.

It’s a weeny bit quicker, too, using the same 154bhp motor on the front axle but cutting half a second from the 0-62mph dash, now 9.3 seconds. Hardly a lo-fi hot hatchback, then, but Peugeots have felt pretty good dynamically of late – and this handles tidily and rides plushly despite stocky 18in alloy wheels coming as standard.

It’s hardly a lightweight, at almost 1.7 tonnes, but it’s no more reluctant in corners than the base 308 Hybrid and much perkier than the myriad taller, heftier electric SUVs surrounding it on the market.

What are its key rivals?

There are notably more than when the E-308 launched first time around. Back then it competed with the Renault Megane E-Tech Electric, VW ID.3 and punchier Cupra Born, as well as Vauxhall's sister car to the E-308, the Astra Electric. You’ve now got the Kia EV4, Citroen e-C4, Mini Aceman, Ford Puma Gen-E, Volvo EX30 and the MG 4 and MG S5 to consider. Plus the eminently charming Renault 4.

This Peugeot feels wilfully conformist beside some of those chunkier, funkier shapes – but perhaps that’s where its very appeal lies. And beyond the Mini or spunkier tunes of the Cupra, the E-308 may just be the neatest handling car in its burgeoning class.

A couple of years ago, we reviewed the outgoing E-308 thusly: “It’s not cheap, but it’s decent enough to warrant a place on any self-respecting shortlist.” With ten grand sliced from its price, a new government grant on top of that, and more range and regen from its powertrain, this updated version deserves to leap further up that shortlist. Much further.

It’s unashamedly different to many of the more bespoke EVs selling at similar money – and feels more welcoming to electric newbies as a result. It looks, feels and drives like a regular petrol hatch, but has competitive (ish) range and charging claims alongside a modest flavour of performance that should prove easy-going in everyday life. It’s still no firecracker, but an affordable family EV really doesn’t need to be.