Peugeot 508 PSE Review & Prices

If you want to slash your fuel bill but aren’t quite prepared to give up on the performance car lifestyle, the new Peugeot 508 PSE might be right up your alley. Not only can this practical plug-in hybrid accelerate from 0-62mph in 5.2 seconds, but Peugeot also claims it can travel 34 miles on nothing but electricity.

It’s definitely a sight for sore eyes, too, which is a good thing considering it’s set to go up against go-faster versions of the BMW 3 Series and Volvo S60.

The regular 508 is already one of the most handsome cars around – both in saloon and 'SW' estate form – but with its massive 20-inch alloys, aggressive new bodywork and vivid green accents, the updated-for-2023 508 Peugeot Sport Engineered (PSE) looks even more athletic than ever before. Kind of like Brad Pitt would if he was wearing his gym kit.

This sporting theme continues on the inside. It’s all dark leather upholstery, soft touch plastics and bright, contrasting stitching in here – and they all combine to pretty stunning effect. The 508 PSE looks and feels like a properly high-end sporting saloon (or estate), and its mid-life update only improved things. A new 10.0-inch infotainment screen with sat nav is now standard across the range.

That's a good thing, but the driving position is a bit more of a controversial issue. The seats offer plenty of adjustment and are impressively supportive, but the low-set, small-diameter steering wheel might just feel plain weird to some, and could block the updated digital dials, depending on your driving position. Headroom in the back is pretty tight too, but this go-faster 508 does at least have a large boot.

It’ll get you and your luggage down the road very quickly, too. By combining a regular petrol engine with not one, but two electric motors (one at each end for all-wheel-drive), the 508 PSE puts down an impressive 360hp. And when you’re not in the mood to really get your foot down, its 12.4Wh battery will let you travel 34 miles on nothing but electricity.

Admittedly, despite adding a few miles with the latest update, that claimed figure is a touch limited next to other sporty plug-in hybrid saloons, which is important if you’re planning on running one as a company car. As it stands, it slots into the 14% benefit-in-kind tax bracket.

Don’t let the 508’s sporty looks and performance fool you into thinking that it’s too hardcore for daily use, either. Sure, you’re aware of its more athletic suspension when you’re driving around town or out on the motorway, but it doesn’t crash over bumps and is impressively comfortable over distance. Those large 20-inch alloys to generate a fair bit of road noise, mind.

Still, this is a problem that can be easily solved. The Peugeot 508 PSE comes with an excellent Focal premium sound system as standard, along with everything from DAB radio to Bluetooth, and satellite navigation to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

There’s lots of useful safety tech, too. A 360-degree camera and rear parking sensors will come in handy in town, while things like adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking and lane-keep assist will help to keep things comfortable and safe on the motorway.

Of course, a car with this much sporting potential and on-board tech isn’t particularly cheap. Prices start at just under £54,000, which is about what you’d pay for a plug-in hybrid from Volvo, or for a genuine six-cylinder performance car from BMW.

But if this handsome French athlete is up your alley, head on over to our Peugeot 508 PSE deals page to see how much money we can save, or browse used 508 PSE models from our network of trusted dealers. You can also have a look at our latest used Peugeot cars for sale, and see how you can sell your car for through carwow.

Being a fairly big, fairly fast car with a plug-in hybrid powertrain means that the Peugeot 508 PSE was never going to be cheap. Even bearing this in mind, it's very expensive. For a similar price, you can get into a Volvo S60 – its hybrid engine is more powerful and it has a nicer interior with more badge appeal, but it's comfort-focused rather than sporty.

It's considerably more expensive than a plug-in BMW 3 Series, too, though if you want the sporty M340i version and its 374hp six-cylinder petrol engine, you're looking at similar cash.

The 508 PSE is quick in a straight line and surprisingly comfortable given its sporty set up, but electric range is limited

In town

Because of its low-set driving position, steep windscreen and small rear window, the view out front and back isn’t quite as good as we’d like. It’s certainly not a tricky car to navigate around tight city streets, but it’s something to be aware of, particularly in the estate, which has a small rear windscreen and chunky pillars that block your view.

It’s comfortable on all manner of road surfaces, and even with those big 20-inch alloys it deals with lumps and bumps with little in the way of fuss or bother. You're certainly aware it's bumpier than a non-PSE 508, but the car settles quickly over road imperfections and doesn't crash through potholes like some sporty cars do.

On the motorway

Out on the motorway, it really impresses. Yes, there’s a bit of road noise, but thanks to its sleek shape there is hardly any wind noise. With gadgets like adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist, long-distance drives should be a little less taxing.

Getting up to speed is easy too, thanks to that punchy plug-in hybrid engine and clever gearbox that's always quick to respond when you need it to. It means that pulling off overtakes is a breeze and doesn't require much planning ahead.

The downside to this engine, though, is that if you do a lot of motorway miles you won't see very good fuel economy. If you keep the batteries topped up and typically do shorter journeys it will sip fuel, but out on the motorway that short electric range will be eaten up quickly and you'll rely on the thirsty petrol engine alone.

On a twisty road

It’s pretty fun on a twisting country road too, if not quite as engaging or exciting as a BMW M340i or 330e – both of which can be had for similar money. The Peugeot’s lightweight steering and spongy brake pedal are partly responsible for this.

That said, the combination of petrol and electric means there's plenty of punch when you put your foot down, and you rarely find the car struggling to combine the two sources of power when you need it. The low-slung driving position and small steering wheel do a great job of tricking you into thinking you're driving something smaller and sportier, and so long as you don't push too hard in corners it takes quite a lot to shatter the illusion.

That said, it's definitely happier in wider sweeping bends where you can comfortably carry more speed, rather than tight, twisty stuff where you start to feel its size and weight.

The 508 PSE has a big boot, but the driving position is a bit strange and headroom in the back is tight

If you’ve never driven a modern-day Peugeot, you might find the layout of its controls a bit odd on first acquaintance. The steering wheel is tiny, and fairly low set – if you’re particularly tall, you might feel as though it’s almost sitting in your lap. Because of its small diameter you look at the digital instrument binnacle over the top of the rim, which feels odd for those not used to it and can mean drivers with long legs who mount the wheel high won’t be able to see the instruments.

But aside from this important quirk, adjustability is good. You can bring the steering wheel in close to your chest, and the electrically operated seats are comfortable and impressively supportive. You sit reasonably low in the Peugeot, which adds to its sporting feel. If you’re used to a more raised driving position, you might not like this so much.

There’s a decent amount of storage space in the cabin – and certainly enough to accommodate any random odds and ends from family holidays. The two cup holders just ahead of the front armrest are a good size, and the front door bins are large enough to hold a regular-sized flask easily enough. The glove box is pretty small, mind.

Space in the back seats

Back seat space is a bit of a mixed bag. Taller passengers will find they’ve got loads of leg- and kneeroom, but the sloping roofline that gives the 508 its sporty looks means there isn’t much headroom. You’d struggle to get an adult passenger comfortable in the middle seat, too.

Fortunately, back seat passengers are well catered for in terms of practicality, just like those up front. The door bins back here won’t hold a solid flask, but the cupholders in the fold-down armrest will. There are pockets behind front seats for things like books and iPads, too.

Kids should fit back there just fine, though, and there are ISOFIX seat anchors on the outside seats.

Boot space

Although the 508 PSE might look like a sporty four-door coupe, its hatchback-style boot means there’s plenty of space for your luggage. The boot has 487 litres of capacity with the 60:40 split-folding rear seats up, and 1,537 litres if you fold them down flat. That’s considerably more than you’ll get in a BMW 330e (375 litres) or Volvo S60 Recharge (391 litres).

There’s not much of a lip to navigate, and beneath the flat floor there’s a decent-sized cubby where you can store your charging cables. There are a handful of tie-down points, a 12-volt socket and a single hook to hang things like shopping bags too. Oh, and the tailgate is electrically operated.

And if you need even more storage space, you can also get the 508 PSE as an estate, which has a larger 530-litre boot.

Peugeot 508 PSE brings the wow-factor and is generously equipped, but the infotainment system could be more responsive

Trust the French to absolutely nail the look and feel of the 508 PSE’s interior. The standard car already provides a solid foundation, with its strong focus on plush materials and soft-touch plastics, but this sporty version takes things a step further.

Vivid yellow/green stitching complements the dark leather and suede seat upholstery very nicely, while glossy black and silver trim finishers really give the cabin an upmarket look. The stepped dash design, which sees the air vents and digital instrument binnacle positioned a level above the infotainment system, adds to the car’s enveloping, sporting feel too.

It’s a bold design for sure, but also one that makes sure all of the car’s important buttons and switches are still within easy reach of the driver’s seat. Everything feels well screwed together too, which is always a good thing.

As a range-topping performance model, the 508 PSE gets a lot of infotainment tech as standard. The 10.0-inch touchscreen is packed with useful features such as satellite navigation, Bluetooth connectivity and DAB radio. It’s used to display the feed from the 360-degree parking cameras, and can mirror your smartphone thanks to the inclusion of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The graphics are sharp, and the display is easy to read; but it can sometimes take a bit of time to respond to your inputs. Still, it’s a pretty easy system to operate. Those piano key-style shortcut buttons that run along the bottom border are a big help in this respect, although we’d still like to see physical dials for the dual-zone climate control system.

You get a wireless charging pad for your smartphone, and there are handy USB ports in both rows. The high-end Focal sound system is also really impressive, and is a great way of masking the road noise created by those big 20-inch alloys.

The 508 PSE is available with just one power option, but it’s a bit of a firecracker. You get a regular turbocharged petrol engine and two electric motors, all of which combine to produce a hefty 360hp. Because there's a motor at each end, you also get all-wheel drive grip.

So it’s a quick car, then. Peugeot claims it can accelerate from 0-62mph in 5.2 seconds, and it feels every bit as fast as that suggests. It’s only available with an eight-speed automatic transmission, so it’s a very easy car to drive around town and it's pretty clever at shifting gears when you're driving enthusiastically.

The 12.4Wh battery is good for a claimed electric range of 34 miles, which is a tiny bit more than pre-2023 cars but nothing significant. We saw closer to 15-20 miles from a full charge – be aware that a bit of cold weather can have an effect here.

That figure is also less than what you’d get from alternatives such as the BMW 330e and Volvo S60 Recharge, which means the 508 PSE will cost more in benefit-in-kind tax if you’re planning on running one as a company car.

Still, you can charge the battery up fairly quickly. Plug in to a 7kW home wallbox and you’ll get it topped up in 1hr 45mins, while a standard three-pin socket will do the job overnight. Provided you make a point of charging it regularly, you should be able to significantly cut your monthly fuel bill.

When the Peugeot 508 was safety tested by Euro NCAP, it was given the full five-out-five stars. It did particularly well in the adult occupant section with a 96% rating, while its child occupant score of 86% is still pretty good.

As well as all of the usual driver assistance technology, such as automatic emergency braking and an active bonnet, which helps protects pedestrians in the event of a collision, the 508 also has blind spot assist, lane assist and traffic sign recognition as standard on all versions. The PSE gets some choice extras, though, such as night vision to alert you to potential hazards ahead when driving after dark, while the addition of the Drive Assist Pack Plus means you get adaptive cruise control and lane positioning assist to help you maintain your speed and position in the lane on the motorway.

Peugeot has done a great job in terms of reliability in recent years, and this extends to the 508. Owner satisfaction surveys indicate that things rarely go wrong, and while the plug-in hybrid engine is one of the company's newer units, it appears to be free from significant problems.

Giving you further confidence should be the fact that the 508 comes with a three-year, unlimited mileage warranty. This is a similar timeframe to other manufacturers, but most also impose a mileage limit. The hybrid's battery has a separate warranty, which lasts for eight years or up to 100,000 miles.