Vauxhall Frontera Electric review

Vauxhall knows that most of these will be restricted to inner cities and the odd longer run, so it has wisely set up the Frontera Electric for comfort.

It’s all very relaxed. The steering is pleasingly well weighted, and acceleration is as mild as a vegetable korma: 0-62mph takes a leisurely 12.8 seconds, on to a top speed of 88mph. The brakes are slightly spongy and there’s no adjustable regen either, though a Comfort mode dials it right down.

Having said that, we did notice a fair amount of wind noise at higher speeds, and the lane keep and speed limit warning – which auto activate at the start of every journey – disrupt the peace. Fortunately, some well-placed shortcut buttons beside the steering wheel allow you to quickly switch these off with one press and long hold, and progress is otherwise very serene. Phew.

What's the ride like?

We’re told that Vauxhall’s engineers worked hard to strike the right balance between body control and ride comfort, and sure enough it corners pretty well. This electric one in particular, with the battery cells housed under the floor contributing to a lower centre of gravity.

The battery adds 170kg for a total kerb weight of 1,514kg (versus the hybrid’s 1,344kg), but that’s still pretty low for an electric car, and it certainly feels lighter than some rivals. Though drive one back-to-back with the hybrid and you might just crave its more agile touch.

Same goes for this car's e-C3 Aircross twin, which uses hydraulic bump stops in its ‘Citroen Advanced Comfort Suspension' setup for an even softer ride. Without the comparison, you're unlikely to be offended by the Frontera's ride. It soaks up bumpy British roads as well as most families require.

What about range?

The headline-grabbing price of the entry Frontera Electric means it has a humble 44kWh (usable) battery for up to 190 miles of range. Identical to the one you'll find in a slightly cheaper Citroen e-C3 Aircross, which is of a similar size and shares the same platform. As ever, wager on about two thirds of that in practice: we averaged just shy of Vauxhall’s claimed 3.4 mi/kWh on our first test drive, which implies less than 150 miles tops. Hmm.

An Extended Range version ups the battery size by 20 per cent but range by 33 per cent; sounds like a good deal to us. With a claimed range of 248 miles fully topped up, you'll hopefully nudge over 200 in the real world. Worth noting that – on a very hot day – we only managed 2.8 mi/kWh over a 200-mile stint in this version. Eek. A really efficient EV would manage between 4.0 and 5.0.

Oh, and a quick word on charge times: from a 100kW rapid charger, a 20-80 per cent top up takes 26 minutes in the 44kWh car or 28 with the 55kWh battery. For anyone with a home charger, a 20-80 per cent charge can take as little as 3.5 hours, which is about the same as the longest Lord of the Rings film. Coincidence? Um, yes.