Peugeot e-Traveller Review 2025: Price, specs & boot space

If you’re the owner of either a very large family or a private hire taxi business, then there’s plenty to recommend the Peugeot e-Traveller. It’s supremely spacious and practical, well-built, and decent enough to drive. Its suitability for you will depend, however, on whether you’re exclusively a short-haul driver. If you’re not, then the limited EV range could be a problem.

Early versions came with a 50kWh battery that only gave an official electric range of 148 miles, while later examples got a larger 75kWh battery that upped the range to 217 miles, according to WLTP figures. As a result, we’d stretch to a later example if your budget will allow. On the trim level front, it depends on what you want. The entry-level trims (Active or Business) come with enough to suit most buyers but do feel a little low-rent due to their fabric upholstery and plastic floor. Upgrading to the higher-end trims (Allure or Business VIP) brings leather seats and carpets for a far more luxurious feel, plus plenty of other desirable luxury kit, but these versions are a lot more expensive.

Compare the Peugeot e-Traveller to the Citroen e-SpaceTourer and the Vauxhall Vivaro Life Electric, and you can’t get much more similar. That’s because, beneath the metaphorical skin, all three cars are mechanically identical.

There are other large van-based MPVs to consider as well. The Mercedes V-Class is a posher alternative, while the Ford Tourneo Custom will probably be on your list of targets, as might the Renault Trafic Passenger or the Volkswagen Multivan, provided that you’re not absolutely set on your MPV being all-electric. If you are, then both the Mercedes and the Ford can be had in all-electric form, and you would also probably consider the long-wheelbase version of the VW ID.Buzz.

There’s quite a big difference in the interior ambience of the e-Traveller depending on which trim level you go for. Regardless, the quality and finish of the plastics you find inside is similar to what you’ll find in most commercial vehicles - not surprising given the car’s roots - so there are lots of surfaces on show that are hard-wearing and durable, rather than being particularly touchy-feely. Most of them look smart enough, though.

Go for the lower-end (Active or Business) trim level, and that non-frills feel is continued by cloth seat upholstery and a plastic floor lining, while the polyurethane steering wheel also feels rather basic. Upgrade to the higher-end trim (Allure or Business VIP), though, and these are replaced by full leather upholstery, a carpeted floor and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. This gives a much plusher feel and transforms the e-Traveller from a bargain-basement carry-all into a fairly luxurious executive shuttle.

Early examples of the e-Traveller had a seven-inch central touchscreen through which to control the infotainment system, and this system included functionality such as Bluetooth, DAB radio, and, importantly for many, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. If you upgraded to the higher-end trim level, then you also got native navigation thrown in as well. The system was a little basic, but was easy enough to work as a result thanks to its simplicity.

During the e-Traveller’s 2024 facelift, the infotainment system was overhauled to bring a 10-inch digital instrument panel behind the steering wheel and a 10-inch central touchscreen. ‘OK Peugeot’ voice commands were also added, and again, higher-spec Allure trim gains built-in navigation. Allure also gains extra USB ports in the back, in addition to the two in the front of the Active. Either way, the system looks a little more sophisticated than before but is still quite simple compared with the horrendously over-complicated systems found in some cars, so usability is still comparatively good.

The e-Traveller comes in two different body types. There’s a standard version that measures just under five metres long, while there’s also an extended version - called the Long - which measures 350mm longer, all of which is housed in the rear overhang.

If you go for an early example of the e-Traveller, and it was in entry-level Active trim, then your car would come with up to nine seats. Next to the individual driver's seat sat an extended-width passenger seat bench capable of carrying two people (it’s a squeeze, mind), and behind those, there were a further two rows of three seats. These three-seater benches are split 60/40 and are foldable and reclinable, while in the higher-end trim level, they’re also mounted on runners so you can slide them backward and forward.

The posher Allure model would dump the ‘jump seat’ up front in favour of a more conventional single passenger seat, while the rest of the seating layout would remain the same, meaning a total of eight seats. This eight-seater layout later became the standard offering throughout the range.

However, you could meddle with this further by raiding the options list. In both rows two and three, you could swap the three-seater bench seats for two individual chairs that had more room and greater support for extra luxury. Again, these individual chairs were mounted on rails, giving you the ability to slide them back and forth.

In any eventuality, the seats can be removed completely, provided that you’re strong enough to cope with their substantial weight and have somewhere to store them. And what’s more, however cumbersome they are to remove, they’re three times more cumbersome to put back in.

Whatever the makeup of your seating configuration, and regardless of which length of e-Traveller you choose, interior space is super-impressive, which is no surprise given the car’s commercial vehicle roots and boxy dimensions. Every one of the seats has headroom and legroom to spare, and in rows two and three, there’s enough width in the cabin for three fully grown adults to sit across the bench seats in comfort. That’s the case whether you go for the shorter Standard version or the Long version, and if you choose the higher-end trim level, the sliding seats give you even greater control over how you divvy up the space available.

The sliding rear side doors make getting in and out a doddle, too, especially in tight parking spaces, and in higher-end Allure trim, these have a powered opening and closing mechanism.

The boot space you get is a little difficult to quantify accurately because it depends on such a huge variety of variables: which body style you have, where the sliding seats are set, how many seats you have installed, and so forth. However, just be advised that in any eventuality, the boot space is massive and more than you’re ever likely to need.

The one slight issue you might have is that the top-hinged tailgate is extremely long, so it’ll be difficult - nay, impossible - to open if you’re backed right up to a wall or another car. The Allure trim level comes with a rear window that opens separately, though, which allows you to drop smaller items in without having to open the whole thing.

Depending on the age of your Peugeot e-Traveller, it’ll come with either a 50kWh battery pack or a 75kWh one, and we’ll talk about the range figures these give in the corresponding section below.

Whatever battery your e-Traveller has, it’ll have the same electric motor, which sends up to 136PS to the front wheels. We say ‘up to’ because it doesn’t always. For the full amount, you have to switch the car into the ‘Power’ driving mode. And even then, 136PS isn’t a vast amount, especially in a car as big and as heavy as the e-Traveller,  so performance is still fairly leisurely. It gets off the mark okay, but don’t expect to be embarrassing hot hatches the way some EVs can, and your on-the-move acceleration is more leisurely still.

Stick in ‘Normal’ mode, which the car defaults to when you switch it on, and you’re served up a bit less power in the interests of preserving more of the car’s driving range. You can just about feel the deficit, but it makes little difference to your overall rate of progress, so it’s probably worth sticking with this mode most of the time. Select ‘Eco’ mode, and you’re served up less power still to maximise range. Here, the deficit is more noticeable: it’s fine for pottering around town, but if you need to go any faster than that, then one of the pokier modes will be needed.

Initially, the e-Traveller came with a 50kWh battery pack, which gave a WLTP driving range of 148 miles. Later on, this was upgraded to a 75kWh pack, which upped the range to 217 miles. Either way, neither figure is great compared with those of many electric passenger cars, even big ones. Also, bear in mind that these figures are an absolute best-case scenario. In actual real-life use, figure on getting around 20% less than that in normal use, even in seemingly optimal driving conditions. Attempt a long motorway slog at high speed in cold temperatures, and watch as your range readout drops like a piano off a balcony.

Electric motors are far quieter than petrol and diesel engines, so all you hear as you pull away - and occasionally when you accelerate - is a faint whirr instead of combustion clatter. That immediately makes the e-Traveller a fairly peaceful way to get around.

The example we drove was pretty good on wind and road noise, too, but there is a small caveat to mention here. The car we drove came in a higher-end trim level, which has extra sound insulation over the base version. So, while the range-topper is pretty quiet at a cruise, we can’t guarantee that the same will be true of the base car.

In early examples of the Peugeot e-Traveller, you got front, side and head airbags for those in the front seats, but there was no airbag coverage for those in any of the rear seats, which seems a little stingy in a car designed to carry the maximum amount of people, You could add curtain airbags for rows two and three as an option, but it cost you extra on all trim levels. Later on, these curtain airbags were added as standard across the range.

It was a similar story on electronic driver aids. All models got driver attention alert as standard and the range-topping model also had a blind spot monitor, but if you wanted anything more sophisticated - such as automatic emergency braking, speed limit recognition, lane departure warning or adaptive cruise control - then you again have to head to the options list and spend extra on pricey option packs. Again, most of this stuff was added as standard across the range later on, with the exception of adaptive cruise control, which remains on the options list.

The Traveller was awarded a five-star (out of five) safety rating by Euro NCAP, but that was way back in 2015 when it was offered only with combustion engines. What’s more, the tests are way more difficult now than they were then, so don’t expect a five-star performance by today’s standards.

Cars like the Peugeot e-Traveller don’t sell in great enough numbers to make any significant impact on the various reliability and customer satisfaction surveys that you might look at. It might alarm you to learn that in the latest HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index, Peugeot was ranked a lowly 29th of 33 carmakers in the reliability standings. However, you can take some solace in the fact that the e-Traveller shares its mechanicals with a commercial vehicle, and these are designed to be as hardy as possible in order to spend as little time as possible off the road.

You might be even less thrilled with the warranty offered with the e-Traveller. You get two years of unlimited-mileage manufacturer cover, followed by a third year of retailer-supplied cover, limited to 60,000 miles, and that’s a very bog-standard arrangement. That becomes even more galling when you learn that the Peugeot Expert van - which is essentially mechanically identical underneath - comes with a three-year, 100,000-mile arrangement.

All versions of all cars are classified in an insurance group of between 1 and 50, with group 1 cars being the cheapest to insure and group 50 being the most expensive. Depending on which version of the e-Traveller you go for, and what age it is, groupings for this model run between 34 and 39. So, premiums will likely be above average, but probably not ruinous.

That depends on when you’re reading this review. If you’re reading it before April 1st 2025, then it’ll be completely free to tax, by virtue of it being an electric vehicle. If you’re reading this review after that date, however, the UK Government will have revoked the VED exemption for electric cars, and you’ll be liable for the same VED tax costs as drivers of regular petrol and diesel cars. That was levied at £190 at the time of writing, but it’s unknown whether that’ll also change as of April 2025..

That’s not the full story, though, because all versions of the e-Traveller cost more than £40,000 when brand new, meaning they could be hit with the exchequer's additional ‘Luxury Car’ surcharge for VED. That could see your VED outlay increased by an additional £410 per year between years two and six of your car’s life.

The trim levels available on the Citroen e-SpaceTourer have chopped and changed quite a bit during its time on sale. Initially, you chose between Feel and Flair versions. Even entry-level Feel cars looked smart with 17-inch alloy wheels, front fog lights, and body-coloured bumpers and door handles, while standard luxury kit included automatic lights and wipers, air conditioning, heated door mirrors with power adjustment and folding, remote central locking, rear parking sensors, and cruise control. That’s on top of all the infotainment and safety gear we mentioned earlier.

Flair trim still felt like an altogether more upmarket experience, though, due to full leather upholstery and a leather steering wheel. The upgrade also included other luxury kit, including a panoramic glass roof, a split-opening tailgate, a head-up display, an electric parking brake, keyless entry and go, powered sliding rear doors with foot operation, a 180-degree colour reversing camera, and powered front seats with heating and massage function.

Alongside these (and eventually instead of as time went on) were offered Business Edition, Business, and Business Lounge trims. These were tailored more towards the professional private hire market. Most of the same kit was offered, with a few small variations and with a middle-ground stage in the middle.

Later on still, the trim-level count was slashed back down to two, You! And Max, and those are the ones offered by Citroen today. In some areas, equipment levels have been enhanced, but in others, they’ve actually been throttled back a little bit. For instance, the entry-level You! version looks a little basic with 16-inch steel wheels and black bumpers and door mirror casings, but you do get a decent amount of standard luxury kit. This includes automatic lights and wipers, air conditioning, powered and heated door mirrors, remote central locking, an electric parking brake, rear parking assist, and cruise control. That’s on top of all the infotainment and safety gear we mentioned earlier.

The other trim is called Max, and again, this version feels like a much higher-end car altogether. For starters, it looks a lot smarter with 17-inch alloys, front fog lights, LED daytime running lights and body-coloured bumpers. The interior is transformed by full leather upholstery and a leather steering wheel, and you also get luxuries including climate control with rear controls, power folding door mirrors, keyless entry and go, powered sliding rear doors with foot operation, 180-degree colour reversing camera, all-round parking sensors, and window blinds in the second row.