PEUGEOT E-3008

EV ushers in third generation of Peugeot's family SUV and a platform that will underpin myriad Stellantis group models

Never has a Stella been so significant. No, not a pint of Belgium's finest enjoyed at 6am in Luton airport to kick-start the holiday of a lifetime but rather Stellantis's new STLA (pronounced 'Stella' - geddit?) architecture.

It's going to underpin two million cars per year from the many and diverse brands within the Stellantis stable, and the first of them is the third-generation Peugeot 3008.

Given that the current 3008 has been a phenomenal success for Peugeot since its 2017 launch, selling 1.3 million times in 130 countries, the pressure is on for the new one to not just keep that run of form going but also to ensure sound fundamentals for so many other models to come.

The STLA Medium architecture (there are also Small, Large and Frame ones in the works for other sizes of car) has been designed for EVS first and foremost, then adapted to house ICE and plug-in hybrid powertrains, rather than the other way around. But the differences are such that it could almost be considered an EV-native architecture.

To that end, STLA Medium chief engineer Hervé Scheidegger says that "everything has been chosen around the battery" and the battery has been used for lots of secondary functions, including rigidity. One focus has been to simply make it as big as possible, and indeed a 98kWh battery is offered in the e-3008 for up to 435 miles of range. A 73kWh pack is standard, and it can be charged from 20-80% in 20 minutes at a rate of 160kW.

STLA Medium is designed for cars between 4.3m and 4.9m long and with wheelbases of 2.7-2.9m. At just over 4.5m long and with a wheelbase of 2.7m, the new 3008 is towards the more compact end of the spectrum, yet it still sits in the heart of that ever-growing 4.5m- to 4.7m-long family crossover class and is marginally larger than its predecessor.