Peugeot boss Alain Favey has hard launched the new Peugeot E-208 GTI in France on the eve of the Le Mans 24-Hour Race, celebrating 100 years since the marque’s first entry to the iconic event. 

Will the E-208 GTI be worthy of quite the same historical celebration in due course? Well, we’ll have to drive the new electric hot hatch first, which shouldn’t be too far away. But first, the numbers. 

The new E-208 GTI will get from 0–62mph in 5.5 seconds thanks to 281hp from the e-motor – but wait a minute, haven’t we heard those numbers before? That’s right, they’re exactly the same as the new Vauxhall Corsa GSE. 

In fact most of the main details are the same, except the price, where the Peugeot is apparently set to undercut the Corsa by £2k, costing from £34,995 to the GSE’s £36,995. Still a significant increase on the £28,245 that a top spec E-208 GT Premium will currently cost you.

Peugeot does insist that its Peugeot Sport engineers have been involved in the development of the car to make it “the most powerful and best performing model in the B segment”. Er…?

As well as the bespoke tuning that has resulted in exactly the same power output as Vauxhall, the Peugeot Sport engineers have also focused on cooling the battery with techniques gleaned from the frontline of competitive motorsport. 

There are other changes over the standard E-208 – the car has been lowered by 25mm, and the track (distance between the wheels) widened by 56mm at the rear and 28mm at the front. 

There's also a new rear anti roll bar and a limited slip differential plus new springs and dampers that are intended to boost the E-208 GTI’s sporty credentials. 

You’ve got two options when it comes to range on the new car – the standard fit Michelin Pilot Sport 4S performance tyres get you 219 miles of range, or you can go for the Hankook Ventus S1 Evo3 tyres for no extra cost and get 233 miles of range. That rubber will wrap around some 18in alloys that will be familiar to GTI fans. 

Both figures are of course down from the 268 miles of the standard model. You’ve got the same 51kWh (usable) battery from the standard Peugeot E-208. 

Inside you’ve got a red theme to the interior with a liberal splashing of GTI badges about the place. There’s a new steering wheel and a smattering of Alcantara. 

There’s still no word on when the new car will be on sale – orders are already open in France, but we're going to have to wait a little longer in the UK. We imagine it’s going to happen quite quickly, not least because there’s a new E-208 on the way next year. 

If you're in the market for a sporty electric hot hatch, check out our list of the best ones on sale...