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The Vauxhall Grandland Electric is a family SUV with comfortable ride quality, lots of space, good looks, a 318-mile driving range, ultra-rapid charging, and a price tag below £40,000 – is this the ultimate overlooked EV?
Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroen are all brands within Stellantis with cars in similar markets, so differentiation between the brands’ products has been a challenge at times, but the new Grandland seems to have cracked what Vauxhall stands for – simple but effective design, an easy driving experience, and good value.
The Vauxhall Grandland is basically a larger ‘SUV’ version of an Astra Estate. The SUV label is applied because it has a slightly higher ride height, and more space, with a length of 4,650mm and a large 550-litre boot (with a big space under the boot floor), increasing to 1,645 litres with the rear seats folded. Based on the Stellantis STLA Medium platform, and sharing this with the Peugeot 3008 (which now has a ‘fastback’ rather than an SUV body style), it may look like a seven-seater, but there’s only seating for five.
Vauxhall has been going down the route of a ‘simple’ approach in terms of styling, which differentiates it from the more creative styling of Peugeot. This may have led to cars that haven’t been that exciting to look at, but we’d say that Vauxhall has found its way with the Grandland’s design style – it may be simple, but it also looks good. It’s a similar story inside – the cabin may be primarily functional, but it’s also stylish.
Over recent years most mainstream electric Stellantis products have had 50 kWh or 54 kWh batteries delivering driving ranges of between 200 and 250 miles, but the Grandland has a larger 73kWh (net) battery delivering a driving range of over 300 miles, which makes this a much more practical proposition.
Although the Grandland is labelled as an SUV, it’s front-wheel drive only, with a 157kW / 213PS electric motor.
Spoiler alert: If you’re looking to uncover lots of problems with the Vauxhall Grandland Electric’s Driving Experience, you’re not going to find them here. The Grandland is comfortable, easy to drive, and even enjoyable if faced with challenging roads. The ride quality is good on all but the most potholed road surfaces – Vauxhall will say that this is due to ‘Frequency Selective Damping’ (FSD) technology that adapts to the road surface and driving style; we’d also say that, despite the large wheels, the relatively high profile tyres will be a factor in the ride comfort.
The chassis has some fluidity, meaning that some rewarding handling is on offer. Although the Grandland is front-wheel drive, torque delivery seems to be well controlled, so generally avoiding wheelspin and torque steer, but also dialling down any urgent sense of acceleration.
The Grandland features the familiar Stellantis gear selector, except that the ‘B’ button has disappeared and has been replaced by steering wheel-mounted paddles, giving three levels of regenerative braking rather than one, which is a better solution. A drive mode switch next to the gear selector also gives three options: Eco, Normal and Sport.
There’s a large 16-inch central touchscreen as well as a 10-inch digital instrument cluster in front of the driver. Even with CarPlay on the touchscreen, there are still temperature controls accessible either side of the screen. You also get three physical buttons, for Vehicle, Home and Climate, which face upwards under the touchscreen, with some other climate controls under the screen. There’s even a traditional volume dial.
The Grandland has Intelli-Lux HD headlights with over 50,000 elements, which should ensure the road is well lit at night.
The Vauxhall Grandland Electric has a WLTP combined electric driving range of 318 miles. After a week on test, the real-world range was averaging 280 miles. The Grandland Electric has an energy consumption figure of 3.6 miles/kWh.
A maximum DC ultra-rapid charging rate of 160 kW should deliver a 20% to 80% charge in 26 minutes. A 20% to 80% AC charge at 11kW should take 4 hours 30 minutes – or 6 hours 45 minutes using 7kW AC charging.
All electric Vauxhall models are available with the brand’s ‘Plug & Go’ offer, which includes access to a variety of charging solutions to help make electric mobility even easier.
A heat pump is fitted as standard for improved cold weather range.
The Vauxhall Grandland Electric is available in three trim levels: Design, GS and Ultimate. The Grandland Electric GS model, as tested, is priced at £38,495, with the option of Spectrum Blue paint (£700), taking the total price to £39,195. This means the Grandland Electric in Design and GS trim is priced under £40,000, so avoiding the ‘Expensive Car Supplement’ that has applied to EVs from 1 April 2025.
At the moment the Grandland Electric is available with a 73kWh (net) battery, but a larger 97kWh (net) battery is due in 2025 offering a range of around 435 miles.
The Vauxhall Grandland Electric is another Stellantis EV that offers an excellent all-round package for a competitive price – under £40,000 for the Design and GS trim levels. You get a comfortable and easy driving experience, stylish looks, lots of space, a practical range and ultra-rapid 160 kW charging. The Vauxhall Grandland Electric is awarded a Green Car Guide rating of 8 out of 10.
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