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The Peugeot E-408 offers a fastback crossover body with interesting styling and a creatively-designed cockpit featuring a small steering wheel, together with a spacious interior; underneath sits a familiar Stellantis platform.
Peugeot has been carving out a niche in the Stellantis Group by offering models with some design flair; in the case of the E-408, this styling approach is combined with a fastback crossover body. Does this give the Peugeot sufficient differentiation compared to cars from other brands within Stellantis?
The Peugeot E-408 has a fastback body shape with some dramatic styling details, and a similar creative design approach is evident in the cockpit, which also features a ‘3D’ driver’s display.
Under the skin it won’t be a surprise to learn that the Peugeot E-408 shares the same Stellantis Efficient Modular Platform 2 (EMP2 V3) (used for petrol, hybrid and electric powertrains) as other models including the Peugeot E-308, Citroën C5 X, DS 4 and Vauxhall Astra Electric. You might imagine that the Citroën ë-C4 also shares this base, but it uses a smaller e-CMP platform.
The E-408 measures 4,687mm in length, which allows generous rear legroom, although there’s a central tunnel in the rear footwell which is a hangover from the platform also being used for internal combustion-engined models. There’s also a decent-sized 471-litre boot, which increases to 1,545 litres with the rear seats folded down. There’s not quite enough storage space under the boot floor for the charging cable, although there could be if the packaging for items such as the tyre inflator was removed, and there’s no frunk, so you’re left with the charging cable lying on the boot floor, which isn’t ideal.
The Peugeot E-408 has a 58kWh battery, with a 210 hp electric motor delivering front-wheel drive.
The Peugeot E-408 features a small steering wheel which you look over, rather than through, to view the driver’s display. This translates to a fun driving experience when corners are involved, although the ‘go-kart’ feeling works better with Peugeot’s smaller models such as the E-208.
The driver’s display features a ‘3D’ visual arrangement, the idea being that the highest priority information appears closer to the driver. The creative design that has been applied to the exterior has also been applied to the cockpit, resulting in a unique cabin compared to a Citroën or Vauxhall.
So, visually, the E-408 is striking, but under the skin there are lots of similarities with other Stellantis models. This means that the driving experience feels refined and the ride quality is comfortable. The E-408 looks sporty, but aside from the fun steering, this isn’t a sports car driving experience. Front-wheel drive means that there’s always the chance of wheelspin and torque steer, although this is generally well controlled, but the performance, although adequate, doesn’t match the sporty looks.
You can of course select Sport drive mode using a conveniently-located switch between the front seats to maximise the responses of the electric motor (the other two drive modes are Normal and Eco). The gear selector is the familiar Stellantis switch, which feels as though it’s positioned too far forward on the centre console in the E-408 – you have to reach every time you change gear. And the actual gear selector isn’t lit at night.
The ‘B’ button for increased brake regeneration has disappeared from the gear selector in the E-408 and has been replaced with steering wheel-mounted paddles, which is a better solution.
Underneath the central touchscreen are six large, user friendly digital shortcut buttons, called ‘i-Toggles’, for Mirror Screen, Phone, Nav, Media, Climate and Home. Underneath these digital buttons sit a row of smaller physical buttons, including one for ‘vehicle’, which allows you to switch off the lane departure warning system.
The infotainment generally works well, but there are some car controls buried in the screen which need a lot of button-pressing to reach them. One example of this is the heated seats and heated steering wheel; physical switches on the dashboard would be much quicker. Also, when you’re using Apple CarPlay there are no controls, physical or digital, to change the cabin temperature.
The Peugeot E-408 GT 58kWh has an official WLTP combined electric driving range of 280 miles. During a week on test in winter the real-world range was averaging 250 miles. Electricity consumption (WLTP) is 4.1 miles/kWh.
The Peugeot E-408 GT’s maximum DC rapid charging rate is 100 kW, which should deliver a 20% to 80% charge in 30 minutes. The same 20% to 80% charge at a 7.4kW home wall box should take around 4 hours 25 minutes.
The Peugeot E-408 GT 58kWh is priced at £39,055. Our test car had the options of Obsession Blue metallic paint (£750) and 360 Vision & Drive Assist Plus Pack (£550), taking the total price of the car to £40,355. The Peugeot E-408 is eligible for the £1,500 UK Electric Car Grant.
Trim levels for the E-408 are Allure, GT and GT Premium.
The Peugeot E-408 fastback crossover looks sporty on the outside but under the skin it shares its platform with other Stellantis models such as the Vauxhall Astra Electric. This means that the E-408 is good to drive: it’s refined and comfortable, with decent performance, but even with its small go kart-like steering wheel it can’t be described as a sports car driving experience. The E-408 is also spacious, with good rear legroom and a decent boot (although there’s nowhere to store the charging cables). In GT trim as tested the E-408 is priced at under £40,000, and it’s eligible for the £1,500 UK Electric Car Grant, so it’s at the more affordable end of the EV pricing scale. The Peugeot E-408 is awarded a Green Car Guide rating of 8 out of 10.
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