Peugeot E-5008 has landed: a futuristic French family EV with seven seats

Like the Peugeot E-3008, but need just a little more space? Well, the Peugeot E-5008 has just landed as an even more spacious, seven-seater electric SUV with a range of over 400 miles.

Peugeot E-5008: dimensions, third row and boot space

The Peugeot E-5008 shares its STLA-Medium underpinnings with the smaller E-3008, however, the French maker has extended the wheelbase (the distance between the front and rear wheels) by 160mm, contributing to the car’s 250mm greater length overall.

This has allowed Peugeot to fit an extra row of seats, accommodating up to seven people (including the driver) who can travel around in ‘Motion and Emotion’ (if you know, you know). The third row of seats can be accessed via what Peugeot calls its ‘Easy Access’ system – essentially a small lever which automatically folds and slides the second row forward, allowing for easy access into the rear.

We’ve already spent some time poking around the E-5008 and, from our experience, the third row is roomier than you might expect for a three-row SUV; taller adults will find things a bit tight, but kids, teenagers and the vertically challenged among us will find there’s ample room. Those in the second row are even able to manually recline their backrests, which is a nice luxury touch, although this does come at the expense of the shins of those sitting behind.

Behind the third row of seats, the E-5008 offers 259 litres of cargo space, which is slightly less than what you’d get in the dinky Peugeot E-208 supermini. Fold down the third row, however, and this expands to 748 litres, and a cavernous 1,815 litres with both the second and third rows of seats folded. While there isn’t any additional cargo space in the form of a ‘frunk’ underneath the bonnet, there is some underfloor storage in the boot, which is perfect for charging cables.

Design and interior

Take one look at the stylish new Peugeot E-5008 and it’s hard to believe that its predecessor was a frumpy petrol-powered people carrier. The new E-5008 takes several design cues from the smaller E-3008, such as its infinity mirror-like grille, lion’s claw LED headlights and angular bodywork creases.

Yet, unlike the E-3008 which has adopted a more coupe-SUV silhouette in its transition to electric power, the Peugeot E-5008 remains wholeheartedly a boxy family SUV, with a much higher roofline to boost headroom for passengers in the back and a predominantly flat rear end, accented by ‘PEUGEOT’ and ‘E-5008’ script on the bootlid.

On the inside, the E-5008’s dashboard is almost identical to the E-3008’s. This is no bad thing, however, as that car debuted Peugeot’s latest iteration of its i-Cockpit set-up. This comprises a huge curved 21-inch digital instrument cluster-cum-central touchscreen and is standard fit on all UK models. Sitting below this is an additional ‘i-Toggle’ display which acts as a configurable line of shortcut ‘buttons’ for your most used functions, such as the sat-nav or climate controls.

Specs, powertrains and range

Peugeot will offer the E-5008 with a choice of three powertrains. Base models get a 201bhp electric motor to power the front wheels, as well as a 73kWh battery pack which offers a range of up to 327 miles. The Long Range model, as its name suggests, gets a longer range of up to 410 miles; it also gets a more powerful 228bhp to account for the extra weight of the larger battery.

Finally, the top-of-the-range AWD Dual Motor car gets an electric motor on each axle to provide four-wheel drive and 321bhp. Peugeot hasn’t released any performance statistics yet, but it has indicated that the Dual Motor car’s 73kWh battery will allow for a maximum of 310 miles of driving on a charge. All versions can charge at speeds of up to 160kW, allowing for a 20-80% top-up in as little as half an hour.

As is also the case with the smaller E-3008, Peugeot plans to also offer the E-5008 with mild and plug-in hybrid powertrains in the future (both being badged simply ‘5008’). The electric E-5008 models will come first, though, most likely sold in both Allure and GT trim levels.

Peugeot is yet to detail any pricing information for its new electric seven-seater. The five-seat E-3008 currency starts from £45,850, so with this in mind, we expect the E-5008 to start from around £50,000 when it goes on sale in the autumn.