Demand for Peugeot’s ELECTRIC 208 much higher than expected
The new Peugeot 208 range includes an electric 208 – the Peugeot e-208 – and Peugeot has been taken by surprise by the high number of orders for the electric version.
Rather than go down the route of delivering a compact electric hatch with funky new standout design, Peugeot believe the way to get buyers in to electric cars is to make the electric bit just another powertrain option, so you can choose petrol, diesel, hybrid or electric to power your new car, but much of the rest of the car is the same.
It seems Peugeot were expecting around 10 per cent of orders for the new 208 would be for the electric version, but the reaction to the e-208 has been quite a bit more enthusiastic than that.
Peugeot opened pre-orders for the 208, including the e-208, back in April, offering a place at the front of the queue for the new 208 for a £500 deposit when the order book officially opened, and the figures for pre-orders received are rather interesting.
Speaking to Automotive News, Peugeot boss Jean-Philippe Imparato said that a quarter of the pre-orders Peugeot has received have been for the electric e-208, 2.5 times the anticipated level.
Imparto makes the sensible observation that the figures may be a bit screwed by enthusiastic early adopters for EVs being a bit more on the ball at the pre-order stage, but it does look like the e-208 is going to be a winner for Peugeot.
But despite planning on building just 10 per cent of the new 208’s 300,000 annual production with electric powertrains, Imaprato said they can cope with it being 20 per cent without too much trouble.
Have you placed an order for the electric Peugeot e-208? If so, what made you jump in at the pre-order stage?
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