Jayco Penguin vs Peugeot E-3008

What's the difference?

At nearly $25,000 the Penguin can't really be called cheap, but what does make it worth a look is the completely contained living space – the sitting, sleeping and cooking are all done inside, and that's a boon when the weather turns.

It's ideal if you want the comfort of a caravan without the bulk of one, and the ease of towing a more traditional camper-trailer offers, without the struggle of set-up.

The E-3008 is heading into an increasingly competitive mid-size EV SUV segment and the Peugeot brings design flair, impressive practicality and outstanding efficiency to the table. Safety and dynamic performance are good but not class-leading, while the ownership package is likely to be competitive. Price is almost always a high-ranking factor on a new-car purchase priority list and here it's critical. This car has a lot to offer but if buyers are to be tempted away from better known brands the ask will have to be on the money.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

Inside, the layout is simple, but comfortable for two people. The rear of the camper is dominated by the east-west oriented bed.

The dinette, to the front of the camper, is cosy and only good for two people. It does actually fold down into a second bed for a third body (or a second body who's not allowed in the first bed), but although there's sleeping for three, seating that many would be difficult. Maybe a small grandchild, occasionally. It's comfortable, though and both seats lift up to reveal a little extra storage. There's even a hidey-hole behind the driver's side back-rest.

Typical of all campers of this sort, the bench heights are low and will frustrate taller people who need to stoop to use them.

This camper has a canvas skirt, but really there's more see-through plastic window than actual canvas, so it's quite panoramic inside. It's not hard to gain a bit of privacy, though; there's a dark tint to them so it's hard to see through during the day, and all the windows have curtains, so you can shut everything out, easily enough.

Lighting is simple, with just two LED lights in the roof, although unless you pay extra for a battery, they'll only work at powered sites.

Measuring a fraction over 4.5m end-to-end, a little more than 1.9m wide and just over 1.6m tall the E-3008 sits squarely in the medium SUV category.

There's plenty of room up front thanks mainly to the low and broad dash design and there are plenty of storage options including large (trimmed) door bins with enough space for large bottles plus dual cupholders in the centre console.

The gearshift sits on the dash which frees up space for two huge storage boxes in the console; the first's lid opening laterally for ultra-easy access and the second (cooled) compartment between the seats topped with a longitudinally divided lid/armrest.

Add a generous wireless charging pad and an oddments tray on the driver's side near the door and it's hard to complain about places to put stuff.

Moving to the back, despite the E-3008's swoopy roofline, at 183cm tall I enjoyed ample head and legroom sitting behind the front seat set to my position, and getting in and out is easy thanks to wide-opening doors sitting in large apertures.

Again, storage is generous. There are decent door bins (not trimmed this time) with room for bottles, plus netted map pockets and a fold-down centre armrest with two cupholders and a slim tray built-in. Adjustable air vents are welcome, as is the oddments tray underneath them.

Connectivity and power runs to two USB-C sockets and a 12V outlet in the front, the same options in the back and a third 12-volt jack in the boot.

Speaking of which, the E-3008 delivers the same 520 litres (VDA) of boot space (to the parcel shelf with all seats up) as its predecessor, extending to 1480 litres with the 40/20/40 split rear seat folded.

There are four tie-down anchors, multiple bag hooks and the boot floor can be lowered to accommodate taller loads, which is nice. But that functionality comes partly because there's no spare wheel, which isn't nice.

Single-motor variants are rated to tow a 1250kg braked trailer (1350kg for the dual motor).

Because the Penguin is so light – as mentioned above – and because the towing height is just 1660mm, lower than the roof of most cars and certainly below that of SUVs, it's easy to tow, even if you don't have the largest 4WD to haul it around.

The Subaru Forester I tested this camper with, for instance, did the job quite well and would be ideal if you towed the camper down the coast a few times a year.

Underneath, the camper's got a simple beam axle with leaf slipper springs and shock absorbers. They do a commendable job and, as this is a purely on-road camper, there's no need for it to be anything else.

The international launch drive focused exclusively on the single-motor, standard-range E-3008, in GT spec, and the program covered high-speed tollways, bumpy back roads, snaking mountain passes and coastal curves in the south of France.

Peugeot claims 0-100km/h in 8.8 seconds for the E-3008 in this configuration, which is pretty sharp on paper. But in reality performance is reasonable. Never slow, but pinning the accelerator doesn't bring the surging thrust of some of this car's potential competitors. That's partly because it tips the scales at a sturdy 2183kg.

There are three drive modes in single-motor models. 'Normal' is the default with power and torque slightly reduced when the accelerator is pressed between 0-70 per cent. Above 70 per cent and you have full power and torque. 'Eco' limits outputs while reducing heating and air con outputs and 'Sport' dials up the steering and accelerator settings.

Despite the drive battery being mounted under the floor for a low centre-of-gravity you can feel that substantial mass in the corners. It's far from ponderous but weight transfer as the car turns in is noticeable. Steering feel is okay rather than great. Even in Sport it's nicely weighted and quick but road feel is modest.

Suspension is strut front, multi-link rear and the GT's standard 20-inch rubber is 235/50 Michelin ePrimacy. On imperfect secondary roads (close to Aussie-spec in their ordinariness) bumps and thumps, especially high-frequency ripples, make their presence felt but not to an extreme degree.

On better surfaces the car is quiet and refined, even in the context of an EV, and the three-stage ('Low', 'Medium', 'High') regenerative braking set-up works well. The two higher levels automatically activate the brake lights and High will slow the car to 5.0-7.0km/h, so no single-pedal driving.

The physical brakes need to be greased in carefully, though, as they can grab a little if you press the pedal too sharply.

A 10.6m turning circle means tight, slow-speed parking manoeuvres are relatively easy to manage, with the GT's 360-degree overhead view and all-around sensors also a big help.

In terms of general observations, the highly-specified Focal audio system sounds good but not exceptional to our lo-fi ears, the dash layout not only looks amazing but works well from an ergonomic point-of-view (only snag is the media 'Home' button obscured by the steering wheel) and the front seats are supportive yet comfortable.

Last but not least the overspeed warning defaults to on every time the car is restarted. Peugeot isn't alone here (hello Hyundai and Kia) and we're told the cause is legislative requirements in multiple markets. Three clicks are required to turn off the warning chime and flashing display off.