SINGAPORE – Physicist Albert Einstein’s celebrated theory of relativity says that if you travel faster than the speed of light, you will go back in time. My theory of relativity is a lot more mundane and says that the perception of a car’s quality varies over time.
With increasingly more choices available and with more technological improvements, a car which stood head and shoulders above its peers as recently as two years ago may not shine as brightly today. This is especially so for electric models, which get the most focus from manufacturers today.
Take the Peugeot e-2008 GT compact crossover, for example. When this car was launched in 2022, it was without a doubt the best pick among mass-market electric models. And I said so in a review in September 2022.
The car has been given a facelift, with noticeable changes to its front and back which add aggression and dynamism to its two-year-old but still fairly chic styling. Most prominent is its grille, which is completely new, and extends outwards and upwards to meet the headlights. Peugeot’s new emblem takes pride of place up front.
Below the headlights are tri-bar daytime-running LEDs, which glow brightly as you approach the car. The doors unlock (and lock) automatically, and you enter a cabin that is largely similar to the pre-facelift car’s.
The more pertinent changes are not visible. The revised car gets slightly more battery capacity – 50kWh to 54kWh – and a bit more output to go with that. Power rises by 3kW to 100kW and torque goes up by 10Nm to 270Nm.
The boost translates to a one-second reduction in 0-100kmh timing to 9.1 seconds, while top speed remains unchanged at 150kmh. The car, however, still qualifies for the slightly less punitive Category A certificate of entitlement.
The 4kWh increase in battery capacity may not sound like much in terms of additional range, but the test car’s power consumption says otherwise. Over a four-day test, the Peugeot averaged 16.4kWh/100km – somewhat better than the 17.6kWh/100km clocked by the pre-facelift two years ago.
Based on this, the car should have a real-world range of 330km, which is significantly longer than the previous 284km.
The e-2008 is one of the few electric cars whose stated consumption is rosier than the tested figure. Going by its stated 14.1kWh/100km, the car has a range of up to 383km. But my most efficient journey in it was well above 15kWh/100km.
The previous car was not lacking in verve, but the facelift’s increased output makes it more effortless. In Singapore traffic, it is rarely found wanting. And the way it delivers acceleration is more linear and more satisfying than something like the BMW iX1.
Despite its refreshed looks, better performance and longer range, the e-2008 fails to pack a bigger wow factor than the pre-facelift car. Its rear legroom is not great compared with cars of a similar size – for instance, the Ora Good Cat and the BYD Dolphin.
Its ride quality, which was exemplary two years ago, is now matched by several others. Even so, this little French number is still above average in this department. Braking action, however, falls a little short, with the first few degrees of pedal travel not seeming to shed speed.
Several other niggles mar the driving experience. The start button is often insensitive, and you need to press it more than once to awaken the car. The single-zone climate control is relatively weak, and you need to set the temperature at 20 deg C or below so that rear occupants can feel the chill. In fact, there was one journey when the air-conditioning failed to work.
Phone pairing is easy enough, except that navigation cannot be activated because the infotainment system says it does not have location permission. I tried several times to rectify this before giving up.
Compared with many others, the e-2008 is austere when it comes to equipment. Seat adjustments are manual, its tailgate is manual, and the Stellantis group brand still insists on an outdated and unwieldy cruise control fob. Also, the reverse camera system is as rudimentary as the pre-facelift car’s.
While the car is clearly less peachy than when it first appeared in 2022, it is far from crappy. Some of the glitches can probably be resolved; and the car’s automatic door locking and unlocking, although not unique, offsets the absence of other modern conveniences.
Above all, the car’s selling price of $193,888 before applicable discounts makes it pretty good value under current conditions. Relatively speaking, of course.
Follow Christopher Tan on Instagram @chris.motoring
Peugeot e-2008 GT
Price: $193,888 with COE
Motor: Permanent magnet AC synchronous with 54kWh battery
Transmission: Single-speed, front wheel
Power: 100kW at 3,540-13,000rpm
Torque: 270Nm at 500-3,530rpm
0-100kmh: 9.1 seconds
Top speed: 150kmh
Power consumption: 14.1kWh/100km
Agent: AutoFrance
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
