The GodFather Posted October 9, 2020 Posted October 9, 2020 Having been the meekest of bit-part players in the emerging electric car market until only a couple of years ago, the PSA Group has lately shown itself to be very serious indeed about a battery-powered future. It recently announced its first dedicated EV-only model architecture, the eVMP, which is due to sire its first production car within three years. Until then, the roll-out of what we might think of as the group’s advance wave of compact electric vehicles continues. From the DS 3 Crossback E-Tense to the Vauxhall Corsa-e, we’ve seen and tested several of its members already. And between the Vauxhall Mokka-e and at least one model from Citroën, there are several more to come. What chance, then, once this advance guard of zero-emissions models is finally complete, that this week’s road test subject, the Peugeot e-2008, will be the keystone of its commercial success? It’s a car in a growing market niche from a brand on the up, and with an in-demand bodystyle, that promises everyday practicality and usability that no electric supermini could quite touch. It’s the substance of that thinking that we’ll be scrutinising over the next few pages. The e-2008 is, like all of these PSA Group electric models, part of a wider model range, and so there’s no new model identity to introduce ourselves to and we have a decent idea of what to expect from it in terms of size, layout and practicality. But will being so closely related to a combustion-engined car, as well as so many other sibling EVs, ultimately be a strength or a weakness for it? A six-tier derivative line-up for a car that comes in only one mechanical specification and power output is rare, but since the e-2008 range mirrors that of the regular 2008, you can forgive it. The Premium levels add a handful of items over their nearest relations in any case, and Allure Premium is where the 10.0in touchscreen enters the mix. I can’t see this car taking too many people out of Kia and Hyundai EVs, but if the 39kWh Nissan Leaf has a long enough range for you, the e-2008 does too – and it has more style about it than the Nissan Simon Davis | Road tester 3
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