Mercedes-Benz GLC vs Vauxhall Grandland

The Mercedes-Benz GLC costs £23,745 more than the Vauxhall Grandland. For that premium it adds 80 miles more WLTP range, 170 kW faster peak rapid charging and 203 kW more power. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Mercedes-Benz GLC comes out ahead overall.

The Vauxhall Grandland is £23,745 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £176 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Vauxhall Grandland comes out roughly £23,665 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 297 miles for the Mercedes-Benz GLC and 220 miles for the Vauxhall Grandland - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Mercedes-Benz GLC goes roughly 77 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 22 minutes in the Mercedes-Benz GLC and 30 in the Vauxhall Grandland, so the Mercedes-Benz GLC loses less time at each stop. That makes the Mercedes-Benz GLC the stronger long-distance car.

The Mercedes-Benz GLC is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 195 mm narrower than the Vauxhall Grandland. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 487 mm of total clearance for the Mercedes-Benz GLC and about 292 mm of total clearance for the Vauxhall Grandland. The Vauxhall Grandland also turns in a 1.2 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 Mercedes-Benz GLC and 84% for the Vauxhall Grandland. 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.