The electric version of the next-generation Peugeot 208, due next year, will not get its own bespoke look, the company’s design boss, Gilles Vidal, has told Autocar.
Vidal said the new electric supermini will receive very few modifications, such as a flat front grille and some EV-specific submenus in its infotainment system.
“We do not need to shout about the fact that this car is the electric version,” he said. “The powertrain will complement the [rest of the] 208 range, rather than become its own version.”
Peugeot’s owner, the PSA Group, and its Chinese joint-venture partner, Dongfeng, have developed an EV-specific version of the Common Modular Platform (CMP) that will underpin the new 208. The so-called e-CMP architecture will be the basis for many of PSA’s planned EVs. Vidal didn’t believe that establishing an electric vehicle sub-brand under a different name, as Volkswagen is doing with its forthcoming ID range of cars, is something that would work for Peugeot.
“We have no intention of launching a [stand-alone] electric brand for now,” he said. “For us, the [e-CMP] platform means the cars can take several powertrains as part of our plan [to offer an electric version of each model by 2025].”