Peugeot e-308

New electric family hatchback puts a French twist on the Vauxhall Astra Electric's recipe On sale Now Price from £40,050

- Doug Revolta

IF YOU BOUGHT one of the first DVD players that went on sale in 1997, you would have paid north of £600. A few years later, you could get one for less than £50. The point is: you often pay a premium for new technology. The hope is that as it develops and becomes more commonplace over the years, the price comes down.

So, are we seeing a similar pattern with electric vehicles (EVS)? Well, yes and no. Some EVS, such as the MG 4, are very affordable these days, but that's certainly not universally the case. Take the Peugeot e-308, for example.

This fully electric version of Peugeot's family hatchback joins petrol and plug-in hybrid versions with an entry-level price of £40,050, while the top-spec e-308 GT model we tried will set you back £42,250. That makes it expensive, even in the massively inflated new-tech EV market. The entry-level MG 4, which isn't as nice inside but pretty similar in many other respects, is around £14,000 cheaper in like-forlike guise. And stepping up to the class-leading Tesla Model 3 will cost you only slightly more.

Mechanically and electrically, the e-308 is largely identical to the Vauxhall Astra Electric. Both cars use the same 51kWh (usable capacity) battery and the same 154bhp electric motor, which drives the front wheels.