Video (preview)

A DIFFERENT KIND OF ASTRA (some text hidden) SECTIONED_new_vauxhallastraelectric_2024

By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 73

Did you ever imagine that one day, there'd be a fully-electric Vauxhall Astra? Well back in 2023 we got exactly that. This EV shared all its engineering with its close cousin the Peugeot E-308 and, like that fellow Stellantis Group model, was available in hatch and Sports Tourer estate form with smart looks but initially quite ambitious asking prices. Here, we check the earlier versions of this model out as a used buy.

Modelsword count: 6

Family Hatch / Sports Tourer (EV)

Historyword count: 219

Back in 2023, Vauxhall was finding itself in something of a dilemma. Marque owner the Stellantis Group was instructing the brand to push up prices, aim at private customers and switch away from the low-margin fleet sales that had sustained this manufacturer for the previous few decades. Yet in 2023, Vauxhall was also tasked with launching its first all-electric family hatchback, the Astra Electric, into an EV market 70% of which was dominated by registrations made to fleets and businesses. It was a recipe for poor sales and that's how it turned out after a 2023 launch that initially saw Astra Electric prices pitched in the £38,000 to £45,000 bracket. Certainly to begin with, the asking figures got nowhere near the prices being asked for combustion-powered Astras. The same problems beset the Stellantis model this Astra Electric borrowed all its engineering from, the Peugeot E-308. Things improved over time of course. Stellantis accepted the need for a reduction in price and eventually, a government grant made the Astra Electric more affordable still, culminating in a pricing policy for the 2026 model year that made the Astra Electric the same price as a comparable Hybrid or PHEV Astra. By mid-2026, it was time for a light facelift, but it's the pre-facelift earlier Astra Electric 2023-2026-era models we look at here.

What You Getword count: 642

The tailgate 'E' badge is the only external giveaway that you're looking at an all-electric version of this L-series Astra. Plus of course the lack of a tailpipe. Otherwise, there are no visual clues at all, unless you bend down and look really closely, in which case you might see the 54kWh battery pack bringing the underside of the car a fraction closer to the ground. Like the other available electrified Astras, the Hybrid and the Plug-in Hybrid, this one comes in a choice of two body styles, either the five-door hatch or the usual Sports Tourer estate. Of course, if you're able to look beneath the sharply-creased clamshell bonnet, it's all very different indeed, though it's a touch disappointing that there's any sort of powertrain underneath it at all, given that some notable rivals use this area to offer extra luggage space - or at least a convenient place for your charging leads. It's a bit less distinctive from the side, the profile view marked by the pronounced forward rake of the C-pillar. In the interests of controlling consumption, you might expect an EV model to have smaller wheels than its engine equivalent; actually, the opposite is true here. All Astra Electrics wore the large diamond-cut 18-inch alloy rims that with a combustion Astra you had to stretch to the very priciest trim level to get. There are no changes inside to distinguish this full-battery model - apart from the expected EV differences on the 10-inch instrument and infotainment screens. Look carefully at the instrument display and you'll note a Power/Eco/Charge meter to the left and a battery capacity read-out on the right. The differences with the centre screen are harder to spot, mostly concerned with an added 'Energy' section. You're going to need to be a fan of shiny dark piano black plastic to like the futuristic cabin vibe and we're not completely convinced by some elements of material quality. But it was all pretty well screwed together by the German Russelsheim factory and the dual 10-inch displays do a pretty good job of telling you what you need to know, the instrument screen configurable via the end of the steering wheel stalks. You sit lower down than in this model's Crossover class rivals, which makes it all feel a bit sportier. And we particularly like the seats; above base trim, the driver's chair posture was designed for certification approval from the German 'Aktion Gesunder Rucken e.V' organisation, who campaign across Europe for aids to healthier backs. There's plenty of cabin storage too. At the rear once inside, it doesn't feel at all EV-like. Electric vehicles that use platforms only designed for electric vehicles almost aways have palatial levels of rear seat leg space. Those EVs that sit on platforms also designed for combustion power don't - and this was one of those. Vauxhall claimed that there was 680mm of leg space (10mm more than in the Peugeot E-308), but it still feels a touch more cramped than the class norm in the back of an Astra Electric. You raise the rear hatch by pressing on the central Griffin emblem. Using a composite material for this tailgate didn't make it much lighter - and there was no powered option. And once everything's raised? Well unlike with the smaller Corsa Electric, which matches the boot capacity of its combustion counterpart, this EV Astra's trunk is just as compromised as it is in Plug-in Hybrid form, the usual combustion Astra 422-litre total falling to 352-litres here because of the battery below the cargo area floor. With the Sports Tourer estate version, there's a 548-litre boot (down from 608-litres normally) and there's 600mm of load height. With the back seat folded, an Astra Electric hatch will offer you 1,268-litres of capacity. For the Astra Electric Sports Tourer estate, the seats-folded figure is 1,553-litres.

To see the full road test text contact us on 0330 0020 227