My Peugeot e-208's AC Charging Died Overnight: Chasing Down an OBC Failure

Two weeks ago my 2020 Peugeot e-208 stopped AC charging overnight. No warning, no dashboard error, nothing. One day it charged fine on the wallbox, the next it just... didn't. Here's the full story so far, mostly reconstructed from a thread I started in the Peugeot e-208 Facebook group, because the diagnosis turned into a small crowdsourced investigation.

The symptom

• Both slow and fast AC charging stopped working completely.
• DC fast charging (CCS) still works normally.
• Zero fault codes on the dashboard.
• A 12V battery reset changed nothing.
• There's an open "modernisation campaign" showing up against my VIN on the Peugeot website, with no further detail.

If DC charging still works but AC doesn't, the usual suspect is the On-Board Charger (OBC) - the box that converts AC from the wall into DC for the battery. DC fast charging bypasses it entirely, which is exactly the pattern I was seeing.

Crowdsourcing a diagnosis

I posted the details in the Peugeot e-208 owners' group, and the replies came fast. A few things became clear almost immediately:

• This is a known, common issue. Multiple people jumped in with "OBC failure," "common defect," and "that's definitely it" before I'd even asked directly.
• Early e-208s (2020-ish, first generation) shipped with an 11 kW MAHLE OBC that has a reputation for dying. One commenter pinned it down more precisely: the power AC transistor inside the OBC burns out. A transistor repair can run around $500; a full replacement OBC can run $3,000.
• It's not (as far as anyone could tell) covered by an official recall. I called Peugeot's recall helpline directly - no active recall campaign exists for the OBC. The recalls that do exist for the e-208 are unrelated: one owner listed two separate recalls on his car, one for the AC compressor (reference MF9) and one, amusingly, for a horn that was "3 decibels quieter than legally required."
• Repair costs are all over the map, which tracks with a part that isn't officially recalled and is instead handled ad hoc by dealers: quotes I saw ranged from roughly €1,000 - €2,000 up to my own dealer's quote of €1,500 - 1,700 for a new unit, with a diagnostic appointment not available until mid-October. Other owners reported being charged as little as ~€2,800 and as much as $3,000 depending on region and whether it was the transistor or the whole unit.
• It can get worse before it gets better. One owner in the thread had his OBC replaced already, and has since developed a second, unrelated AC compressor fault. Another, driving in "CC" mode after a cable/OBC issue, started throwing a "traction system fault" warning and losing power - a good reminder that a failing OBC isn't purely a charging inconvenience, it can escalate.

Where I am with the dealer

So far my timeline with Peugeot looks like this:

1. Contacted my local dealer, described the symptoms and pointed them to the community's OBC theory. From what I could tell, the service desk didn't really engage with the technical detail.
2. Called the dedicated recall line - confirmed no OBC-specific recall exists on my VIN.
3. Found a note buried in the service manual referencing a software update tied to OBC behavior, which lines up with some owners mentioning OBC firmware/recall discussions online - but nothing concrete enough to act on yet.
4. Got a diagnostic slot booked for mid-October, with a preliminary cost estimate of €1,500–1,700 for a full OBC replacement if that's confirmed as the fault.

Not exactly a fast turnaround for a car that currently can't be charged at home.

The plot twist: Stellantis's extended OBC coverage

Right as I was resigning myself to a four-figure bill, someone in the group linked a Stellantis press release: Stellantis has announced extended special coverage specifically for 11 kW on-board chargers - which is precisely the part suspected to be at fault in my car.

This is a genuinely useful lead if it applies to my VIN, since it could turn a €1,500+ repair into a warranty claim. I'm going to call Peugeot back and explicitly reference this coverage program rather than relying on the dealer to know about it - given how the first call went, I'm not assuming anyone at the service desk will connect the dots unprompted.

Where things stand

• Diagnosis (unofficial, crowd + symptom-based): failed 11 kW OBC, likely a burnt-out AC power transistor.
• Official diagnosis: pending, scheduled for mid-October.
• Cost: unknown until the dealer confirms whether the Stellantis OBC coverage program applies - could range from free (if covered) to ~€1,700 (if not).
• Car status: DC fast charging only for now.

I'll update this post once I've actually spoken to Peugeot about the Stellantis coverage and again once the OBC is diagnosed/replaced in October.

If you're dealing with the same thing

A quick summary for anyone who lands here searching for their own dead AC charging on an e-208:

• AC charging dead + DC fast charging fine + no dashboard errors → suspect the OBC before anything else.
• Early (2020-era) e-208s with the 11 kW MAHLE OBC seem particularly prone to this.
• Ask your dealer specifically about Stellantis's extended coverage for 11 kW on-board chargers - don't assume they'll bring it up on their own.
• If you're quoted a repair, get the actual fault confirmed (transistor vs. full unit) before agreeing to a price - the cost difference is significant (~€500 vs. ~€1,500–3,000).
• Watch for escalation: at least one owner in the same situation went on to see a "traction system fault" warning, so don't treat this as a purely cosmetic charging inconvenience.

More once I have an actual outcome.