Peugeot e-3008 review

Like Doctor Who, Peugeot's 3008 has been through several regenerations over the years. It started out as an MPV before transforming into an SUV and has now returned as what its manufacturer calls a "fastback". The even bigger change is that it's now available in all-electric form – as the Peugeot e-3008.

The e-3008 has been designed from the ground up as an electric car and sits on a brand new set of underpinnings. There's a choice of several power outputs and two battery sizes (or, if you're not quite ready to go electric, you'll be able to get a hybrid or plug-in hybrid Peugeot 3008).

Oh, and the fastback part simply means that the roof sweeps down at the rear, coupé SUV style. 

Of course, the e-3008 isn't the first electric SUV to hit the market, so this all-new model will face competition from quite a few well-established rivals. They include the Kia EV6, Tesla Model Y and Volvo EC40 (previously known as the C40 Recharge).

So, is the Peugeot e-3008 a worthy challenger to the best electric SUVs out there and would we recommend buying one? Read on to find out...

So far, we've driven the entry-level Peugeot e-3008, which has a 73kWh (usable capacity) battery providing power to a 207bhp motor that drives the front wheels.

In that version, the 0-62mph sprint officially takes 8.8 seconds, and the official range from a fully charged battery is 326 miles – further than an entry-level Tesla Model Y and just a couple of miles short of the Kia EV6 RWD.

The e-3008 doesn’t feel as urgent off the line as a Model Y, but acceleration is punchy enough when needed. Other than a gentle whirr from the electric motor, progress is peaceful. 

Like virtually all electric cars, the e-3008 slows down briskly when you lift off the accelerator pedal, as its regenerative braking system harvests otherwise wasted energy and sends it back into the battery to help eke out range.

There are three levels of regen to choose from, adjusted using paddles behind the steering wheel. Even the highest setting isn’t strong enough to bring the car to a complete standstill without pressing the brake pedal – something that is possible in some of its rivals.

The brake pedal takes some getting used to, because there’s quite a lot of travel in the pedal before anything happens. However, once you do adjust to the set-up, the braking response is well judged, so stopping smoothly requires minimal effort. The same can’t be said for the Mercedes EQA, which has grabby and inconsistent brakes.

More of a concern at low speeds is the e-3008’s unsettled ride, even with the smaller 19in wheels fitted to our Allure test car. The serenity of the interior is broken when passing over speed bumps or manhole covers by thumps and thwacks from the suspension, along with abrupt protestations from the firm suspension.

Thankfully, the ride settles down at higher speeds and wind and road noise is kept to a minimum, making the e-3008 a fairly comfy and quiet motorway cruiser (the Audi Q4 e-tron and Genesis GV60 are smoother still).

Light steering makes low-speed manoeuvres a doddle around town, but the steering fails to build up any weight as your speed increases and doesn’t offer much of a sense of connection to the front wheels. Switching to Sport driving mode adds an almost comically exaggerated artificial weight to the steering, but doesn’t do anything to boost driver confidence.

At more than 2.1 tonnes, the e-3008 is heavier than many of its rivals, and feels that way from behind the wheel. The weight blunts its handling and any sense of driver enjoyment as you feel the car lurching from one side to the other as you go around a corner. It’s not enough to make you feel uncomfortable, though. 

If you want more power and range, there’s the 227bhp e-3008 Long Range, which gets a larger, 98kWh (usable) battery and can officially go 435 miles on a full charge. Performance is similar to the 73kWh car, with 0-62mph rated at 8.9 seconds.

For a significant bump in performance, there’s the range-topping 316bhp dual-motor, four-wheel-drive version, which delivers 0-62mph in 6.4 seconds. It has the same 73kWh battery as the entry-level version, but details on range have yet to be confirmed.

Driving overview

Strengths Long range; decent performance; quiet on the move

Weaknesses Fidgety ride; lots of travel in the brake pedal; cumbersome handling

The e-3008's interior features a tech-filled interpretation of Peugeot’s unusual dashboard layout, with a high-set instrument panel that’s meant to be viewed over a tiny steering wheel (rather than through it, as you do in most cars). 

The driving position is very good, with supportive, high-up front seats and a great view forwards. Rear visibility, on the other hand, is limited by the wide rear pillars.

In the UK, all versions of the e-3008 get a curved 21.0in LED panel across the top of the dashboard, combining a digital driver display with an infotainment touchscreen. Fortunately, it sits high enough to make sure the driver's view of the instrument panel is unlikely to be blocked by the steering wheel (unlike in some Peugeot models).

Likewise, the infotainment screen is easy to glance at while you're driving, and is comfortably within reach from the driver’s seat, so you don’t have to take your eyes off the road for too long when you interact with it. The graphics are crisp and clear.

However, there are some shortcomings. The infotainment menus are convoluted, with many submenus to sift through, and the screen’s responses to inputs were a little inconsistent on our test car. Sometimes the swipes and prods would result in quickfire changes, but on other occasions there would be a slight hesitation.

Unfortunately, there are no physical buttons or knobs to adjust the air-conditioning settings – you have to do all that through the touchscreen. While the temperature controls are usually positioned either side of the home screen, annoyingly they disappear if you're using Android Auto or Apple CarPlay phone mirroring (which you can do wirelessly).

The e-3008 gets Peugeot's i-Toggle feature, which gives you a separate touch panel on the dashboard below the infotainment screen, where you can set up shortcuts for functions you use a lot. The icons are large and easy to hit on the move – although physical buttons would be more precise. 

One area in which the e-3008 can go toe to toe with most of its rivals is interior quality. That’s evident by the widespread use of soft-touch plastics and the pleasant fabric on the dashboard and doors. Top-spec GT models get snazzy ambient interior lighting to liven things up.

Interior overview

Strengths Smart design; high-quality feel; crisp graphics for infotainment system

Weaknesses Fiddly infotainment system; touchscreen response could be better; limited physical controls

In terms of practicality, the Peugeot e-3008 offers plenty of storage space throughout the interior, with a large central cubby and big door bins. The glove box is on the small side, though, because the space is shared with the fuse box.

In the back seats, leg room for taller passengers is quite tight, but there’s plenty of room for your feet in the outer two seats thanks to an almost flat floor. However, a middle-seat passenger will find that the centre console between the front seats encroaches on space for their legs.

Head room in the back doesn’t impress much. Even though our Allure-spec test car didn’t come with the optional panoramic glass sunroof, there’s still a hump in the roof where the motor for opening the glass would be located. Overall, the Kia EV6 and Tesla Model Y are better for carrying passengers in the back.

It’s a similar story in the boot. While the 548-litre capacity, height-adjustable boot floor and 40/20/40 split-folding rear seatbacks make the e-3008 more practical than the EV6 and the Volvo EC40, it’s still far behind the Model Y.

What’s more, there’s no additional storage space under the bonnet as there is in the Model Y (although there is a large area under the e-3008's boot floor for your charging cables).

Practicality overview

Strengths Flexible rear seats; decent-sized boot

Weaknesses Poor rear head room; no front boot

On the face of it, the Peugeot e-3008 looks expensive. However, pricing for the 73kWh version is competitive with key electric SUV rivals, including the Kia EV6, Skoda Enyaq and Tesla Model Y. Premium alternatives, such as the Audi Q4 e-tron, Genesis GV60 and Volvo EC40 are more expensive.

Charging speeds for the 73kWh version are reasonably good by class standards. It has a maximum rating of 160kW, which means a 20-80% top up should take around 20 minutes with a suitably powerful public charger.

Super-fast chargers are currently rare in the UK, so the e-3008’s 20-80% top-up time of 30 minutes with a 100kW charger is more realistic. Even so, that's similar to the Enyaq, Model Y and EC40.

For home charging, topping up from 20-80% with an 11kW charger is expected to take four hours, while a 7.4kW charger should take six hours.

Choosing which trim level to go for is relatively straightforward in the e-3008, because there are only two to choose from: Allure and GT.

Allure is the entry-level trim and is very well equipped. It comes with the 21in combined infotainment and driver’s display screen, as well as 19in alloy wheels, LED headlights, keyless entry, dual-zone climate control, a wireless phone-charging pad, rear parking sensors and a reversing camera.

GT trim adds 20in alloys, full LED headlights, adaptive cruise control, a heated steering wheel, heated front seats, a powered tailgate and front parking sensors. It does push the price up considerably though, which is why we’d recommend sticking to Allure trim.

As for reliability, Peugeot finished in 21st place out of 32 brands in the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey – below Kia (eighth), Volvo (ninth) and Tesla (10th) but above Audi (26th). You get a three-year, unlimited mileage warranty, along with a separate eight-year or 100,000-mile warranty for the battery (for 70% of its capacity), electric motor and main electrical components.

The e-3008 has yet to be tested by the safety experts at Euro NCAP but does come with automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-keeping assistance and traffic-sign recognition. Useful features such as blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert are optional.

Costs overview

Strengths Generous standard equipment; competitive charging speeds

Weaknesses Peugeot reliability not great; some useful safety kit is optional

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