Peugeot e-308 SW Review 2024

In a world of electric SUVs, the Peugeot e-308 SW is only the second electric estate car to hit the road. If you’re looking for a family EV load-lugger and don't want an SUV, could this be the car for you? Find out in our Peugeot e-308 SW review. 

We’ve only had the luxury of driving the Peugeot e-308 SW on some smooth Spanish roads so far, so it’ll be interesting to see how it copes with British road surfaces once we've tried it in the UK. However, the signs are good.

On the road, the Peugeot e-308 SW feels nice and assured, and surprisingly agile for a front-wheel-drive family estate. The steering is weighted well and there’s plenty of grip when you turn into a corner at speed, but this poise doesn’t come at the expense of comfort.

The ride is supple enough, despite the extra weight of the batteries, while the bumps we did trundle over were absorbed without unsettling the ride. And that’s despite the large 18-inch alloy wheels.

The Peugeot e-308 SW uses a 54kWh battery that’s married to a single electric motor on the front axle. This produces up to 156PS and 270Nm of torque, but you’ll notice we’ve said “up to”, because to enjoy all of the car’s power, you’ll need to be in Sport mode. 

Drive the Peugeot e-308 SW in Normal mode, and you’ll get 136PS, while Eco mode sees the power output drop even further. 

The 0-62mph sprint can be reached in 9.8 seconds – about the same as the 1.2-litre petrol version, and around two seconds slower than the plug-in hybrid options.

All things considered, the Peugeot e-308 SW isn’t a fast estate – you’ll still need something like a Skoda Octavia vRS for genuine pace.

But there’s enough poke for day-to-day driving, especially around town. A bit more shove when you need to make an overtake would be nice, but it gets the job done.  

While Euro NCAP hasn’t specifically tested the Peugeot e-308 SW, it has tested the petrol hatchback version and it scored a slightly disappointing four stars out of five.

These tests have become more stringent over recent years, but the standard car scored 76% for adult occupant safety, 84% for child occupant safety, 68% for pedestrian safety and 65% for safety tech.

The Peugeot e-308 SW comes with a decent array of standard safety tech. This includes automatic post-collision braking, lane keeping assist, driver attention warning, speed limit recognition and active safety brake (with both pedestrian and cyclist detection). 

Upgrade to the Peugeot e-308 SW in GT trim and you get rear cross traffic alert, long range blind spot detection and Peugeot SOS. 

Many electric cars aren’t yet capable of towing vehicles, and no information has been made available for the Peugeot e-308 SW.

The Peugeot e-308 SW measures 4635mm long, 2062mm wide (with the mirrors out) and 1475mm high. That makes it a similar size to the likes of a Skoda Octavia Estate, and a bit longer than an MG5.

Compared to the standard Peugeot e-308 hatch, the wheelbase is 55mm longer, giving passengers a little more legroom.

As we've found with the standard car, taller adults won't feel as comfortable as they would in something like a Volkswagen Golf, but if you’re going to be ferrying kids around, they should be more than happy.

In the front, there’s a decent amount of space, and as with other cars in the range, the driving experience is based around Peugeot’s i-Cockpit.

Put simply, there’s a smaller-than-normal steering wheel that sits below the digital instrument display. Jumping behind the wheel of the Peugeot e-308 SW for the first time, the first thing that strikes you is the lower positioning of the steering wheel, the idea being that you have direct line-of-sight to the instrument display.

That’s fine in principle, but taller drivers might find that some of the bottom of the display will be cut off. It’s definitely something to be aware of.  

There’s also a good amount of storage space dotted around the cabin, with generous door bins, a central armrest cubby and a decent-sized glovebox.

The  Peugeot e-308 SW’s rear seats split 40/20/40 and are easily collapsed thanks to the boot-mounted levers.

The boot, meanwhile, offers 548 litres of space. That’s 60 litres down on the petrol car, but a match for the plug-in hybrid version. If you need more space, with the seats collapsed, capacity increases to 1574 litres. 

The French firm is positioning itself as a more premium option over other Stellantis brands such as Vauxhall, and the Peugeot e-308 SW doesn’t disappoint here.

There’s a nice choice of materials dotted around the cabin, with plenty of soft-touch finishes, stitched leather and gloss black elements. 

Everything feels well put together as well, while the seats offer plenty of support and comfort. 

Both versions of the Peugeot e-308 SW get a 10-inch central touchscreen that’s angled towards the driver.

It’s also based around capacitive tech that makes it as responsive as using your smartphone, rather than the more clunky resistive touchscreen tech that can require a decent jab to make changes.

There’s Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, too, with the GT version of the Peugeot e-308 SW providing wireless connectivity. 

The Peugeot e-308 SW also enjoys what the firm calls ‘i-Toggle’ – a secondary touch-sensitive screen the sits below the main interface and in essence works as a customisable set of shortcut keys. You can choose up to six functions for quick access to settings you use regularly.

On top of this, there’s a set of physical switches.  

Prices for the Peugeot e-308 SW are still to be confirmed, but the electric hatchback starts at £40,050 in Allure trim, so expect the estate version to be about £1000 more.

Given the standard petrol version in comparable Allure trim starts at £30,785, you’re paying about a £10,000 premium. You could argue you’ll be able to recover some of this with reduced running costs and for company car drivers, a benefit-in-kind contribution of only 2% will make it more attractive. 

What about rivals? Well, with limited electric estates to choose from, there’s not much to compare it with right now. There’s the Vauxhall Astra Tourer Electric, which starts at £40,000, while the MG5 starts at only £30,995.  

As we’ve seen with other recent Stellantis EVs, the Peugeot e-308 SW benefits from the company’s latest battery tech. This sees a 54kWh battery pack (51kWh usable) that delivers an official WLTP range of up to 267 miles. 

We’ve driven the Peugeot e-308 SW in mild conditions in Spain, so it’ll be interesting to see how it performs once we get behind the wheel of one in the UK.

However, if our experience with the new Vauxhall Astra Electric – which shares the same battery and motor configuration – is anything to go by, we should expect north of 240 miles in real-world conditions. 

You’re looking at around eight hours to charge at home if you have a 7kW wallbox and expect it to set you back around £17 (although that all depends on your electricity tariff).

If you need to top up on the road, then the Peugeot e-308 SW can be rapid charged at a rate of up to 100kW. Find one of these chargers, and you’ll only have to wait around 30 minutes to boost the battery from 10 per cent to 80 per cent.

The Peugeot e-308 SW is currently exempt from road tax (like all other electric cars), although this is all set to change in April 2025.

At this point, all EVs registered since April 2017 will be taxed at £165 a year.

The EV skips out on the entry-level Active Premium trim level that’s available with the standard car, with the Peugeot e-308 SW Allure the first rung of the range.

It's equipped with 18-inch Ottawa alloys, power folding mirrors, front and rear parking sensors, a reversing camera, a drive mode selector, half faux leather trim, ambient lighting, LED running lights, EcoLED headlights, LED rear lights, heated front seats, climate control and remote pre-conditioning for the cabin as well. 

Next up is the Peugeot e-308 SW GT which adds adaptive cruise control, rear-cross traffic alert and blind spot detection, plus keyless entry and start, wireless phone charging and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

There are also some exterior upgrades, Alcantara trim, black headlining, aluminium door sills, matrix LED headlights, enhanced air quality control system, 3D digital instruments, Driver Sport Pack and a green-stitched leather wheel. 

Finally, the top-of-the-range Peugeot e-308 SW First Edition is based on the GT trim and available for a limited period. It comes with an exclusive Tri-Material interior and is available in a choice three metallic colours.