Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric long-term test: report 1

The car Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric Ultimate | Run by Claire Evans, consumer editor

Why it's here To see if Vauxhall’s family-sized estate is a good alternative to the similar Peugeot e-308 and German estate rivals. 

Needs to Enable me to rack up the miles in comfort, and be as practical and easy to live with as a petrol alternative

Mileage 2746 List price £45,460 Target Price £45,460 Price as tested £46,160 Official range 256 miles Test range 155 miles Options Crimson Red metallic paint £700

5 December 2024 – (Not) a dedicated follower of fashion

Some electric cars look like spaceships, and attract the sort of attention a flying saucer would if it landed in London. But what if you don’t want to have the world staring at you? What if you want to go electric without the fuss? Well, Vauxhall has a solution: the Vauxhall Astra Electric. 

Yes, it’s powered by a 115kW electric motor rather than a petrol or diesel engine, but on the outside it’s hard to tell it apart from conventional versions of the Astra. The only distinguishing feature is a small ‘e’ badge on the bootlid.

Rather than the hatchback, though, I’ve opted for the Sports Tourer estate. This a much more practical proposition, offering extra head room for rear passengers and a square-shaped boot, which is almost twice as large as that of the hatch, at 516 litres. 

I only have a small dog, who is happy to sit on the rear bench seat, but the boot will be handy for transporting my road bike and taking provisions to the small flock of urban sheep I check up on once a week. 

As well as lashing eyes and storage nets on each side of the boot, there’s a handy hook on the floor panel that can be attached to the top of the rear hatch, so you don’t have to hold the floor up while accessing the compartments beneath it. 

My car’s Ultimate trim also provides 40/20/40 split-folding rear seat backs so I can stow long items more easily, and it has an electric function that allows me to open the tailgate by waving a foot under the rear bumper. 

Another significant advantage of my car’s spec is that its front seats have been approved by the independent German association Aktion Gesunder Rücken, which translates to Campaign for Healthier Backs. It tests products for back-friendliness and approves those that meet its standards. And as a long-time sufferer of pains in that area, this is a huge plus for me.

The driver’s seat benefits from eight-way adjustment for height, backrest angle and lumbar support. Plus, it has an extendable base to give added thigh support for taller drivers – not a feature that I really need, but one that my far lankier partner is already appreciating.

As with the exterior, the Astra Electric’s interior is pretty much identical to that of a petrol Astra, and that’s a good thing because it means it’s spacious and feels like it’s been designed to cater for long-distance drivers. There are two good-sized cupholders and plenty of useful storage compartments in the centre console, including a couple of lidded sections where you can hide valuables if you want to leave them in the car. 

Above this there are two rows of physical buttons to control the air-con, heated seats, screen demisting and heated steering wheel. In fact, the Astra has more physical buttons than most modern cars, including the rival Skoda Octavia Estate and the Peugeot e-308, with which it shares its underpinnings.

The presence of these buttons is a boon, because I hardly have to delve into the touchscreen while on the move, so distraction is kept to a minimum.

The only big disappointment with the Astra so far is its range. Most of my miles are done on motorways, and I’m regularly getting little more than half of the mileage I should. My 90-mile daily commute sees the range readout drop by 164 miles, and one recent 140-mile round trip used up 242 miles, leaving me rather anxious with just 14 miles left as I approached my home.  

That said, these trips were done with the car in Normal driving mode because I thought I might want to have oomph in reserve for occasional overtakes.

In the coming weeks I’m going to experiment with Eco mode, which is said to increase the car’s range by reducing the power of its electric motor. It will be interesting to see if this dents the acceleration too much or if it’s a sensible way of covering more miles between charges.

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