Vauxhall Grandland Electric review

The Grandland Electric handles fairly respectably for a heavy family SUV, but you can feel the compromise inherent in the heavy battery setup. The multi-link suspension is an upgrade over the petrol version's torsion beam, and the ride is firmed up to keep the extra weight in check (the Electric weighs in at 2,700kg to the petrol car's 2,100).

Trick electronic dampers, which adapt to your driving style and road surface, try their best to smooth things out, but don’t quite manage it – we found it fidgety and slightly turbulent. Dial it back (as you’ll want to in an electric car) and the Grandland settles down a bit. Ahh.

As ever, you won't appreciate the irritating but legally mandated safety bongs, which reset at the start of every journey. Fortunately there is a shortcut button below the infotainment screen which takes you directly to the driver assist menu where you can turn them off.

Is it fast? 

The front-wheel drive one isn't. It builds speed smoothly and calmly, but press the accelerator too hard and the front wheels dissolve into wheelspin. Zero to 62mph takes 9.0 seconds, while the dual motor is in a different league at 6.1s. Get that Silverstone track day booked pronto. More relevant is that both are quicker than the mild hybrid.

There are a few drive modes – Eco, Normal, and Sport, plus AWD in the dual motor – which alter things like the steering, power delivery and braking. But in either version it defaults to Normal on startup, which you’ll mostly leave it in. In the dual motor, that also limits output ever so slightly to 313bhp and 332lb ft. It’s almost like Vauxhall is trying to prevent you from having fun. 

Sport distributes full power 60:40 between the front and rear axles, and Vauxhall says the steering and accelerator pedal become more responsive, though we didn't notice a huge amount of difference.

Eco prioritises the front motor and wheels (but doesn’t disable the rears completely), with power and torque limited to 212bhp and 253lb ft respectively.

But in all honesty there’s little reason to upgrade from the single motor. Sure, the extra turn of pace is occasionally useful, particularly when you’re travelling fully loaded, but for most day-to-day family duties you don’t need it. Particularly given the efficiency penalty it brings.

What about efficiency?

Vauxhall claims up to 4.5 mi/kWh and 325 miles of range in the single motor, and 4.3 mi/kWh and 311 miles of range in the dual motor (both get the same battery remember).

In the former, we got 3.4 mi/kWh and an indicated 248 miles out of a full charge. Not brilliant, not terrible. But in the dual motor we saw 2.9 mi/kWh and 212 miles of range - even allowing for the colder conditions, other manufacturers manage the temperature drop-off better.

Steering wheel paddles add a further level of involvement, with three levels of regen, the lowest being more suitable for motorway driving (though you can't turn it off completely for coasting, strangely), and the highest better for stop-start urban stuff.

Talk charge times to me…

Fast charge capability of up to 160kW means it can charge from 20 to 80 per cent in under half an hour – 26 minutes, to be precise – if you can find a plug fast enough. That said, on a 150kW plug that we regularly use and usually see speeds into the triple figures, we managed a peak of 68kW in the Grandland. Not great.

It'll be longer at home obviously, but the 11kW onboard charger means a full top-up will be easily achievable overnight if you’ve had your electric beefed up at home.