Range and performance upgrades announced for the e-208 and DS 3 E-Tense

Stellantis is installing the new electric motor with 115 kW output and 260 Nm torque in the new model year of the Peugeot e-208 and DS 3 E-Tense. This had also recently been confirmed for the purely electric versions of the Peugeot 308 and its estate offshoot 308 SW.

In the new Peugeot e-208, power increases by 15 per cent to the aforementioned 115 kW with the new electric drive system. At the same time, improvements in efficiency should reduce the average energy consumption of the e-208 to 12 kWh. And: According to Stellantis, the range will increase to up to 400 kilometres, primarily due to the use of a 50 kWh battery of the latest generation (with a future usable capacity of 48.1 kWh). That is 38 kilometres or 10.5 per cent more than before. According to the manufacturer, however, the WLTP certification process for the new range specification is still underway.

Stellantis had already given the e-208 an update and thus a further range in 2022. In that update, the range increased by 6.5 per cent or 22 kilometres compared to the premiere model at the end of 2019. The optimisations made at that time are still valid for the 2023 model: the new e-208 also has a heat pump, A+ tyres and an optimised transmission ratio.

The e-208 still comes with a 7.4 kW onboard charger from the factory, but can also be ordered with 11 kW. For DC charging at 100 kW, Stellantis quotes a charging time of “less than 25 minutes from 20 per cent to 80 per cent”. In this respect, the 2023 model does not differ significantly from its predecessors.

The French company produced nearly 110,000 units of the e-208 since its launch in 2019. Since the beginning of 2022, the model has led the electric B-segment in Europe, it says, and is in first place of all electric vehicles sold in France. Whether the price of the Peugeot electric car will change is not clear from the current announcement.

So much for the e-208, the new DS 3 E-Tense, which will no longer be called Crossback, will also receive the new e-motor with 115 kW output in 2023. This will be combined with the new battery generation with 54 kWh (50.8 kWh usable) already announced for the Peugeot e-308. This increases the range to up to 400 kilometres (WLTP) with 12.6 kWh/100 km consumption. In pure city traffic, more than 500 kilometres are possible, according to Stellantis.

This is due to the efficiency of the electric motor, its ability to recover energy, additional equipment such as the heat pump, thermal preconditioning and the new LED headlights as well as the aerodynamic optimisation of the front section and the wheels, the French say. Added to this is a 10 mm reduction in ground clearance on models with newly offered 17- and 18-inch wheels.

On the DS 3 E-Tense, the onboard charger provides 11 kW AC as standard. Fast charging with direct current is possible on board with 100 kW. The charging process from 0 to 80 per cent SoC is said to take 25 minutes.

DS had also previously revised the DS 3 E-Tense for 2022. Since then, the compact electric car has managed up to 341 kilometres – almost seven per cent more than the original version. In addition to the core elements of engine and battery, the 2023 version will also be further developed in terms of appearance and function: the model will receive new LED headlights, new daytime running lights and a revised grille as standard. In addition, there is a choice of two new body colours, ‘Diva Red’ and ‘Silk Grey’.

Inside, the most striking features are a new 10.3-inch centre screen and a new steering wheel that regroups controls and buttons and combines them with paddle shifters for the automatic transmission. In combination with the new display, the DS 3 E-Tense also gets the DS Iris infotainment system on board as standard. This allows the central screen and the 7-inch instrument panel with head-up display to be customised, among other things.

Other new features include a 360-degree camera and the now factory-fitted Lane Keeping Assist, Traffic Sign Recognition with a display on the instrument panel and Active Safety Brake up to a speed of 85 km/h. Additional driver assistance systems are available as an option, including advanced traffic sign recognition.

The new DS 7 is also now available to order, with the Crossback suffix dropped. Three plug-in hybrid versions are offered for the new DS 7. The most powerful version is the new DS 7 E-Tense 4×4 360 with 265 kW (360 hp) all-wheel drive, which combines a petrol engine with 147 kW (200 hp) and two electric motors with 81 kW at the front and 83 kW at the rear.

It is flanked by the second four-wheel drive DS 7 E-Tense 4×4 300 with 220 kW system output and an electric range of 66 kilometres as well as the front-wheel drive DS 7 E-Tense 225 with 165 kW system output (133 kW petrol engine and 81 kW electric motor) and 66 kilometres electric range. For a special contingent of the DS7, Stellantis still offers a delivery guarantee for 2022 for orders placed by 30 September.

media.stellantis.com (Peugeot e-208), media.stellantis.com (DS 3), media.stellantis.com (DS 7)