Peugeot E-308 (2023 - ) Electric review

There’s no getting away from the fact that the e-308’s list price looks high, starting at a shade over £40,000. Given the amount of standard equipment and the generally high-quality feel it’s not horrendous, but it’s also a few grand higher than a Volkswagen ID.3's starting point (£37,000). And, surprisingly, it’s a whopping 10 grand more than the opening price of a Citroen e-C4, an EV built using many of the same parts as the Peugeot, including the battery and electric motor. Peugeot will argue that the e-308 is better equipped as standard (it is) and has a more ‘premium’ feel (it does). Still, it’s jarring to know that a petrol-powered can be yours from £28,000. The EV will be cheaper to run, of course, and especially if you do so by charging it using cheap electricity at home using an EV-specific tariff.

It’s still early days for the current 308 model – only out a couple of years – but encouragingly it hasn’t had any product recalls yet. Generally speaking, Peugeot’s reputation for reliability is gradually improving. You might have some pre-conceived ideas about the dependability of French cars, but owner surveys are showing that view to be a myth. Peugeot regularly features highly in reliability surveys these days, and was famously voted ‘most reliable mainstream brand’ in a JD Power owner survey. Granted, that was in 2019, but it still proves a point. If you need reassurance from a more recent place, Peugeot is now part of the Stellantis group, alongside Vauxhall, Citroen, Fiat and Jeep. That means shared parts are developed with higher budgets across those manufacturers, meaning better quality control. And on a more basic level, an electric motor has far fewer moving parts than an internal combustion engine, meaning less to go wrong.

The biggest safety bugbear in the e-308 isn’t a lack of kit, but a more basic problem with the driving position. Because the speed readout is on a screen above the steering wheel rim – a setup unique to Peugeot – it’s not always in full view, especially when you’re turning a corner. In addition, the infotainment setup, while not the worst in the world, means you’re often lingering on the central screen for a little longer than you’d like while doing basic things like adjusting the air con temperature. Nonetheless, the e-308 offers good basic crash protection for adults and kids, and has lots of safety equipment as standard, including speed limit recognition linked to automatic speed adjustment, lane keeping assist, and automatic emergency braking. There are curtain airbags for rear passengers as well as those in front, but no bag between the front seats to prevent those up front clonking their heads together during a side impact.

The best car driving positions tend to be the ones you don’t really notice, because they put you at one with the car in an intuitively comfortable way. That’s not the case with the Peugeot e-308 (or any modern Peugeot, for that matter ), because of the so-called ‘i-Cockpit’. The unusually small and low-set steering wheel heightens a sense of control over the steering itself, like being in a go-kart (sorry, Mini), but it also makes it difficult for taller people to get truly comfortable. The heavily bolstered seats (“sporty”) in all versions will feel too tight for some, too. This is a shame, because the ride quality of the e-308 is one of its highlights – certainly at low speed. It's set up more softly than most family hatchbacks, which means it’s supple and relaxed in urban situations, and at a steady 70mph, a feeling that’s heightened by the distinct lack of internal combustion noise. On quicker roads, though, this softness tends to translate into bounciness, so the e-308 isn’t necessarily the most planted or fun thing to drive. Rear seat space isn’t great either, especially for legroom – you do wonder why Peugeot made the front seatbacks so thick? Overall though, you’d say that the e-308 has a level of comfort and refinement that, if you can get away with the driving position, makes it a very pleasant car to spend a lot of time in.

Part of the reason why the e-308 is so expensive is that it doesn’t come with the petrol version’s basic ‘Active Premium’ trim level. There are only two: Allure and GT. (There’s a highly specced ‘First Edition’ at launch as well, but it won’t be a permanent feature.) Enjoy this cliché, but a standard Allure version really is all the Peugeot e-308 you’ll need… ish. On the surface, features like 18-inch alloys, heated seats, a heated steering wheel, twin-zone climate control, a reversing camera, navigation and wireless Apple CarPlay are impressive. But then the seats are manually adjustable, which in context feels like cost-cutting. That’s the case in a GT car too, surprisingly, although that spec does add a couple of nice convenience features like keyless entry and adaptive cruise control. Upgrades are mostly cosmetic, however. Either way, assuming you can get on with the driving position, the e-308 has a cabin with more wow factor than probably any other family hatchback. The row of digital shortcuts under the infotainment screen is customisable, meaning you can get to the functions you regularly use more intuitively. The specification of the hatchback and SW estate versions is the same, but of course, in the latter you’re getting a far more useful boot space – up from 361 litres in the hatchback to 548.

Just the one power option in the e-308, which utilises the same electric motor and battery that you’ll find in the updated Citroen e-C4. It’s a 156 horsepower motor and a 54kWh battery, good for a 248-mile WLTP range and a 0-62mph time of 9.8 seconds. If you know a bit about electric cars by now you might look at those numbers and be vaguely underwhelmed. A Hyundai Ioniq 5 Long Range, for instance, has a 77kWh battery, a 315-mile range and a 7.3-second 0-62mph time. However, on the road you’ll find the e-308 quick enough for most situations. It picks up sharply (it’ll hit 30mph before you’ve really had time to think about it), but it does tend to feel heavy and a bit lacklustre beyond that, as compared to most mid-level EVs. We did find the car very efficient during our time with it, though, capable of more than 200 miles from the battery in varied, real-world driving. It’ll charge at speeds up to 100kW, which means in theory you could get a 20-80% charge in about 25 minutes, and standard 11kW on-board charging means it’ll charge quickly at a workplace fast charger too. Click here for our detailed article on charging speeds and how they work.