Vauxhall Grandland Electric long-term test: report 4
Our sub-editor needs a comfortable, practical car for a lengthy commute and active weekends. We're finding out if Vauxhall's electric flagship can go the distance...
The car Vauxhall Grandland Electric Ultimate Run by Chris Haining, sub-editor
Why it’s here To find out what Vauxhall's electric family SUV has to offer in what is a highly competitive class
Needs to be comfy and relaxing on a long motorway commute; economical to run; offer the practicality an action-packed life demands
Mileage 3180 List price £39,995 Best Price £39,995 Price as tested £40,645 Official range 322 miles Test range 272 miles
11 October 2025 – Smiles for miles
“Stop having fun!” My wife is only half joking when she says this – typically when I’m getting a bit of a clip on while tackling a country road, focusing more on the racing line between apexes than on passenger comfort. She said it fairly recently, when we were in my Vauxhall Grandland Electric. And she was right: I was having fun.
Now, the Grandland is a family SUV, and it would take a miracle of physics to make it behave like a hot hatch. However, on sweeping West Country roads, I found something very satisfying about how the Grandland flowed from one corner to the next.
There are several factors at play here. For one thing, thanks to the torquey pull of its electric motor, regaining pace between corners is positively effortless. On a country road, I’d never be able to keep up with the Grandland Electric in the petrol-engined MG HS I ran previously, even if I put my foot to the floor after every corner. Plus, doing so would make the HS an awful lot noisier than the Grandland ever is.
The Grandland’s relatively stiff suspension helps, too, tying the car’s bulky body down to the point that there really isn’t much lean when I carry a bit of pace into a bend. And I’d have to be driving far more quickly than would be sensible before grip became a problem; the Grandland has always felt planted and secure when I’m ‘making good progress’.
Then there’s the regenerative braking, which recovers energy during deceleration and sends it back to the battery. At lower speeds, this isn’t as well integrated with the regular brakes as I’d like, meaning smooth stops take a bit of concentration. But I love how the second of the Grandland’s three regen settings behaves as if I’m driving in third gear; back off the accelerator just before a bend and the car swiftly slows to an appropriate cornering speed.
As a result, it’s easy to find a gratifying rhythm along a twisty road, as I found in Cornwall and again on Dartmoor. And then I had to buy my wife a nice dinner to apologise.
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