Costs & verdict
Everyday costs, plus how reliable and safe it is
The Suzuki Across isn’t cheap, and is difficult to recommend as a private buy. There are a host of rivals in the same position, though. The DS 7 Crossback E-Tense and Land Rover Discovery Sport P300e, for example, are very expensive and most cash buyers will find that their money goes further on a non-hybrid version, or by going for the excellent – and far cheaper – Ford Kuga PHEV if it absolutely has to be a plug-in. However, thanks to its incredibly low official CO2 emissions and decent electric range, the Across sits in a very low benefit-in-kind tax band and makes a strong case for itself as a company car.
Don’t be fooled by the claimed 282mpg fuel economy, though. In the real world, you’re more likely to see closer to 50mpg on long journeys. If, however, you do mostly short journeys and can really make use of the electric range, then that’s where a PHEV like the Across can prove much cheaper on fuel bills than a petrol or diesel-powered rival. The maximum charging speed the Across can manage is 3.3kW – the same as its rivals – so if you plug it into a home wallbox charger you’ll get a full charge from empty in five and a half hours.
The Suzuki Across has yet to be featured in our annual reliability survey, but it’s worth looking at the closely-related Toyota RAV4’s record. In our 2020 survey, that car finished second only to the Lexus NX in the large SUV class, Toyota itself finishing third out of 31 in the manufacturer’s standings. Suzuki, meanwhile, finished in mid-table 14th place. The Across has a three year / 60,000 warranty and its battery and hybrid system is covered for five years, but the 60,000 mile limit still applies. It seems strange that the Across has a less generous warranty than the RAV4; that car carries an impressive five-year / 100,000 mile warranty.
The RAV4 received an excellent safety rating from Euro NCAP, so you can expect a stellar level of safety in the Across, too. The RAV4 received the full five stars overall, and if you look at the scores in each category it racks up some of the highest in the large SUV class — better than rivals including the Peugeot 5008, Mazda CX-5 and Honda CR-V. In other words, it's one of the safest cars in the large SUV class.
The Across gets a long list of safety equipment as standard, including automatic emergency braking (with pedestrian and cyclist recognition), traffic sign recognition, lane-keeping assistance and an SOS emergency call function. There’s also blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert; the latter feature warns you of approaching vehicles when you're backing out onto a road.
