Is Peugeot’s smallest EV also its best? The pros and cons of the E-208 GT

Who makes the best small electric car? It’s a battle that is starting to hot up, as manufacturers master the margins, technology and platform-juggling required to make a profitable small(ish) EV and car-buyers adjust to the elevated cost of getting behind the wheel. Somewhere, they are meeting in the middle.

Peugeot’s E-208 GT is a good example of the upper end of the small EV market. The E-208 is the latest in a long line of compact Peugeots that have blended character, dynamics and affordability, all qualities that tend to suffer in today’s platform-engineered world. Does it live up to the hype generated by its predecessors?

That depends. The lightning-in-a-bottle qualities that make the 1980s-era 205 GTI such an enduring and sought-after icon aren’t yet replicable by an EV – weight is the enemy of the compact performance car. However, it’s probably a case of when, rather than if, especially once battery technology gets sufficiently light. In the meantime, you’ll have to drop a six-figure sum on a 205 restomod from Tolman to recapture the magic.

The E-208 GT isn’t out to recapture any magic – indeed, we’d be surprised if the forthcoming and much-heralded E-208 GTI has anything like the zest of the original. And yet, the GT is a far, far better car than any number of noughties and 2010-era compact Peugeots, an era when the manufacturer’s design mojo went missing and took a long time to hunt down and bring back.

Now that Peugeots look good again, it’s worth reiterating that the company seems very much committed to design evolution, if not actual revolution, with a harmonious and well-composed compact body that’s just over 4m long. The rear three-quarter view is the most successful, with a high-level black band of trim containing the rear lights and nameplate.

The front is marginally less impressive. There’s no dignity in a fussy grille, especially in a car that’s purely powered by electricity. The angular dazzle patterns created by small chunks of chromed plastic serve only to bulk up the front end of the car (this is an issue in most contemporary Peugeot designs), detracting from the innate simplicity of the geometry formed between the grille, logo and headlights. Look at any Peugeot from the 403 of 1955 through to the first-generation 307 of 2001, and you’ll see forms that are noble and unfussy, with just a hint of leonine character.

However, what Peugeot is emphatically not doing is follow its compatriots Renault, and to a lesser extent Citroen, down the well-trodden route of retro design. Sure, there’s a familial resemblance to Peugeots of old in the E-208, but even a couple of years after the model’s introduction, it still looks fresh.

The interior suffers slightly from Peugeot’s insistence on mounting the instrument binnacle right behind the upper part of the steering wheel. The company has been doing this for years and it means you have to set the wheel very low to get an unobscured view of the dash. A contortion of angles and fake carbon fibre attempts to cloak the most obvious dives into the handy Stellantis parts-bin, but overall it's a good place to sit.

Besides having plenty of zip from a standing start, the E-208 doesn’t really justify a ‘GT’ appellation. It runs out of steam relatively quickly and although it handles reasonably deftly, it’s not the kind of car you throw into a corner. Spirited driving also puts a dent in the already below-average range – on a good day, you can expect just over 200 miles against a claimed range of 268 miles.

All this makes the E-208 GT sound a little underwhelming. Perhaps it is a little lacking in sophistication when compared to other, cheaper rivals. But what it has is character, and that’s hard to find in a modern mass market car, let alone an electric one. Despite its flaws, the little Peugeot is still in the running.

Peugeot E-208 GT, from £28,545, Peugeot.co.uk