Living with a Vauxhall Grandland Electric: why we’re now friends with this electric SUV again

This is our Vauxhall Grandland Electric – a big, practical EV which we’ve been living with for a few months to find out what it’s like to use every day. Things got off to a rough start when our car was plagued with software problems, which you can read about in the previous report.

Now though we’ve switched to a new, identical Grandland so the first one can go away to be fixed, and in the weeks since we’ve had no problems at all. With everything working as it should, it’s much easier to appreciate what this car is good at – being a comfy and practical SUV which is pretty good to drive.

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Around town it’s easy to manoeuvre, despite its large size. You get a good view forward, and the squared-off bonnet makes it really easy to place on the road. The steering is also light, and this range-topping version has a 360-degree camera to make tight car parks that bit less stressful.

The suspension does a decent job of soaking up smaller bumps, but big potholes and speed bumps do send a thud through the cabin. We’ve found that it’s a bit wallowy at times as well- no matter how smoothly you come to a stop it seems to rock back and forth. The brakes are also a bit vague. There seems to be a lot of pedal travel where nothing happens, then the brakes come on like a switch. It makes it tricky to drive smoothly at slow speeds.

The Grandland Electric also doesn’t feel quite as spritely off the line as something like a Ford Explorer – you don’t seem to get that instant acceleration you expect from an EV. On the bright side, it’s still smooth and nippy enough, and it’s ideal for those who are transitioning from a combustion-engined car as the driving characteristics are pretty similar.

That is apart from the noise, because there’s no engine clattering away under the bonnet. On the motorway the Grandland Electric is pretty much silent, making it a relaxing long-distance cruiser. That is unless you leave the lane-keeping assist turned on, because the system is a bit over-sensitive. It beeps and tugs at the steering wheel a bit too much, so we keep it switched off most of the time.

So what about range? Well Vauxhall claims that this Ultimate version of the Grandland Electric will do 322 miles on a charge. We’ve done just over 1,200 miles in our car, taking in a mixture of town, motorway and country road driving. It averaged 3.9 miles per kWh, and when you multiply that by the 73kWh battery capacity you get a real-world range of 285 miles.

That’s around 89% of the official claimed figure, which is pretty good going. You can check out our EV range test leaderboard to find out how close some of this car’s key competitors come to their claimed range figures.

We may have got off on the wrong foot with the Vauxhall Grandland Electric, but now that we’ve got one which is working properly it’s much easier to see that this is a decent all-rounder which is comfy, efficient and easy to drive. When you consider the fact you can get one through Carwow for less than £33,500 – around £3,000 less than a Volkswagen ID4, it starts to make a lot of sense.

Living with a Vauxhall Grandland Electric report 2: software glitches take the shine off this SUV

All has not been well with our Grandland Electric, because the first car we were given had to be sent back due to an array of infuriating software glitches.

*Prices correct at the time of writing

It’s a shame because we do actually like the Grandland, so hopefully this new one remains trouble-free so we can enjoy this practical and well-equipped electric SUV. For a full rundown of this car’s spec, check out the first report.

Living with a Vauxhall Grandland Electric: what’s gone wrong?

Our first Vauxhall Grandland Electric was troublesome to say the least. On the day it was delivered we noticed that the interior screens wouldn’t switch off when the car was locked, so your music would be merrily playing away in the car while you’re tucked up in bed.

It only went downhill from here as well. The dashboard would light up like a christmas tree, warning us that the collision avoidance had failed and the lights weren’t working. A quick call to Vauxhall and the car was whisked away to be fixed.

The issue was diagnosed as a faulty front light panel, which was replaced before the car was sent back to us. All was well for a few days, but then all the issues returned and then some.

The entire rear LED panel would fail from time to time, something a passer by made us aware of. This meant the only light on the rear of the car was the high-level brake light, less than ideal when driving at night.

We also kept getting a warning saying the boot was open – it wasn’t – which was annoying when it beeps at you on the move and even more irritating when it caused the alarm to keep going off in the middle of the night.

So it’s clear that this particular Grandland Electric has some issues which need resolving, which is why we’ve swapped into an identical car to see if this is a one-off or a recurring problem. A few weeks in and we’re delighted to report that the replacement has been completely trouble-free.

Living with a Vauxhall Grandland Electric: why we still like it

With the technical gremlins sorted we can focus on all the things we like about the Vauxhall Grandland Electric, such as the lovely interior.

Vauxhall interiors typically prioritise function over form, but the Grandland Electric is a game changer. Our car is, admittedly, a top-spec Ultimate trim, but the design is simple yet classy and everything feels well put together. The indicators have a satisfyingly solid clunk that puts even a BMW 5 Series to shame. There’s a nice mix of materials, all of which are subtle shades and none of which feel cheap, and the fabric strip that runs from the doors across the dashboard is a classy touch.

The Grandland Electric makes for a great family car as well. It’s spacious inside and has a big boot. Fitting a child seat is easy thanks to the wide door openings and cavernous rear legroom, although the zip-down ISOFIX covers are a bit fiddly to use.

We’re glad to have resolved the issues we had with the Grandland, because now it’s much easier to live with. We’ll report back in a few weeks with some driving impressions once we’ve got a few more miles under our belts.

Living with a Vauxhall Grandland Electric report 1: introduction

One of the things which may be putting you off switching to an electric SUV is price; a lot of them can be very expensive. For example, a petrol-powered Peugeot 3008 will cost you around £35,000, whereas the electric version is £10,000 more.

This is where the new Vauxhall Grandland Electric starts to look quite tempting. It’s built using the same collection of parts as the Peugeot, but it’s nearly £8,000 cheaper. You can save even more when you buy through Carwow, because average savings on a Grandland electric stand at over £4,000 at the time of writing.

So what’s the catch? Well we’re going to find out if there is one by living with the Vauxhall Grandland Electric for six months. At first glance though things are looking promising.

It certainly looks more striking than the old Grandland. Vauxhall’s familiar “Visor” nose job has translated quite well onto this large SUV, and the sleek LED lights look good as well. It may not be as exciting as a Peugeot 3008, but it’s still a handsome SUV.

Our car sticks out more than some thanks to the “Impact Copper” paint job. It sort of looks like the rose gold colour you get on an iPhone, and it’s a £700 option. It’s split opinions in the Carwow office, but it’s definitely not boring.

This is the top-spec Ultimate trim, meaning it’s fully loaded with standard equipment. We have a 360-degree reversing camera, a panoramic glass roof, heated seats and steering wheel and adaptive cruise control.

Powering this Grandland Electric is a single electric motor driving the front wheels with 213hp. This is paired with a 73kWh battery, and the claimed range is 325 miles. We’ll see how close we can get to this figure in reality over the coming months.

All-in, our car will set you back around £39,800. That’s over £6,000 cheaper than a base-spec E-3008 with exactly the same motor and battery, and it means it avoids the expensive car tax. So should you save yourself some cash and buy the Vauxhall instead? Keep an eye on this page for updates on our experience over the coming months.

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*Prices correct at the time of writing