GTi is back! Peugeot’s legendary badge goes on the e-208 EV – can it be the 205

After half a decade away, Peugeot’s legendary GTi performance badge is back – but on an electric vehicle.

The three-letter moniker, which is synonymous with its iconic 205 GTi of the 1980s and 1990s, has been stamped onto a souped-up version of the Peugeot e-208 EV.

Unveiled today on the eve of the 2025 Le Man 24 Hour, it’s officially the first time the adored badge has appeared since the 308 GTi was discontinued back in 2020.

And it invites a direct comparison between Peugeot’s new electric hot hatch and its 205 GTi ancestor, which is considered one of the best ever made.

Set to rival the EV Abarth 500e, Alpine’s A290 and Mini Cooper John Cooper Works Electric hot hatches, the French marque promises it will focus on ‘driving sensations’.

Peugeot has guaranteed the ‘best performance in the electric hot hatch market’, claiming the e-208 GTi will accelerate from zero to 62mph in just 5.7 seconds.

Debuting some 40 years after the original 205 GTi, can it really be considered the its spiritual successor?

Peugeot’s GTI is back! French brand has slapped its legendary badge on its new e-208 EV – can it be the spiritual successor to the 205 GTi?

The Peugeot 205 GTi is arguably the defining hot hatch of the 1980s and 1990s, along with VW’s Golf GTI, and commands huge prices in 2025

The new model is a very big deal for Peugeot. 

That’s because it’s the first all-electric car to be graced by the GTi stamp. 

With this in mind, the team responsible for creating it was given a strict brief to ensure the e-208 lives up to the three-letter status that has underpinned its performance machines for four decades. 

Hot hatch looks

To give the e-208 GTi a more squatted and aggressive stance, engineers have lowered the suspension by 30mm and extended the track (the distance between the wheels) at the front by 56mm and 27mm to the rear.

While the conventional e-208 is already a boxy, eighties-inspired supermini, a number of additional adjustments has ramped its purposeful look up to eleven.

The wheel arches have been bulked up to accommodate the wider track, with a flared section over the top of the tyres featuring a red pinstripe – a nod to the original 205 GTi’s plastic body trim that ran the length of its profile.

There’s a new front splitter and rear diffuser to tick the hot hatch boxes, but these also increase downforce while cornering.

Unique to the GTI EV are the 18-inch wheels based on those used on the 205 GTi 1.9, with the fabled ‘holes’ not just a nod to the modern classic but shaped to increase cooling to the enlarged 355mm brake discs and four-piston calipers entrusted with providing extra stopping power.

Unveiled today on the eve of the 2025 Le Man 24 Hour, this is officially the first Peugeot to wear the legendary badge  since the 308 GTi was discontinued back in 2020

To give it a more squatted and aggressive stance, engineers have lowered the suspension and extended the track

The e-20 GTi gets these unique 18-inch wheels – a nod back to the rims of the 205 GTi 1.9

The launch model revealed the day before the start of the French endurance race is finished in an exclusive bright red paint, which harks back to the Cherry option that popularised the 205 GTi in the eighties.

The bright red accents carry over to the cabin, with scarlet carpets, floor mats and seat belts to give a ‘sporty atmosphere’ to the cockpit. 

Even the seats are a modern twist of the split design of the 205 GTi 1.9.

A central red trim extends across the seat and backrest, while the red mesh on the right side of the chairs recalls that of the 205 GTi 1.6.

Even the seats are a modern twist of the split design of the 205 GTi 1.9

Back to the 80s: Bright red accents carry over to the cabin, with scarlet carpets, floor mats and seat belts to give a ‘sporty atmosphere’ to the cockpit

Will the e-208 GTi drive like an old-school hot hatch? 

To ensure the e-208 GTi has the performance to match its bold looks, Peugeot has reworked just about ever facet of its powertrain and chassis with input from its ‘Sport’ division, which currently leads its charge in the World Endurance Championship.

While the standard e-208 has the option of a 50 or 51kWh battery, the energy source for the GTi is an increased 54kWh unit.

This uses ‘optimised management’ with improved cooling to ensure it can cope under the aggressive driving conditions it will likely endure at the hands of enthusiast owners.

Peugeot bosses claim it should return 217 miles of range on a full charge – though this figures is based on official fuel economy laboratory measurements and not the club-footed driving of a boy racer. 

There’s a new front splitter and rear diffuser to tick the required hot hatch box, but also increase downforce

The battery supplies a 278bhp electric motor,…