Vauxhall Astra vs Vauxhall Grandland

The Vauxhall Grandland costs £7,360 more than the Vauxhall Astra. For that premium it adds 44 miles more WLTP range, 60 kW faster peak rapid charging and 198 litres more boot space. The Vauxhall Astra is not just cheaper - it also offers lower energy use, 150 versus 172 Wh/km. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Vauxhall Astra comes out ahead overall.

The Vauxhall Astra is £7,360 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £168 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 £7,480 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 191 miles for the Vauxhall Astra and 220 miles for the Vauxhall Grandland - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Vauxhall Grandland goes roughly 29 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 26-30 minutes.

The Vauxhall Astra is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 248 mm narrower than the Vauxhall Grandland. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 540 mm of total clearance for the Vauxhall Astra and about 292 mm of total clearance for the Vauxhall Grandland. The Vauxhall Astra also turns in a 0.4 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 Vauxhall Astra 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. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.