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limited to 130 miles at best. That’s the EV you’ll buy in spite of its shortcomings, because you want one.
The new Peugeot e-208 and Mini Electric, on the other hand, are recognisable badges and bodyshells. There’s a sense of continuity about them – they’re just new models in an existing family of small cars. And there’s a sportier edge to them – the Mini is badged as a Cooper S, complete with fake bonnet scoop. And the Peugeot at least is good for almost 200 miles on a charge. The Mini? Well… there’s a whiff of Mini having its cake and eating it there.
Mini claims, at best, the Electric will give you 145 miles between charges. It estimates 124–145 miles, in fact, giving some wriggle room depending how often you drive it like the Cooper S it purports to be. Underneath, though BMW doesn’t much care to talk about it, the drivetrain borrows all sorts of know-how from the i3.
Crucially, this is a butchered fossil-fuelled car that’s had batteries awkwardly stuffed underneath, thanks to a slight ride height boost and cavities where the fuel tank used to sit. Mini is rightly proud of the fact it hasn’t sacrificed a litre of bootspace to cram the lithium-ion cells in, though raising the floor has nicked a few millimetres of headroom. However, this being a Mini, there wasn’t really much space to sacrifice in the first place.
Mini says all its data proves Mini drivers rarely travel more than 26 miles per day, on average, so a 120-mile charge will see out the working week. On test, we found it’s more like 80–100 miles, especially if you fail to resist indulging Sport mode.
This is the first serious run someone’s had at making an electric hot hatch. With 181bhp and 199lb ft, it’s as powerful as the petrol Cooper S, but wheelspin-free thanks to the i3’s pre-emptive traction control and Mini’s decision to ramp up the power like turbo boost, rather than dumping it all at the front wheels in a nanosecond, which is amusing the first time and then immediately a pain in the arse in stop-start traffic.
In corners, it skilfully retains that cartoonish Mini chuckability. Though it’s 145kg heavier, that weight is found far lower down, and
much less front-biased, so the Electric feels planted and grippy. Bit less alert than the petrol version, but better balanced and good natured, scuttling about daily chores with enthusiasm. Happy days – until you check the miles per kWh. Whoops.
You simply don’t have the range to sustain enjoying the Mini, and even mundanity will be a struggle – as per the Honda e.
A lap of the M25? Forget it. Manchester to Birmingham?
Only with the heater off.
So, this is the Peugeot e-208’s golden opportunity. Five doors, 211 miles of claimed range, and the sporty looking GT-line is £29,650. That slightly undercuts the top-spec Mini, but you’ve about 80 miles more real-world range. Both can muster an 80 per cent recharge in half an hour, if you can find a charger beefy enough.
If anything, the e-208’s cabin is even more impressive than the Mini’s. It has its own idiosyncrasies – the tiny wheel, the 3D speedo graphics – but the quality’s spectacular, the architecture ambitious. Downside, as ever – Peugeot’s touchscreen home for all climate controls and main menus is laggy and obtuse, and the toothy switchgear’s haphazard.
There are other spoilers. There simply isn’t enough space in the back to make this a true four-seater – an issue it obviously shares with the petrol 208. And the drive can’t cash the cheques the styling’s writing. You can tell immediately this is a ‘normal’ car being made to accommodate an anvil of extra weight. Peugeot entirely rethought the rear suspension and concreted the spring rates in an attempt to contain the heft, but the result is a fabulously handsome little car that doesn’t feel as perky as the Mini, nor as compliant as the Renault. The hyperfast steering’s at odds with the car’s synthetic, lazy responses.
We circle back to why the Ford Fiesta currently tops the fossil-fuelled supermini set. It’s the most rounded – great to drive, easy to operate, spacious enough, and well-priced. Others are plusher, comfier, more daring, but the Fiesta’s the jack of all trades and master of some. Same rules should apply for EVs, and that’s why the Zoe is the pick of the bunch. Slow ’n’ steady has won the race.
“WITH 181BHP AND 199LB FT, IT’S AS POWERFUL AS THE PETROL COOPER S”
It was no April Fool. When order books opened for the Tesla Model 3 on 1 April 2016, people dived on in. By the end of the following day Tesla had advance orders for 276,000 cars – an order book worth over £7 billion. It was the most hyped car in history. This was a year before it was due to go on sale. And then it was late. And then later. And when it did start being built, the rate of production was nowhere – it was going to take Tesla a decade to catch up. Wall Street was nervous, Elon Musk was gambling and 63,000 people decided they didn’t want to play, cancelling their cars. But by then the order book was approaching half a million. It was a story that just doesn’t happen in the modern car business.
Unless you’re Tesla. The first cars landed in the UK a year ago and there was controversy as Tesla immediately juggled the pricing strategy and model range, unsettling buyers. It took a while to calm down, but by then we were already sure of one thing. The Tesla Model 3 was a gamechanger.
Partly this is down to price – you can get one for less than £40,000, or around £500 a month, and partly down to ease of use – you might have to pay for the Supercharger network, but it’s simple and attractive to use, 24 pence per kwh is equivalent to a petrol car returning 70mpg, and there’s zero tailpipe emissions. It makes you feel good. And so does the driving experience. Even the cheapest of the three-model range is very swift (0–60mph in 5.3secs), but it’s the silence, smoothness and simplicity of it all that makes the Model 3 so easy to adapt to. Initially disconcerting as, heck, there’s not even a starter button, but why do you need one? It’s a legacy item in the electric world.
Yes, the front end is froggy, rear legroom is modest, the saloon boot is more awkward than a tailgate and it doesn’t handle and involve like a BMW 3-Series. But when we put them headto-head, the Model 3 made the 3-Series feel old and outdated. The Tesla won. There’s no catch to the ownership experience, half a million people really didn’t get it wrong. Go on the Tesla website now and the waiting list is less than two months. So what are you waiting for?