Who makes the best family car? It’s a question we get asked all the time at Electrifying.com. Family car buyers want space, comfort, practicality and long ranges. Family journeys are all about getting from A-B with the minimum of fuss. Nobody wants to be stopping to charge on the way, right?
Until now, Peugeot has never had an electric SUV for families. But the French firm is correcting this by launching not one but two of them – the E-3008 and its slightly larger, seven-seater sister, the E-5008.
The smaller and more important of the two arrives first, and shows Peugeot is taking the electric car market more seriously than it ever has done. Unlike the earlier (and recently updated) E-208 and E-2008, the E-3008 uses a brand new platform under its svelte body that has been better designed for electric power.
Up to now the furthest you could officially travel in a Peugeot was around 260 miles or around 200-220 in the real world, depending on the time of year, so the two batteries in the E-3008 really do move the game on somewhat. From launch, we get the standard-range version, which has a 73kWh useable battery. Two more variations follow in late 2024/early 2025
The first is a twin-motor one for better acceleration and bad-weather traction. That has the same battery and impressively there's no cut in the rated range, according to Peugeot. In most cars you lose a few miles for specifying another motor, and no doubt in this one you will too if you actually dig deep into the improved acceleration.
The bigger battery option has a vast capacity for a car this size, at 98kWh useable, giving 435 miles WLTP. It's front-drive only, but we don't have a price yet for the battery upgrade. Both batteries are lithium-ion and have 400-volt technology.
Renault is also reviving the idea of the family car with its reborn, all-electric Scenic. The new Scenic E-Tech is only available with a front-wheel drive, electric powertrain that offers an impressive WLTP range of between 260- and 379 miles.
Given the long range and generous equipment that it gets as standard, it’s one of the better value electric family cars, as well as being smart inside and useful to live wit - all reasons why it won the European Car of the Year in 2024. The Renault Scenic E-Tech gets two batteries to choose from, offering 60- or 87kWh usable capacities (65- or 91kWh total capacities) with a maximum WLTP combined range of 260- to 379 miles respectively.
That's impressive range, especially given that the big battery starts at under £41,000 - so you should go further in between charges than you will in an equivalent Skoda Enyaq, VW ID.4, Peugeot e-3008 and even the much more expensive Tesla Model Y.
