Facelifted Peugeot 208 and E-208 will leave you spoilt for choice

• Updated Peugeot 208 starts from £20,400, E-208 from £32,400
• Dramatic front design
• Improved infotainment

The Peugeot 208 was already one of the sharpest-looking small cars on the block, but that hasn’t stopped Peugeot giving the model a refresh – and it’s now available to order.

The automotive nip-and-tuck has given both the 208 and all-electric E-208 a new look at the front end, with redesigned headlights and a three-clawed daytime running light signature inspired by the brand’s Le Mans car, the 9X8. It’s echoed in the new headlights on GT models, which feature three individual light units behind the lenses, while Allure and GT trims get a grille design with body-colour elements spreading out from its centre.

There’s a similar claw-inspired look at the back, with horizontal bars in the new tail lights, and once again GT versions get the most striking details, with LED indicators and reversing lights. Across the 208 and E-208 ranges, there’s a selection of seven colours, with two being new to the range. The vivid hue in Peugeot’s images is Agueda Yellow, while Selenium Grey is also available – a moody shade taken from the high-performance 508 PSE.

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The 208’s interior has been updated too, with wireless infotainment connectivity standard on Active, Allure, and GT models, the latter pair getting standard navigation. E-Style variants, unique to the E-208, get a seven-inch touchscreen, while those further up the range use a 10-inch screen. There’s ambient lighting, a 3D Quartz instrument panel on the GT, and of course Peugeot’s new logo in the centre of the steering wheel.

For the E-208 there’s little change in battery size, nor power options. Peugeot has reintroduced the old 134bhp model with a 50kWh battery (and 225 miles of WLTP range) in E-Style trim, while the 154bhp motor introduced in a recent update gets a 51kWh pack that can now manage up to 248 miles on a charge. An 11kW three-phase onboard charger is an option, and Peugeot quotes a 20-80% top up in under half an hour on a 100kW public rapid charger.

PureTech 75 and 100 petrol engines are still available, but between the E-208 and the conventional petrol models, Peugeot has now squeezed a pair of ‘self-charging’ hybrids, with 99bhp and 134bhp.

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The combined efforts of petrol power and an electric motor drive through a six-speed dual-clutch automatic, but with a small battery to deploy power and harvest energy, Peugeot says up to 50% of urban driving can be handled on electric power. In Active trim, the lower-power model’s 101g/km equates to 64.9mpg combined – compared to 57.4mpg for the PureTech 100.

Pricing now starts at £20,400 for an Active trim model with the PureTech 75 petrol engine, and the hybrid begins at just over £23,000, also in Active trim. The cheapest E-208, again in Active spec, is just over £32,000, rising to more than £36,000 for the top-spec GT.

If you're looking for more practicality, it's worth reading our review on the recently updated Peugeot 2008 and E-2008...