Peugeot E-308 SW long term review

Most recently I was fortunate enough to do a long tern test with a car in a segment that is a bit of a rarity when it comes to electric cars, a mid range electric estate. the Peugeot 308 SW. 

I’ll be the first to hold up my hands and admit that since the rise of the SUV, I have subconsciously changed my allegiances from estate to SUV. But there was a time when a sporty estate was the only way to go, if I wanted the benefits of a practical boot. So can my head be turned back the other way? Will the 308 SW pass the test of being crumb proof? Carry everything including the kitchen sink? And provide me the range required to keep my anxiety at a manageable level? Let’s find out… 

Welcome to 'The Viper'

First things first, when it pulled up outside my house it immediately caught my attention, this is a good looking car. Elixir Red, blacked out rear windows, GT badge…Yes, yes, yes! It looks sporty, a little bit sexy and thankfully doesn’t shout ‘I am practical’! (Even though I knew it was) 

As well as having a neatly designed big front grill, which we are used to seeing on electric cars, it also has two rather distinct fangs (the day time running lights) which earnt itself the name, Viper, in our house. 

So how did our two fanged friend drive? It’s a really responsive drive and relatively smooth, but the 156hp maybe doesn’t pack the punch I would expect from a car with a GT badge. I drove it mainly in sport mode which gave it a nice little edge although that of course did impact on the range a bit. Speaking of which, the range. The WLTP range of 257 miles is just a little shy of where I would like it to be and on a mixed drive I was getting closer to 210 miles, which is perfectly adequate for most people, but I don’t have access to home charging, so it just meant a few extra evening drop offs at our local Source London charger. 

A pizza the charging action

The range on the 308 SW for local journeys was very true to form, however take off about 15% of the range when you’re doing motorway driving. Now this Is where things got interesting.. charging on the go. Most of the time I was using a Source London public charger round the corner from where I live and it did the job quickly and efficiently. I always charge over night and came back to a full charge the following morning. However I also used a service station charger, popped it on charge with no issues and swanned off to buy my lunch (Mac and cheese if you must know), I ate my lunch slowly to give it the full 30 min charge it needed for a full fast charge.. And I returned to discover that it stopped charging after I’d left the car. How?!! Well, after a bit of detective work.. My conclusion was that although I had locked the car and left it charging, I then had to walk round the back of the car which triggered the car to automatically unlock and stop the charge! Not ideal. You can switch of the automatically lock/unlock feature on the key fob, but this is one of things I love - never having to dig to the bottom of my handbag to the find the key is an absolute joy so I wouldn’t switch off the functionality - just be aware! 

The next time I had to charge on the go, I opted for the take away Domino’s, and sat in the car as I wasn’t taking any chances! It didn’t happen again. 

Sticking the boot in

The interior is really lovely, all the finishes and materials make it feel more high end than it's price tag but I did find it a little cramped both upfront and in the back. Fortunately I didn’t do any long journeys in the back, I left that to the kids to experience! They were happy with the space but they are pretty small! Usually on long trips I would use the space behind the driver and front passenger seats as extra luggage space but there wasn’t much room for that. Luckily the 608 litre boot makes up for that. It is very spacious and the low load height made it very easy for getting in the double buggy. Also big shout out to the hands free boot opening - so so useful when carrying bags, scooters, children, all at the same time! 

For a car that has ample space in the boot, it was tight in the back for my three kids. The eldest is just about old enough to go in the car without a ca seat but ideally he would  have a booster seat but we struggled to get it in. There aren’t many cars you can fit three car seats across the back but by the time we had two car seats on either side, it left a very narrow middle seat for my eldest. In an ideal world he would sit on a booster seat but it wouldn’t fit.  The narrow middle seat also made it harder to strap the seat belt in which my eldest still needs help with. 

The other place I felt crammed in was the front passenger seat - hand bag, plus baby change bag, plus snack bag = No space for my legs! Perhaps this is more a reflection on my packing, but I do like to have everything for a long journey in easy reach and it was a little tight!

A bit of a back breaker - getting the kids in and out wasn’t the easiest. The low ride height coupled with the slightly narrow door opening made things tricky. I would say this was the most annoying thing about having the 308, but ask me again in five years when the kids can get themselves in and out independently and it wouldn’t be a problem!

There has been a lot of chatter about the shape, size and position of the steering wheel as it can affect your eye line to see the digital display - for a lot of people it get’s right in the way. But I like a high seating position and didn’t find the steering wheel blocked my view. 

It’s a relatively big car to park but it never felt it. It has a tight turning circle and the cameras give plenty of support to take any stress of parking away. The quality of the image wasn’t top spec but perfectly adequate. A nice little feature is that the camera moves with the direction of the steering wheel to give you a really good view. 

Verdict...so far

Overall we have really enjoyed the Peugeot, it made me feel cool on the school run, taking me back to my racy roots!! The boot is amazing and we didn’t ever need for more boot space, although perhaps with three very young kids that require full assistance, it’s not best for access. Ginny has grabbed the keys for the remainder of our time with the car, so it will be interesting to she has the same experience as me.