Peugeot e-2008 electric SUV coming to Australia through private importer, priced around $50,000

Tasmanian EV importer the Good Car Company intends to sell used examples of the Peugeot e-2008 small electric SUV in Australia from mid-2023, while it remains “under assessment” for Peugeot Australia's local distributor.

The startup’s co-founder and director Anthony Broese van Groenou told Wheels that it will be priced from the low to mid-$50,000 mark, depending on the trim level and used EV condition.

The Good Car Company will import e-2008s from both Japan and the United Kingdom featuring CHAdeMO or CCS2 DC fast charging port types respectively, although British examples will be more expensive.

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Despite the rarer CHAdeMO standard, it has chosen to import Japan-spec e-2008 EVs as it enables vehicle-to-grid (V2G) bidirectional charging, which is currently being trialled in South Australia.

All Peugeot e-2008 models provide up to 330 kilometres of claimed driving range from a 45kWh usable battery and are capable of recharging at up to 7.4kW AC and 100kW DC speeds.

In addition to the e-2008, it promises to launch two other EV models in Australia later this year.

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Groenou confirmed his company will also import the nine-seater Peugeot e-Traveller people-mover, while other commercial electric vehicles and smaller city-sized EVs are on the cards.

The Tasmanian-based startup was founded in 2019 selling ‘grey import’ models such as the Nissan Leaf hatchback, eNV200, and Peugeot e-Expert vans to lower the price barrier to EV adoption.

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Uniquely, it offers community bulk-buy programs that target key areas to collectively transition to EVs, including regional towns and key political seats to help raise awareness and encourage action from policy-makers.

It received a $10 million funding boost from philanthropic company Boundless, which is backed by Australian billionaire and Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes, along with $1 million from Canva co-founder Cameron Adams and ex-Canva head Lisa Kate Miller.

Peugeot Australia’s distributor Inchcape has promised to debut its electric vehicles this year, including commercial EV vans, but it’s still unclear which models will arrive from the French brand.

What about warranty and repairs?

All vehicles sold from the Good Car Company are backed by a six-month/7000km vehicle warranty, with 12-months of NRMA roadside assistance.

The company expects the Peugeot e-2008 will likely be covered by the same three-year/36,000km battery warranty as per the e-Expert, and newer Nissan Leaf and eNV200 examples currently available.

When procuring second-hand EVs, it prioritises a healthier battery state-of-health (checked via an on-board diagnostic tool), mechanical and cosmetic condition, and then the kilometres driven.

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Although car brands and dealers don’t support imported vehicles locally, Groenou said it’s partnering with third-party technicians to establish a nationwide EV servicing network – thanks to new ‘right to repair’ laws requiring car manufacturers to share service and repair information with independent repairers from July 2022.

“We feel really confident that we can provide a really high level of support for everybody, regardless of whether it’s a vehicle that’s come from us,” Groenou told Wheels.

“So, getting those consumer protections in place is just critical for making us transition [to EVs] en masse… that trust is really critical.

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“We have a dedicated fund to deal with warranties and recalls to support the vehicles and making sure if anything happens, people are protected from any warranty or recall issues.

“The cool thing is these national servicing networks also have international servicing partners as well. So, even though we have the ‘right to repair’ and OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] are meant to release all their documentation and servicing diagnostic data – sometimes they don’t – there’s a lot of knowledge sharing between other territories to get all the data and specs from the country of origin.”

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When will it be available?

Expressions of interest for the Peugeot e-2008 are now open. Lead times are estimated to take three months from ordering, with first deliveries to start from mid-2023.

All used imported Good Car Company EVs are sold via its website and the targeted community bulk-buy program, which the e-2008 will eventually be part of.

It also offers a seven-day return policy, provided you meet reasonable use conditions.