Vauxhall Astra Electric Sports Tourer review

The Vauxhall Astra Electric Sports Tourer starts at £28,495 (including ECG), which is cheaper than its mild and plug-in hybrid siblings, and over £5k less than the pre-facelift car. Seems Vauxhall was overcharging before. It's also identically priced to the hatch. There’s no knocking that at all.

It's marginally cheaper than its Peugeot e-308 SW Stellantis stablemate. But might you prefer the arguably even more stylish Pug? Still, it’s also significantly less money than a Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer and Toyota bZ4X Touring. So there’s that.

What's the difference between the trim levels?

Griffin is Vauxhall’s base trim, and as standard you get 17in alloys, LED head- and tail-lights, tinted rear windows, roof rails, heated steering wheel and front seats, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, front and rear parking sensors and keyless entry.

Oh, and that 10-inch touchscreen ‘n’ instrument cluster combo is included too, so no need to fork out extra just to fill the expanse of that dash-mounted panel.

The mid-spec GS starts from £31,495. It adds 18in black alloys (urgh) electric and heated mirrors, sports seats and pedals (we’re not sure why either), Vauxhall’s Pure Panel Pro (edge-to-edge glass) display, and a 180-degree camera.

Top-spec Ultimate begins from £33,995. At this point there surely isn’t much more kit Vauxhall could lob into the Astra ST, but adaptive LED pixel headlights find their way in, as does a head-up display, a heated windscreen, a wireless phone charger, powered tailgate and numerous active safety gizmos.

And what would chef recommend?

Honestly the entry-spec Griffin comes with plenty (and swerves the ghastly black alloys), so go with that. Cough up £2k up front and Vauxhall will lease you one for £516 per month over four years, assuming 8,000 miles of driving per year. You can probably do better shopping elsewhere.

Speaking of savings, anyone buying a car from Vauxhall’s electric range gets £500 towards either a home wallbox or Octopus/Tesco charging credit. Plug in at home and a full charge should cost you under £15; significantly less if you can get onto one of those energy schemes with the dirt cheap overnight tariffs.

Of course, use a public rapid charger and your bill might be double that. Occasional use won’t be an issue, but if you rely on these then you’ll quickly begin to wonder if an old diesel might’ve made more sense.