Be still thine beating hearts: the long-range Vauxhall Frontera is here for £27,495

As expected, Vauxhall has stuffed its reborn Frontera with a bigger battery and rolled it out for sale. Welcome to the new Frontera Electric Extended Range.

In news that’ll surely surprise, it’s... an electric Frontera offering an extended amount of range over the smaller-batteried one. So where previously you had the choice of a 44kWh Frontera EV with 186 miles, this ER car gets a 54kWh unit offering a heady 253 miles (WLTP).

Underneath, there’s a single front-mounted electric motor producing the same 111bhp as its lesser-batteried sibling, though the additional 67 miles appears to have slowed it down even more. The Frontera already had a very 'relaxed' attitude about getting up to speed.

So, 0-62mph now takes 13 full seconds (as opposed to the 44kWh car’s 12.8s). Top speed is limited to 88mph. All of this is largely moot of course, because it’s a cheap(ish) electric car.

Speaking of which, Vauxhall points out its £27,495 starting price limbos underneath the government’s new EV grant threshold, and the luxury car tax too. Because… it’s not a luxury car. FYI the smaller-batteried variant starts from £23,995.

Other versions of the Frontera are available too – a pair of hybrids that match a 1.2-litre three-pot to a small motor, allowing either 99bhp or 134bhp, with prices for those kicking off from £24,255.