► All-electric E-Rifter gets a facelift
► Improved range, new face and interior upgrades
► Five or seven seats
While not the most thrilling of vehicles, I’ve got a lot of time for the Peugeot E-Rifter. Offering an exceptionally spacious interior, comfortable ride and either five or seven seats at significantly less than £40k, it’s arguably one of the best family EVs at a sensible price.
Trouble was, it had a few flaws. Thanks to its tiddly 50kWh battery and a shape that doesn’t so much cut through the air as bludgeon its way past, the real-world range was about 100-120 miles unless you kept your speed down.
Thankfully, some of the efficiency improvements found in other Stellantis EVs are now to be found in the E-Rifter, boosting efficiency and therefore range. If you’d prefer a Griffin on Chevrons on the nose, the upgrades are also to be found in the Citroen Berlingo Electric and Vauxhall Combo Life Electric.
At a glance
Pros: Lots of space for five or seven, huge boot, relaxing to drive
Cons: Sluggish acceleration, range still not great, image
What’s new?
Unlike the Peugeot E-208, Vauxhall Corsa Electric and pretty much every other EV on this platform, the battery pack and electric motor stay the same. Instead, tweaks to the regenerative braking system and the addition of a heat pump boosts efficiency.
It wouldn’t be a facelift if there wasn’t a new nose, so the grille and headlights have been brought into line with the rest of the range. New colours round off the exterior updates, with updated seat fabrics and a larger 10.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system the most notable interior tweaks. All versions now also get fully digital instruments and a new heated steering wheel.
Crucially for a family bus, safety has been improved. There’s now a driver tiredness warning, traffic sign recognition, lane keeping assist, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, more parking sensors and an HD rear camera that’s far sharper than the fuzzy old system.
What are the specs?
The E-Rifter’s battery capacity and power didn’t look particularly impressive at launch, and they’re even more disappointing now. A 50kWh pack looks on the low side for a hatchback let alone something this size, and 134bhp will struggle with seven and luggage aboard.
Those efficiency tweaks do increase the official range to 199 miles, with 0-62mph taking 11.2 seconds. If you’d like some more appealing numbers, consider the 775-litre boot of the standard five-seat model, or giant 4000-litre load bay of the long version with all the seats folded. You wouldn’t get that in an SUV or estate car.
Charge times are unchanged, with a maximum rapid charge rate of 100kW giving a 0-80% time of 30 minutes. Plug it into a regular 7.4kW wallbox and 0-100% takes seven and a half hours, with an optional 11kW charger dropping this to five hours on a punchy enough supply. If you’re stuck with a three-pin plug, you’ll be waiting 15 hours.
What’s it like to drive?
Sedate. That 11.2 second 0-62mph time is for an empty short wheelbase five-seater, with this long wheelbase five-seat test subject feeling slightly slower. It’s fine around town but you won’t be doing much A-road overtaking as it feels much less urgent approaching motorway speeds.
Top speed is 81mph at which point the efficiency falls off a cliff. A tour of downtown Peterborough netted a reasonable 3.7 miles per kilowatt hour, with this dropping to an overall average of 3.1mpk once a few fast country roads and a stint on the A1 was factored in.
That gives a calculated range of 155 miles on a mix of roads and 185 miles around town, based on my sensible run. That’s a useful increase on the old E-Rifter, if still a long way short of the Renault Scenic and Skoda Enyaq.
Given the performance and need to conserve battery life, the ride and handling balance is well judged. Comfort is the priority here with relatively soft suspension giving a cushioned ride that only really gets upset by particularly scarred roads. Drive normally and there’s a bit of waft to proceedings, with this turning into uncomfortable float if you’re hammering it on an undulating country lane.
Grip levels are good with the steering weight and speed well-judged for this type of thing. Roll is pronounced if you are pushing and the stability control kicks in early to prevent anything untoward happening. Overall, it’s almost certainly better than you expect for something so clearly van based and pleasantly relaxing.
What’s it like inside?
Vanny. Virtually everything you can see is made from hard but nicely textured plastic, and about the only squishy bit is a small patch on the door for your elbow. Still, you know it’ll be hardwearing and there are a few useful cubbies dotted around.
It’s a user-friendly interior, too. Peugeot hasn’t been tempted to stick all the heater controls in the new infotainment screen, leaving easy to find and control toggle switches and buttons. Similarly, all other controls fall easily to hand, and the high mounted displays are easy to read.
Configurability on the driver’s display is better than I remember, and the larger 10.0-inch touchscreen is a definite improvement on the old eight-incher. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, and the system looks a lot more modern. There are more responsive touchscreens out there that are easier to navigate, though.
Paddles can now be found behind the steering wheel to adjust the regenerative braking in three steps, and the wheel itself is new. Crucially, the E-Rifter remains one of the most spacious and practical things you can get for the money, whichever version you pick.
Legroom is unlikely to be an issue in any of the rows of seating and headroom certainly won’t be. It’s a wide interior too, with three individual third row seats each with their own Isofix mount. Boot space in five seat mode would make even the biggest SUVs out there look puny, and it gets a handy opening tailgate window.
Before you buy
This bit’s nice and simple. There’s only one battery and motor combo and two trim levels to pick from. If you want seven seats, you’ll need a long Allure model, with all GTs and shorter models coming with only five seats.
Allure gets all the kit you really need, with GT adding a few luxuries at the expense of the third row. We’d stick to Allure and consider a couple of options.
Peugeot E-Rifter: verdict
The E-Rifter certainly makes a change from the herds of electric SUVs and hatchbacks out there. With maximum carrying capacity the priority, it’s far more practical than similarly priced rivals and comfier than plenty of them, too. I approve of most of the upgrades on this facelift version, although I can’t help but think we’re missing something.
What the Rifter needs more than anything is a bit more range. The uplift offered is welcome, but long trips are still going to need a few charging stops. The newer 52kWh pack would have at least helped a little, and the 154bhp motor this comes with would make the E-Rifter feel a bit livelier.