BMW i3 (94Ah) vs Vauxhall Astra

The BMW i3 costs £3,075 more than the Vauxhall Astra. For that premium it adds a 2.0s quicker 0-62mph time. The Vauxhall Astra is not just cheaper - it also offers 122 miles more WLTP range, 50 kW faster peak rapid charging and 92 litres more boot space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Vauxhall Astra comes out ahead overall.

The Vauxhall Astra is £3,075 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £152 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Vauxhall Astra comes out roughly £2,995 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 104 miles for the BMW i3 and 191 miles for the Vauxhall Astra - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Vauxhall Astra goes roughly 88 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 26-28 minutes.

The BMW i3 is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 85 mm narrower than the Vauxhall Astra. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 625 mm of total clearance for the BMW i3 and about 540 mm of total clearance for the Vauxhall Astra. The BMW i3 also turns in a 0.6 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 87% battery health for the BMW i3 and 84% for the Vauxhall Astra. That gives the BMW i3 a modest edge in retained real-world range. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.