The new all-electric Peugeot e-3008 is set for up to 435 miles of range, and our exclusive images preview how it could look when it arrives later in 2023
Peugeot is preparing a push of next-generation models – and the process will kick off with an all-new 3008, which will go all electric when it’s revealed in the second half of this year.
Brand boss Linda Jackson confirmed recently that the 3008 will be the first Peugeot to sit on parent firm Stellantis’s new platforms for pure-electric vehicles, with the STLA Medium underpinnings chosen for the new e-3008.
Now, speaking to Auto Express (and combined with early shots taken by our spy photographers), Jackson has given us an indication as to how the e-3008 could look, as previewed by our exclusive images.
Jackson’s Stellantis colleague, Citroen CEO Vincent Cobée, told us previously that EVs will kill off the SUV as we know it, due to a greater emphasis on aerodynamics. So we put that question to Jackson to get an idea of future designs and bodystyles.
“I would express it in a different way”, she told us. “Why do customers buy SUVs today? Because they like a slightly higher driving position. Because they like the security. Because they like the modularity. There’s no visibility that customers will change from that, so the challenge is how do we create that in a more aerodynamic way? It’s going to change the shape.”
Expect the new e-3008 to still offer a raised driving position and ride height when it breaks cover later this year, but we also anticipate a sleeker roofline towards the rear end, reducing the car’s drag to improve the all-electric machine’s range. A new grille treatment inspired by Peugeot’s Inception concept revealed earlier this year at CES will likely feature, given that the brand previously outlined that Inception “will inspire Peugeot’s future products from 2025”, when deliveries of the new e-3008 are likely to start. This new, faired-in face will boost efficiency.
“Even if you take a 408, which is neither an SUV nor a sedan [saloon], it’s a crossover. It’s a cross between the two, a dynamic fastback, whatever you want to call it. For me, that’s where it will change. There’s no doubt, when we used to have these very high SUVs, they’re not aerodynamically suited to efficiency, so inevitably they will change.
“You’re seeing sleeker, different concepts, so I would take it from that way. I think customers like that higher driving position, so won’t change. But they want to have something that will be efficient. That’s the challenge.”
When it comes to range, Peugeot has outlined that the e-3008 will offer up to 435 miles on a charge, while it’s known that the STLA Medium platform can accommodate batteries between 87 and 104kWh. A charge rate of 20 miles per minute has also been a target for the STLA project.
Peugeot has confirmed that the new e-3008 will be available with three electric powertrains and dual-motor all-wheel drive. A single-motor, two-wheel-drive set-up is expected to make up the majority of sales.
Jackson believes that sectors of the market will be less rigidly defined than they are today, and that new Peugeots will be characterised by more daring design.
“The next models you’ll see coming from Peugeot won’t be bland, uniform and boring. We will be challenging,” she said.
“We want to have a general coherence, but I think it’s important that you can tell the products apart, which is why it’s very important to have these product markers – which we have – which are about the lighting signature, about the three claws, and we want to make sure that is clear throughout the whole range.
“You’ve got to try and balance it. The way we treat the lighting signature – we always want the three claws, but it may be a different way you treat it on a large car than you would on a smaller one. It’s hard to get coherence, plus a level of individuality.”
Peugeot has said future model design will be based around four principles: new proportions for more flexibility and freedom of bodystyle, new perspectives for a totally new design language, new space to rethink the interior and, linked to this, new gestures when it comes to the brand’s i-Cockpit layout and infotainment.
However, the firm’s new Hypersquare steering wheel, first seen on the Inception concept (scheduled to make its debut in 2026) and made possible thanks to steer-by-wire tech, won’t feature on the e-3008.
Still, expect a new interior architecture thanks to Stellantis’s STLA Brain software, adding over-the-air updates (Peugeot’s plan is to add a periodic ‘Allure’ refresh, unlocking new capability or updating digital design elements), and the STLA Smart Cockpit next-generation interface.
The new e-3008 will set the template for the larger e-5008 SUV, which the brand says will follow “shortly after”.
Keyword: New 2023 Peugeot 3008 set for bold look and all-electric power