Peugeot e-5008 review

Driving position 

Sit in the new Peugeot e-5008 and you’re greeted with the brand’s latest interior design, which in truth, is more like an airport lounge than a car cabin. 

It has a manoeuvrable driving position, offering either a high seating position or a lower one – depending on your preference. But note the wheel doesn’t come towards you, and instead only moves up and down. 

We usually like to sit nice and low in a car – a rare treat in an EV – but in this case we found a raised position was better due to limited outward visibility. 

There are plenty of windows, but they’re all pretty narrow, which can make squeezing through a tight car park taxing, even with front and rear parking cameras. 

Another slight driver’s position gripe of ours is the very sloped window controls on the driver’s door.  

They’re almost too low to use or to see while driving if you're not familiar with the car. A minor one, but worth pointing out. 

Tech and features 

As part of Peugeot’s new brand identity to step away from the traditional ‘legacy brand’ name tag, it’s paid particular attention to its latest car interiors, and the e-5008 is the most recent car to get this treatment. 

Not dissimilar to what we imagine the inside of Storm Trooper’s head to look like, this funky yet refreshing cabin steals the hearts of our youth. 

It’s far different from Tesla’s minimalist look, and instead features sharp curves, aggressive lines. And the grey fabric wrap-around in front of you even makes it feel homely. 

The stand-out feature of the e-5008's cabin has to be its massive 21-inch curved display that runs from the centre of the dash to become the digital driver’s display. 

This system – known as Peugeot’s Panoramic i-Cockpit – runs very smoothly and has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Peugeot’s own infotainment system is rather good, though. 

You also get a secondary ‘Virtual i-Toggle’ screen below with shortcuts to different menus such as navigation, media, air-con and driver assistance features to turn that pesky lane-keep assist off. 

It also gets a common feature among swanky new cars: ChatGPT AI integration for the infotainment, phone, heating and air-con.  

Using the "Ok Peugeot" command, it can cleverly tell whether the passenger or driver is talking thanks to individual microphones hidden in the roof lining.  

Electric motors and power 

There are a few different versions of the e-5008 available: the standard model with 210hp and 310 miles of range; the 230hp Long Range model with 415 miles of range from its 98kWh battery; and the Dual Motor AWD model with 320hp and 310 miles of range. 

The car we tested was the standard model, not just because it’s what most people will probably buy, but also because the other two aren’t available at the time of writing. They’re due early 2025.  

As with all electric cars, the e-5008 benefits from that instant shove of torque when accelerating, but without being too harsh.  

Its 0-62mph time of nine seconds is hardly going to break any records but is handy when pulling onto roundabouts and overtaking on the motorway. 

There are three drive modes to choose from: Sport, Normal and Eco.  

Having tried all three, we’d recommend keeping it in Normal most of the time as it balances power, range and mod cons.  

Switch to Eco if you need to conserve range but note you lose some features while the car saves energy. Sport, on the other hand, doesn’t make much difference other than stiffening up the steering and making the throttle pedal more responsive. 

You also get a three-stage regenerative braking system which, in theory, slows down the car without the need for braking, putting energy back into the battery. We don’t doubt it increases range, but we’re not convinced by the system itself. 

Even in its strongest setting, the car won’t slow to a complete standstill and it’s nowhere near as aggressive as the system in the Kia EV9, for example. 

Handling and ride comfort 

When you take the e-5008 out on to the open road, you notice one of two things. 

Firstly, how big the car is when you look in your rear-view mirror, but secondly, how it doesn’t feel its size due. Its small steering wheel makes the car feel much more nimble than it is. 

One thing we will say is how heavy it feels in the corners. You can really tell you’re captaining a car with a 2.2-tonne kerb weight. 

It’s never going to be easy to hide such a mass, but it doesn’t have too much body roll around corners, thanks to the batteries lining the floor – creating a low centre of gravity. 

It's not the softest ride in its class, so you’d be better off with an equivalent Citroen or Volvo EX90 for ultimate comfort, if budgets allow. 

Boot space 

Let’s be honest. If you’re buying a car of this size, you’re after one of two things: boot space and lots of seats, and thankfully the e-5008 has both. 

With all seven seats in place, you get a respectable 348 litres of space (just short of a hatchback’s full boot, like the Golf’s 381 litres). 

Fold the rearmost seats (which is made very easy thanks to a clever system), and boot space grows to a staggering 916 litres. 

Still not enough for you? Make it a two-seater and you get a whopping 2,232 litres of space. Did someone say Transit van? 

There’s also a bit of extra space under the boot floor to store charging cables etc. 

Rear seats 

Rear-seat space is as you’d expect from a car measuring 4.79 metres in length. Second row passengers will have no trouble getting comfortable, with access to two USB-C ports and touchscreen climate controls. 

Behind them are two more (almost) full-size seats, making this a proper seven-seater. Admittedly, you’d need to be fairly short to get comfortable back there.  

If you’re above six feet, forget it, but those closer to five feet shouldn’t struggle on longer journeys. 

Storage solutions 

The e-5008 is full of clever storage solutions that allow you (and all your six passengers) to store whatever you need in plenty of different places. 

All passengers (except the rearmost) get large door bins, there's a cool box between the driver and front passenger, plenty of cupholders and added storage underneath the extended centre console. 

Safety 

Being a family car, Peugeot’s e-5008 made sure not to miss a beat when protecting its occupants. 

From its intuitive Pixel LED headlights to its active safety braking system and lane-keep assist, you shouldn’t have any concerns. 

The top-spec GT model also gets access to the optional Highway Assist 2.0, which is like adaptive cruise control but with lane positioning assist, semi-automatic lane change and recommended speed adaptation. It’s not quite autonomous driving, but it’s not far off. 

The Peugeot e-5008 (and petrol-powered 5008) hasn’t been independently tested by Euro NCAP since 2016, but we’d imagine it’d score highly thanks to the above tech and its size. 

Range and charging times 

Our test car, with its 73kWh battery has a claimed range of 310 miles of range, is the car we think most people will be after. 

Not only is it cheaper than the 98kWh model, but it’s also the amount of range the average buyer needs. Of course, there will be the 415-mile Long Range car if you want to maximise your distance between charges. 

With a claimed efficiency of 4.2 miles per kWh, the e-5008 is very efficient, and only just falls short of the Citroen e-C4 and Niro EV. But being bigger and heavier, it’s almost more impressive. 

When it comes to charging, Peugeot claims the e-5008 can charge from 20% to 80% in 30 minutes and charge at up to 160kWs – beating the Toyota bZ4X and Renault Scenic E-Tech. 

If you’re on a road trip and want to master the art of car charging, the e-5008's map will help. Before you set off, you can tell it what battery percentage you’d like upon arrival.  

Then, the car will calculate this into the journey and make necessary stops enroute at suitable charging stations. 

Reliability 

Buying an unreliable new car these days is like finding a stack of diamonds in your back garden – it just doesn’t happen. 

For this reason, we’d have no issues recommending a modern Peugeot, and being fully electric, the e-5008 is even more dependable than a petrol alternative with more moving parts. 

Plus, every new e-5008 comes with an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty, so you’ll be covered for many miles to come. 

Insurance groups 

The Peugeot e-5008's insurance groupings are yet to be confirmed, but we’d expect it to sit higher than the previous 5008. 

Not just because it’s newer and more expensive than before, but because it’s electric and therefore quicker. 

The previous car hovered around insurance group 22 – in the middle of the range.