New Peugeot E-308 SW 2026 review: a compelling electric estate car
Peugeot has given the E-308 SW a fetching new look and a price cut as part of its mid-life refresh, but its charging speeds are a little disappointing
Verdict
For those in the market for a stylish and practical electric family car with a premium-feeling interior that, crucially, isn't an SUV, the Peugeot E-308 SW is certainly worth considering. The already-sleek estate car is even more eye-catching now, thanks to its mid-life makeover and a £10k price cut. Unfortunately, Peugeot hasn’t given it much more range despite fitting a larger battery, and the rapid-charging abilities are still unable to match those of its higher-riding rivals.
It feels like a brand-new electric SUV arrives every other week, whereas electric estate cars remain a rare breed. However, more have steadily been introduced in recent years by BMW, Audi and Volkswagen, plus the Subaru E-Outback lands this summer, and we learned just this week there’s even a Polestar 4 wagon on its way.
In the midst of all this excellent news for estate-car enthusiasts, the Peugeot E-308 SW has received a mid-life makeover that has given it a sharper, more muscular look than before, but limited upgrades under the metal.
However, arguably the biggest change with the new E-308 SW is it costs more than £10,000 less than it did before, partly thanks to the Government’s Electric Car Grant (ECG), which knocks £1,500 off and has lowered the starting price to £30,695.
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That puts it in the same price bracket as other zero-emissions family cars such as the Skoda Elroq, MINI Countryman and Nissan Leaf SUVs, or Volkswagen ID.3 and Renault Megane hatchbacks. So the E-308 SW has to stand out, and this being a Peugeot, it knows how.
The majority of the visual changes are up front, with the new grille featuring thicker body-coloured accents and, for the first time, an illuminated Peugeot shield, which is found on all but the base-spec model. Illuminated logos seems to be the new trend for car brands at the moment, with Volkswagen, Vauxhall, Mercedes and others all blinging up their badges.
Peugeot’s old fang-like daytime running light design is gone, replaced by sleeker ‘three-claw’ DRLs that are connected by small LED strips in the nose. The main headlamps are now separate units, which are concealed by the large gloss-black air vents in the redesigned bumper that’s now more aggressive and helps make the car look wider.
There are fresh 18-inch alloy-wheel designs, as well as a new Ingaro Blue standard paint colour. The only tweak to the rear is that every model now comes with 3D ‘three-claw’ tail-lights that used to only be fitted to range-topping examples.
Changes to the interior are far more subtle, extending to new seat fabrics, updated graphics for the 10-inch driver’s digital display and more luxuries for range-topping models, such as Alcantara heated, massaging seats and a 360-degree camera. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, because the E-308’s cabin already felt well finished – with quality that’s still superior to a VW ID.3 – and it keeps its impressive looks.
Of course, Peugeot’s unconventional i-Cockpit layout remains the proverbial elephant in the room. If you're not familiar, the set-up requires drivers to look over the top of the small, chunky, octagonal steering wheel to read the instrument cluster. This can result in an awkward driving position for some people, as we can attest, so we recommend potential buyers try it out for themselves before they buy.
That said, we had less trouble finding a comfortable driving position in the E-308 SW than other Peugeot products we’ve tested and were still able to read the entirety of the display ahead. Although if you lower the wheel too much you can still punch yourself in the leg when cornering, so be mindful of that on a twisty road or adopt the police-approved wheel-shuffling technique.
The 10-inch central touchscreen is the same as before. It’s bright and sharp, but not the most responsive and the infotainment system is confusing to navigate. In GT or GT Premium models like the one we tested, you get another display with a row of large customisable ‘i-Toggles’ shortcut buttons that can help, and below that are physical switches, including one which can be used to deactivate some of the Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) features by pressing it for a second or so.
Most of the other functions on the car, such as changing the cabin temperature, have to be done via the main touchscreen, which can often be annoying and distracting due to its response times. Interestingly, in entry-level Allure trim the E-308 actually gets physical climate controls instead of the i-Toggles panel, including temperature dials and a rocker switch for the fan speed. These might not look as sleek, but we think that it might be the better set-up to use.
In terms of practicality, adults will find the rear cabin of the E-308 rather cramped. There’s plenty of headroom, but only just enough legroom for anyone around six-foot tall to squeeze in the back, and that’s only because the backs for the front seats have been sculpted in a way that makes room for passengers’ knees.
Kids and teenagers will be fine though, plus there’s a pair of USB-C charging ports and cup-holders for them. There are only two sets of Isofix mounting points for child seats, and they’re both in the back.
The E-308 SW offers 505 litres of boot space, which is an increase of 144 litres over the regular hatchback and 35 litres more than you get in a Skoda Elroq. The boot is a nice square shape, too, and there’s no load lip to contend with, so loading items should be a piece of cake. If you’ve a load of stuff to lug around, lowering the rear seats gives you 1,402 litres-worth of space to work with.
There are a couple of hooks dotted around if you need to stop luggage sliding around, plus a small storage net on one side and a 12V socket. There’s not much underfloor storage, but there’s just enough to cram the charging cable into the space.
The E-308 SW is a good car to drive, but not exceptional or exciting. For one thing, while the front-mounted e-motor’s 154bhp output is sufficient to keep up with traffic, this car feels slow by family EV standards and takes 9.9 seconds from 0-62mph. There’s a bit more oomph when you switch to Sport mode, but giving this car a little more power would have gone a long way.
Meanwhile, the Peugeot rides well on the UK’s pockmarked roads and does a good job absorbing the impacts from potholes, although you’ll hear a loud thud whenever you go over one. A fair amount of road noise comes into the cabin as well, and on uneven surfaces the car starts to fidget. It doesn’t roll around through corners though, and the steering is direct.
The E-308 has gained an adjustable regenerative braking system at last, with paddles between the steering wheel offering three strength levels, which we’d describe as ‘unnoticeable’, ‘barely noticeable’ and ‘fairly noticeable’ in terms of how quickly the car slows when you lift off the accelerator, and even the strongest setting does so very gently. There’s no one-pedal driving mode though or, more bizarrely, an auto-hold function which would help make driving in stop-start town traffic less stressful.
Peugeot’s estate EV is now powered by a 55.4kWh usable battery (up from 50.4kWh before), which has bumped up the range to 255 to 275 miles. For comparison, the most affordable Skoda Elroq will do up to 267 miles on a charge, but other versions get a bigger battery that ups the range to 355 miles.
We managed to average 3.0mi/kWh during our testing across a variety of roads, which equates to a real-world range of less than 170 miles from a full charge. Speaking of which, the Peugeot’s 100kW maximum charging speed is also a long way off most of its rivals, including the Skoda, which can hit up to 175kW.
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| Model: | Peugeot E-308 SW GT |
| Price: | £34,195 |
| Powertrain: | 55.4kWh battery, 1x e-motor |
| Power/torque: | 154bhp/270Nm |
| Transmission: | Single-speed automatic, front-wheel drive |
| 0-62mph: | 9.9 seconds/106mph |
| Range: | 275 miles |
| Max charging: | 100kW (20-80% in 32 mins) |
| Size (L/W/H): | 4,636/1,852/1,454mm |
| On sale: | Now |
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