New Peugeot E-408 2025 review: Peugeot’s best EV yet

That sound system comes on the top-spec GT trim we’re driving here. It also gets 19-inch alloy wheels, matrix-LED headlights, a powered tailgate, a heated steering wheel, laminated side windows, parking sensors all round and plenty more. Even the base Allure trim doesn’t scrimp on kit; it still rolls on 19-inch wheels (in a different design) and gets rear parking sensors, a 180-degree reversing camera, keyless entry, dual-zone climate control, cabin pre-conditioning and smart charging via a smartphone app, plus traffic-sign recognition. This test car also featured Nappa leather upholstery – a £1,400 option.

My time settling into those soft seats was fairly limited, so getting a representative efficiency figure was tricky. Over a 60-mile run that took in a mix of urban, country and motorway roads, we used 27 per cent of the battery charge – that translates into a real world range of 222 miles. What seems to remain the Achilles heel of Stellantis EVs is motorway efficiency; when avoiding higher speeds, efficiency was roughly 4.5 miles/kWh, which bumps that up to 262 miles. 

Peugeot recently announced that the E-408 would be eligible for the Government’s electric vehicle grant, knocking £1,500 off the asking price. That brings the cost of the £39,055 GT tested here to £37,555, with the Allure starting from £35,560. Thanks to the grant, the 408 is now within a couple of hundred quid of being cheaper than the entry-level hybrid petrol in Allure trim. In GT spec, it’s actually the cheapest powertrain available, undercutting the hybrid by £835 and the plug-in hybrids by a whopping £7,110. Within its range, it’s an absolute no-brainer; this is the smoothest, slickest, most responsive and best-driving powertrain by some margin. 

Regardless of the powertrain you pick, the full 408 range is available with the Allure Care package, which means that should you take your car to a main dealer for its scheduled servicing (once every two years for the E-408), then the warranty cover will run for eight years.

We’ve yet to have prices confirmed for the E-308, but like-for-like, the outgoing hybrid model costs £2,435 less than the same powertrain in the 408. Even if that roughly carries over to the new version, then once the Government grant is included, it could start from around £33,000. Should things play out that way, it’d make the E-308 an awful lot of stylish, posh feeling electric family car for the cash.