The Peugeot lion roars...but now that roar is completely silent

​The new fancy Peugeot lion is roaring louder than ever before, which is in stark contrast to the actual cars that I drove in Barcelona earlier this week.

The beloved 208 has just had a delicious midlife facelift while also offering an almost-silent all-electric option, and the big brother 308 has also launched an electric version in its hatch and station wagon options.

So, ladies and gentlemen of the motor-loving world, meet the brand new E-208, E-308 and E-308 SW.

There isn’t actually a bad-looking Peugeot on the market these days, thanks to the new shift in design a decade ago. And that design process has been improved again in the delicious E-208 that can be ordered now in Ireland for as little €32,780 and offer owners more than 400km in electric range based on the WLTP assessment.

Even if you are blind and don’t think it is one of the best-looking city cars in Ireland, you have to admit that the above numbers are extremely enticing.

But in truth, you only truly fall in love with the E-208 when you sit inside and take it out on the road.

It is a comfy, safe and fun drive that loves to be tested on meandering back roads, where it soaks up every lump and bump and corner with class and ease. It is one of the quietest EVs I have driven for a while too, with little or no road noise at all.

It is particularly quiet on urban driving as I got to test during Thursday morning’s rush hour in Spain’s second city. The new front, which uses body-coloured flashes in the grille, is more aerodynamic than the last version and there are new lights, combining updated main lamp clusters with the three-stripe daytime running lights that replace the old Cobra fangs.

The Allure and GT trims take the new design to the next level and you will be hard pushed to find a better looking car from the segment on the road.

There will be a selection of 1.2 ltr petrol engines with 75hp-136hp outputs available as well as more powerful automatics with 100hp and 136hp options which both come with mild hybrid assistance for a little more economy.

The battery has been upgraded from 48kWh to 51kWh, which means the E-208 is punchy.

Luckily, the designers didn’t start over because the infotainment and i-Cockpit is still as good as ever. In fact, it has been tweaked ever so slightly but only for the better as the now-ten-year-old feature continues to excite anyone who is lucky enough to own or drive one.

Then there are the two new E-308s, and while neither the hatch nor the estate has had a facelift, Motormouths can confirm that it will soon be available here in Ireland in an EV form to complement the other two powertrains already on offer.

I got to drive it for a few hours on Wednesday afternoon and it was equally as enjoyable as the baby of the family.

When you consider this new EV is about to take on the likes of the ID.3, MG4 and the Cupra Born, you have to applaud the French outfit for what they have done here. While pricing is yet to be announced, the Peugeot bosses in Spain this week are hopeful they can make it “very competitive” ahead of the car landing into the country in the coming months.

It is very marginally different to the current 308.In fact, the most obvious change is the uppercase use of the ‘E’ in the name as opposed to the lowercase ‘e’ we are used to seeing on Peugeot’s electric fleet to date.

The E-308 has the familiar i-Cockpit inside, which means a small and low steering wheel beneath a high digital instrument cluster. The new electric version has a dedicated screen in the i-Connect system, which shows things like energy flow, energy recovery (during regenerative braking), consumption and charging stats.

The new battery option means the boot has been hit slightly and is now down to 412 litres, which is still decent enough, but the combustion versions do offer more.

There is a good punch to the acceleration here too and I actually think this car is even quieter than the E-208 when at full pelt on the motorways.

The pricing will be a huge factor on this car. The plug-in hybrid version, which is already available, comes in at the early-to-mid €40s. So if the taxation on the full EV goes Peugeot’s way I think you can predict that the E-308 will come in around the same.

Overall, this week’s launch was a huge success. One of the most exciting car brands in the business is continuing to… eh…be exciting and with an electric version of the 3008 and the 5008 out next year, too, the famous lion will keep on roaring in absolute silence.