2025 Suzuki e Vitara review: new electric SUV rated
Suzuki may be late to the electric SUV party, but its first effort – the e Vitara – looks very tempting on paper – we've driven a prototype to see what it's like in practice...
Priced from £33,000 (est) | On sale Summer 2025
There’s an old adage that says the first step is always the hardest, so as Suzuki launches its first of four electric vehicles (EV), each arriving with around 18 months grace, you can imagine that it wants to get it right.
That might be part of the reason that the e Vitara wears such a familiar name. Indeed, the Suzuki Vitara has been in the brand’s range for 37 years and has enjoyed lots of success in that time, so adding an "e" for, well, "electric" helps to give customers something more recognisable.
It’s only the name that the e Vitara shares with the current Vitara though. You see, despite being a similar size, the e Vitara has been developed from the ground up to be an electric SUV, with Suzuki quickly pointing out that, while the e Vitara might share some bits with the new Toyota Urban Cruiser, this is very much a car it has led the development of.
Has Suzuki hit the ground running with its first electric car? To find out, Suzuki let us get behind the wheel of a couple of "near production-ready" prototypes – one with front-wheel drive and one with AllGrip-e four-wheel drive – ahead of the car’s official arrival in the summer.
What’s the new Suzuki e Vitara like to drive?
When the e Vitara arrives, you’ll have two different battery sizes to choose from, starting with the 49kWh entry-level version (the usable capacity has not been confirmed yet). We’ve yet to try that version, but its official range of 214 miles and modest 0-62mph time of 9.6 seconds suggests that it’ll be best suited to those doing short journeys.
The e Vitara we tested has the larger 61kWh battery option. In two-wheel-drive form it's expected to be the best seller, largely because it boosts the range to 267 miles, which is pretty much a match for the Kia EV3 Air Standard Range, with its 55kWh (usable capacity) battery.
Opting for the bigger battery also allows you to have four-wheel drive, which adds an additional motor to drive the rear wheels but also cuts the official range to 246 miles.
As is always the case, you'll struggle to achieve those official figures in the real world. Both the two and four-wheel-drive versions returned an efficiency figure of 2.8miles per kWh on our test route, which simulates driving around town, on country roads and on the motorway. That suggests a real-world range of around 171 miles.
Along with the bigger battery, the 61kWh e Vitara also gets more power, going from 142bhp in the 49kWh version to 172bhp if you stick with 61kWh two-wheel drive. It’s fair to say that the e Vitara isn’t the quickest thing off the line, but once it gets going, it builds speed progressively and has enough performance for everyday driving.
If you want more pace, you’ll need the four-wheel-drive version with its extra motor. That increases the total power to 236bhp (172bhp from the front motor and 64bhp from the rear) and gives you a noticeable boost in performance, especially off the line.
Whichever version you go for, the e Vitara is quite a comfortable thing to drive around in. The suspension is on the soft side but not so much that it begins to feel wayward over undulating roads. Instead, it strikes a good balance between body control and soaking up imperfections.
Indeed, even over our testing ground’s rather punishing rumble road, which has multiple raises and drops in height, the e Vitara feels well-damped suspension soaked up each depression with relative ease. It's impressive for a electric SUV and up there with the Kia EV3 and Skoda Elroq for ride quality.
The e Vitara’s handling isn’t exactly what we’d call fun, but then country-road thrills aren’t really high on its list of priorities. Instead, you’ll find that the Suzuki’s body control and well-weighted steering are both perfect for making good and confident progress as travel from point-to-point.
What’s the new Suzuki e Vitara like inside?
Comfortable seats and a driving position that lines you up nicely with the steering wheel and pedals means that the e Vitara is easy to get along with. Better still, there's lots of adjustment for the driver’s seat and steering wheel to accommodate a wide range of people. Top-spec Ultra trim adds an electrically adjustable driver’s seat with adjustable lumbar support.
You sit fairly high above the road in the e Vitara and the front windscreen pillars are helpfully slim, giving you a good view out of the front window and out at junctions. Rear visibility is decent, thanks to large rear windows that stretch fairly far back and help to negate the effect that the large rear pillars have on your blind spot.
As a result, parking shouldn’t be difficult. Even so, every e Vitara comes with front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera as standard, which is upgraded to a 360-degree camera if you go for Ultra trim.
Regardless of which trim you go for, you’ll find a 10.3in digital driver's display behind the steering wheel, alongside a 10.1in touchscreen. Both screens have sharp graphics and are easy to read.
In fact, when it comes to the infotainment system, the only thing letting the side down is the software’s slow reaction to your prods. Indeed, waiting for menus to react as you tap around quickly gets frustrating. Hopefully, that’s something that’ll change when the car goes on sale.
At least Bluetooth and sat-nav come as standard. Upgrading to Ultra trim adds wireless phone-charging and an Infinity premium sound system upgrade.
We also really appreciate that, while the infotainment system is entirely reliant on you touching the screen, you get proper physical controls for the air conditioning and on the steering wheel. That makes it far less distracting to make small changes on the move than in the Ford Puma Gen-E and Skoda Elroq, which both require you to delve into their touchscreens to change the temperature.
When it comes to practicality, two six-footers will find that they have more than enough space in the front. Even with the Ultra’s sunroof, we found that there was plenty of head room spare, along with enough leg room and shoulder room to get comfortable.
In the back, things aren’t quite as promising. You see, while there’s lots of leg room when the sliding rear bench is set all the way back, head room is in limited supply and a six footer will likely find that their head is touching the roof.
Things are even worse for a middle seat passenger, where the slightly raised cushion means even our 5ft 11in road tester had to cower to not be touching the ceiling. At least the flat floor allows for plenty of foot space.
Boot space depends on which trim you go for and where you’ve positioned the sliding rear seats. You see, the Ultra trim’s upgraded stereo system reduces boot space from 310-litres to 306-litres, with the seats slid all the way forwards. That should be enough space for a pushchair or a decent sized family shop, but isn’t hugely impressive compared with the e Vitara’s rivals.
For reference, the Kia EV3 has a 460-litre boot, the Elroq 470-litres and the Puma Gen-E a comparatively cavernous 523-litre boot. All of those models will be better suited to anyone that has boot space high on their list.
Better news is that the e Vitara's rear seats are pretty versatile. Indeed, we’ve already mentioned that the rear bench can be slid forwards and backwards (to prioritise either rear leg room or boot space) but the backrest can also be reclined and split in a versatile 40/20/40 configuration. That’s really handy when it comes to loading long items into the boot, allowing you to fold just the middle seat down and not compromise one of the outer passenger seats.
New Suzuki e Vitara verdict
Suzuki is yet to give the e Vitara a price, but we expect prices to start around £33,000, making it similar in price to the Kia EV3 Air but a little more expensive than the entry-level Skoda Elroq.
Both trim levels come with lots of standard equipment. Even the entry-level Motion comes with 18in alloys, rear privacy glass, LED headlights, an EV heat pump and keyless entry and start. The bigger-battery versions also get heated seats and a heated steering wheel.
Above that sits Ultra trim. It’s only available with the bigger battery but adds 19in alloy wheels, adaptive high-beam and half-synthetic leather seats.
With a maximum charging rate of 150kW, the e Vitara should take around 45 minutes to charge up from 10-80% with a fast charger. The EV3 will take around 29 minutes and the Ford Puma Gen-E 24 minutes.
As it’s still a prototype, the e Vitara wasn’t included in the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey but Suzuki as a brand placed third out of the 31 car brands listed. Better still, the e Vitara comes with a 10-year, 100,000-mile service-activated warranty – something that’s only matched by Toyota.
The e Vitara seems to us to be shaping up to be a fine new addition to the electric SUV world. True, we’ve yet to see what interior quality is really like and how keen the pricing will be, but there's plenty of choice and it should cover the basics well enough at the more affordable end of the class.
What Car? says 3 stars out of 5
Suzuki e Vitara price and specs
Price £33,000 (est) Engine 61kWh battery and electric motor Power 172bhp Torque 142lb ft Gearbox 1-spd automatic, FWD 0-62mph 8.7sec Top speed 93mph Range 267 miles CO2/tax 0g/km, 3%
Rivals:
Kia EV3
Skoda Elroq
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