DS N°4 vs Vauxhall Astra

The DS N°4 costs £7,000 more than the Vauxhall Astra. For that premium it adds 42 kW more power and a 1.9s quicker 0-62mph time. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Vauxhall Astra comes out ahead overall.

The Vauxhall Astra is £7,000 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 £6,920 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 232 miles for the DS N°4 and 191 miles for the Vauxhall Astra - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The DS N°4 goes roughly 41 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 26-29 minutes.

The DS N°4 is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 30 mm narrower than the Vauxhall Astra. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 570 mm of total clearance for the DS N°4 and about 540 mm of total clearance for the Vauxhall Astra. The Vauxhall Astra also turns in a 0.3 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the DS N°4 and 84% for the Vauxhall Astra. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. 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.