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Pros: smart looks, high-quality interior, plenty of electric options
Cons: some practicality issues, can feel underpowered
Peugeot E-5008 Design
Peugeot’s current design themes revolve around the ‘lion’s claw’ strakes that are evident on the front of the E-5008, with this triple-lined detail repeated in the signatures of this seven-seat SUV’s light clusters, fore and aft. Along with clean detailing along the sides of the car, plus a two-tone roof and eye-catching 20-inch alloy wheels, it makes for a good-looking car, as big SUVs go. Handily, despite being spacious enough inside to accommodate seven people, the E-5008 is not as physically huge on the outside as some.
Peugeot E-5008 Interior
Peugeot has stretched the distance between the wheels for the chassis of the E-5008, which means – along with a long, high roofline – that this is an electric vehicle (EV) with enough space onboard for seven people. Admittedly, those sitting in row three won’t have acres of legroom to play with, but at least smaller adults and children should be comfortable enough back there, and accessing the rear-most pair of seats is simplified by a clever single-action ‘tilt-and-slide’ function on the middle-row bench. Boot space is good, even with a full complement of people onboard, and it’s massive if you only need to use the front five seats, so practicality is good – but not perfect, as the middle-row seats no longer slide independently of each other any longer, nor do all three of them have ISOFIX child-seat fittings; just the outer two positions do. However, in terms of material quality, the cabin is excellent, and the tech levels are impressive as well – with the highlight being the massive 21-inch ‘Panoramic iCockpit’ curved display which sits atop the dashboard. This works slickly and looks sharp too, so there’s an expensive overall feel to the E-5008’s interior.
Peugeot E-5008 Performance & Drive
With hybrid and plug-in hybrid models on the way, which will just wear ‘plain’ 5008 badges, it’s the all-electric E-5008 that has the honour of launching this product range. Coming after this initial model will be a dual-motor, high-power variant with the same-sized battery pack, as well as a single-motor, front-wheel-drive version with a larger 96kWh power supply that is reputedly capable of up to 660km on a single charge.
However, the opening gambit is this single-motor, low-output model with the 73kWh battery, good for around 500km of range. It never feels particularly fast or powerful, as EVs go, with none of that ‘shove in the back’ feel during acceleration, but then family SUVs don’t need to be road rockets and the general judgement of the E-5008’s power delivery is excellent for what the car needs to do.
Thankfully, its strong suit is neither its performance nor its handling – which is fine, if unexciting – but its ride comfort and refinement. This Peugeot is simply lovely to travel in, with a good, composed ride quality at all times, while it makes the most of the fact that it has no combustion engine by minimising wind and tyre noise to super-low levels in the passenger compartment. It means that whether you’re ambling about town or cruising along a motorway at 110km/h-plus, the Peugeot E-5008 is always quiet, assured and supremely comfortable – everything a seven-seat family SUV needs to be.
Peugeot E-5008 Pricing
Exact prices aren’t yet confirmed, but the Peugeot E-5008 should only be a few thousand euro more than the closely related, five-seat E-3008 model-for-model, and that latter car costs from €43,965 at the time of writing. If that turns out to be true, the E-5008 will be a conspicuous bargain – all of the Mercedes EQB, Kia EV9 and Volvo EX90, the other seven-seat electric SUVs available right now, are considerably more than that, with the Volvo being more than double the cost in base specification (it is, admittedly, positioned as a far more premium product, of course). It is expected that Peugeot will also sell the E-5008 in familiar Allure and GT specifications, with a good level of standard equipment on the former and some real big-car luxuries added in on the latter to further enhance the keen pricing of the French machine.
Carzone Verdict
A thoroughly capable and deeply likeable electric SUV, the Peugeot E-5008 is going to be a strong contender in this marketplace for those looking to transport big families in the maximum of eco-friendly style. A great interior and sleek styling mark the E-5008 out as an appealing machine in showrooms, but it’ll be the smooth, accomplished driving manners that seal the deal on this Peugeot. Those looking for more power and/or one-shot driving range might want to hang on for one of the other two derivatives of the E-5008, but on this showing the regular single-motor model has more than enough going for it to be considered as one of the better seven-seat SUVs – of any propulsion type – that’s available right now.