The electric version of the urban SUV, with 345 km of autonomy, is manufactured at the plant that Stellantis has in Vigo and already accounts for 12.2% of the production of this model, which is exported all over the world through the Port of Vigo.
The Peugeot 2008 is, after the 208 (the utility from which it derives), the best-selling model of the lion brand in Spain with more than 7,000 units registered in the first half of the year. In addition, it is the leader in its segment (urban SUV) and, also very important, it is manufactured in Spain. Specifically, in the plant that the Stellantis group has in Vigo, one of the best considered for production volume and efficiency, and one of the great bets for the future.
One out of every three cars manufactured in Vigo is a Peugeot 2008, which is exported all over the world from the Bouzas terminal in the Port of Vigo, where up to 18,000 cars can be stored, most of them Stellantis. 75% of the vehicles manufactured in Vigo are taken by truck to the Bouzas terminal, located just five kilometers away, to be exported or unloaded in other Spanish ports.
22% of the cars manufactured in Vigo are distributed by truck to other regions of Spain and Portugal, while the remaining 3% travel by rail. “More than a third of the Peugeots sold in Spain are manufactured in Vigo”, recalls the general director of Peugeot in Spain and Portugal, Joao Mendes.
In 2021, 220,557 units of the Peugeot 2008 were manufactured in Vigo, of which 12.2% were of the electric version, the Peugeot e-2008. In addition, the electric (and also combustion) versions of the Citroën Berlingo, Opel Combo Life, Peugeot Rifter and even the Toyota ProAce City are manufactured at the Galician plant, which is why it has become the Spanish plant that produces the most electric cars.
In 2021, Vigo produced 495,352 units of 10 different models, at an average of 2,300 cars per day from Monday to Friday and in three shifts, very close to the 2007 record, when 550,000 vehicles were manufactured in one year and there was no shortage of components , parts and microchips.
The Galician plant provides direct employment to 6,400 workers, to which must be added more than 30,000 people who work in component and service companies related to the olive factory. Stellantis Vigo is the engine of 125 auxiliary companies established in Galicia and the north of Portugal.
Every week between three and five ships pass through the port of Vigo to take away Stellantis cars and unload vehicles from other factories and other brands. A few days ago we were lucky enough to visit the inside of one of these ships, the ‘Spica Leader’, a merchant ship flying the flag of Liberia (West Africa) and with a crew from Bangladesh, India and Ukraine. At 190 meters long, 28 meters wide and 8.1 meters deep (the height of the submerged part of the hull), the ‘Spica Leader’ can carry 3,000 cars in its gigantic 10-storey hold.
More than 40 stevedores worked against the clock to load and unload 1,400 cars in one day (morning and afternoon shifts), before the ‘Spica Leader’ headed for the port of Sagunto (Valencia) and then to Livorno (Italy), Piraeus (Greece) and Autoport (Turkey). The Port of Vigo is the outlet to the sea for hundreds of thousands of cars manufactured each year at the Stellantis plant, including the Peugeot e-2008 like the one we have just tested.
With a 100 kW electric motor and a 50 kWh capacity battery, the Peugeot e-2008 offers a power of 136 CV and a maximum torque of 260 Nm. It can go from 0 to 100 km/h in 9 seconds and reaches a maximum speed of 150 km/h electronically limited so as not to penalize autonomy, which is 345 kilometers on a single charge.
At the wheel, the Peugeot e-2008 is very easy to drive, comfortable and quiet. It offers three driving modes (Eco, Normal and Sport) and has an arsenal of driving assistance functions that anticipate level 2 autonomous driving, such as adaptive cruise control with Stop function
The prices of the Peugeot e-2008 range between 38,020 euros for the Active Pack access version and 42,020 euros for the version with the GT trim level, without discounts or aid from the Moves III Plan.