The Peugeot for all palates: RAY MASSEY tests all three versions of the French brand's new 208 - including the 211-mile range electric model

  • We've driven all three variants of Peugeot's all-new 208 supermini in Portugal
  • The French brand wants to cater for all tastes with three different fuel options
  • Buyers can choose from Euro6 petrol and diesel motors to a new e-208 electric
  • The latter has a 211-mile range, top speed of 93mph and costs 50% more to buy

I’ve just been driving Peugeot’s new 208 hi-tech hatchback ahead of first UK deliveries – and it really is electric.

Or at least one of the three versions on offer is, it’s the pure electric e-208 and in its GT specification it’s designed to add a bit of excitement to the small battery-powered car world.

But zero emissions comes at a price. The e-208 starts at £25,000, whereas the conventional petrol and diesel engine 208s that it joins start at £16,250 - meaning a plug-in mark-up of more than 50 per cent.

Plug-in Pug: Ray Massey is one of the first to try Peugeot's new e-208 - the French brand's electric supermini with a claimed 211-mile range

Plug-in Pug: Ray Massey is one of the first to try Peugeot's new e-208 - the French brand's electric supermini with a claimed 211-mile range

Order books are now open for what is predicted to become Peugeot’s biggest seller - overtaking the current 3008 compact SUV - and I’ve driven all three versions back-to back before the first ones arrive on customers’ driveways early next year.

Peugeot’s master plan has been to build one handsome hatchback body which can take all three forms of power – the latest and cleanest Euro6 petrol and diesel engines and electric - without compromise and with minimal technical or manufacturing tweaking.

As the French firm’s UK’s managing director David Peel put it to me: ’First choose your Peugeot, then choose your powertrain.’

A smart rival to the Volkswagen Polo and Ford Fiesta, the new 208 is 30kg lighter than its predecessor and features improved aerodynamics and trim.

There are four spec levels: Active, Allure, GT Line and GT, which will be available only as pure electric.

Before I got behind the wheel there was a nagging question that the Peugeot team was constantly having to field from me and others.

Will there be a GTI version to make the new 208 really a spiritual successor to the legendary 205 GTI hot hatch?

Order books for the new 208 are now open for what is predicted to become Peugeot’s biggest seller

Order books for the new 208 are now open for what is predicted to become Peugeot’s biggest seller

Ray's been driving the 208 trio at the global launch on a range of roads near Lisbon, in Portugal

Ray's been driving the 208 trio at the global launch on a range of roads near Lisbon, in Portugal

Which would he have? Ray Massey has given his verdict on the best of the bunch

Which would he have? Ray Massey has given his verdict on the best of the bunch

Well, the good-looking and sportily designed 208 current line up doesn’t yet have the racier GTI power and trim level much-loved by enthusiasts.

But the Coventry-based British team at Peugeot are pushing hard for one. And if it happens – as I suspect it will - it is most likely to be an electric GTI, topping the range of the battery-powered e-208.

So what’s the 208 like to drive? I tried out the 208 trio at their global launch on a range of roads near Lisbon, in Portugal. I first got behind the wheel of the effervescent petrol-powered 1.2 litre PureTech 130, with its 8-speed automatic gearbox and GT-Line trim.

This is the range topper for this model and it’s a sprightly combination. Easy and comfortable to drive for long-legged motorway journeys, and very zippy up and down twisty mountain roads and hairpin bends.

Most significantly I suspect for most UK buyers, it’s exceptionally nippy around town.

It has a decent burst of acceleration that takes it from rest to 62mph in 8.7 seconds and goes on up to a more than adequate top speed of 129mph.

Peugeot’s master plan has been to build one handsome hatchback body which can take all three forms of power – the latest and cleanest Euro6 petrol and diesel engines and electric

Peugeot’s master plan has been to build one handsome hatchback body which can take all three forms of power – the latest and cleanest Euro6 petrol and diesel engines and electric

Retrofitting all three drivertrains without compromise and with minimal technical or manufacturing tweaking should keep costs low

Retrofitting all three drivertrains without compromise and with minimal technical or manufacturing tweaking should keep costs low

The 208 is certainly a good looking car, with boxy proportions that are reminiscent of small Peugeots of old

The 208 is certainly a good looking car, with boxy proportions that are reminiscent of small Peugeots of old

Fuel consumption under the new WLTP real world test rules is between 46mpg and 51.9mpg with CO2 emissions between 101g/km and 108g/km.

Peugeot bosses suspect the new eight-speed autobox – with manual paddles to override - will persuade a lot of people to trade up from the manual option, and may exceed expectations.

I’m with them on that. It’s a silky smooth operator and the one I’d opt for.

By comparison, the 1.5-litre BlueHDI 100 horsepower diesel is available only with six-speed manual gearbox, whose wallowing and imprecise feel could best be described as rubbery.

Trying to slot it into place is like playing ‘pin the tail on the donkey’. I was mightily relieved when my co-driver had exactly the same irritating problem.

But drive and handling is otherwise fine with 0 to 62mph acceleration in 11.4 seconds up to 116mph top speed.

The big bonus for distance drivers is quoted fuel economy of between 60.8mpg and 71.4mpg.

Even the e-208 will have a decent size boot, thanks to the batteries being loaded into the floor

Even the e-208 will have a decent size boot, thanks to the batteries being loaded into the floor

Fiat Chrysler has confirmed plans to merge with PSA, the owner of Peugeot, Citroen and Vauxhall. The tie-up will help the push towards making electric cars mainstream, with more vehicles such as Peugeot's new e-208

The petrol-powered 1.3 litre PureTech 130 and has a decent burst of acceleration that takes it from 0 to 62mph in 8.7 seconds and goes up to a more than adequate top speed of 129mph

The diesel version has a manual box, which Ray said he struggled to operate due to a clunky gear change

The diesel version has a manual box, which Ray said he struggled to operate due to a clunky gear change

The e-208 is the game-changer 

But the real game-changer is the electric e-208, which combines a 50kW battery with a 136 horsepower electric motor to give a claimed range – on a full charge – of 211 miles.

It certainly has some oomph, accelerating from rest to 62 mph in 8.1 seconds – some 0.6 seconds faster than the petrol version – but has a considerably lower top speed of a more than adequate 93mph.

There are three driving modes – Eco, Normal and the more engaging Sport. But of course, the more aggressively you drive, the faster you drain the battery. Switching off the air-con alone added 10 miles of extra range.

You do miss the engaging engine hum of the petrol version, but this little electric pocket rocket is very nippy and would be perfect for commuting trips from home to work, where you can ideally charge up at either end.

The e-208 I drove was a pre-production model so some latitude had to be given as some of the peripheral software - mainly for things like sat-nav but not safety or engine-management related – was still being fine-tuned.

A full charge takes about eight hours from a dedicated home charging point.

Rapid recharging at a 100kW public terminal – such as those found at motorway service stations – will give an 80 per cent charge in 30 minutes.

What's it like on the inside? 

Compared to the previous generation 208, the interior of the improved new generation has been tweaked to lower the driver’s sitting position and make it more comfortable.

The smaller, sportier steering wheel gives a greater view of the digital dials behind.

Peugeot is, however, being slightly disingenuous – and confusing – calling this raised dashboard a ‘head up display’. It’s not. It’s a physical dashboard that sits higher so you can see it above the steering wheel. A head-up display in my book is something projected onto the glass, so you can see the details as you look through the windscreen. And the Peugeot 208 range doesn’t offer this – even as an option.

However, all driving information can be accessed through the 3D digital i-Cockpit instrument panel (7 inch standard, or 10 inch) and be projected, like a hologram, via the colour dashboard touchscreen, which is controlled from the compact multifunction steering wheel.

Other tricks and options include TomTom Traffic alerts, 3D navigation and links for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, adaptive cruise control, Stop & Go, lane positioning assist, parking assist, and the latest generation of automatic emergency brake assist, which detects pedestrians and cyclists by day and night at speeds of up to 85mph and warns of a risk of collision

As a last resort, a full charge from a normal household domestic plug will take more than 20 hours.

The battery is covered by an eight year, 100,000 mile manufacturer warranty and sits under the floor to maximise interior and boot space, which match that of the petrol and diesel versions without compromise.

With that electric version, the 208 spans a wide price bracket. Prices for 1.2 litre PureTech petrol versions range from £16,250 for the bargain-basement 75 horse-power in base Active trim, with a 5-speed manual gearbox, up to £23,350 for the 130 horsepower GT-Line model I drove.

In between is a selection 100 horsepower petrol versions, with either a six-speed manual gearbox on the eight-speed automatic transmission. These will account for 95 per cent of all 208 internal combustion engine sales.

Just 5 per cent of UK 208 sales will be diesels, marking how far the fuel has fallen since the dieselgate scandal. But Peugeot believes there is still an important place for it with long-distance drivers, mainly of company cars, for which it still saves cash.

Diesel power is available priced from £18,850 in Active trim, up to £22,015 in GT Line, only as a 1.5 litre BlueHDI 100 horsepower with a six-speed manual gear-box.

The pure electric e-208 costs from £25,000 in base active trim up to £29,650 as a range topping GT, the only car to have this spec, sitting above GT Line. Prices are after the application of a £3,500 taxpayer funded government green subsidy.

No hybrids will be offered and the e-208 marks the first step in Peugeot’s commitment to offer an electrified version of its entire range by 2023.

The French firm told us that one customer was so keen he joined the queue the moment the electric e-208 was shown at the Geneva Motor Show. To ensure getting one of the first into the UK, Methodist minister The Rev Neal Street, of Bude, in Cornwall, placed his pre-order at Truscott’s Peugeot, in Barnstable, without even seeing the new car in the metal.

Will he be pleased and is this spiritual successor to the 205 and particularly the GTI.

Well legends and icons rarely become so overnight and ultimately the consumers will judge, but it’s started on the right road. 

The 208 is an impressive new model, but it's the e-208 that customers are queing up for

The 208 is an impressive new model, but it's the e-208 that customers are queing up for

208 v 205: How do sales compare? 

The 205 is one of Peugeot's most iconic cars

The 205 is one of Peugeot's most iconic cars

The new second generation 208 replaces the first which ran from 2012. 

Inevitably it will be measured against the much-loved Peugeot 205, which sold 5.3 million globally and 418,197 in the UK between 1983 and 1998. 

Some 183,307 first generation 208s have been registered in the UK since 2012. 

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