Suzuki e Vitara Review 2025

Suzuki is extremely late to the EV party and its debut effort has involved some help to get it across the line. It's made courtesy of a joint-venture with Toyota but is the Suzuki end of this partnership any good? Find out in our full Suzuki e Vitara review. 

It may have a name with nearly four decades of familiarity about it but the Suzuki e Vitara is breaks brand new ground for the Japanese brand.

It’s the firm’s first fully electric car and the first of four such battery-powered models that it plans to release by 2030. A statement of intent by Suzuki, then, not to mention a glimpse of what’s to come in the company’s future.

Although the e Vitara shares its name with the similarly-sized, mild hybrid-powered Suzuki Vitara SUV, which remains on sale alongside the new model, that’s about all it shares. The e Vitara is built on all-new underpinnings that are shared with another car — the forthcoming Toyota Urban Cruiser.

As has happened several times in the past, Suzuki and Toyota have collaborated in the development of these cars, but Suzuki has taken the lead on this particular project rather than the other way around.

That’s important for Suzuki because although the EV market is new territory for the company, there are certain traditions to be upheld. The brand has a proud history with inexpensive off-road cars and Suzuki evidently sees the transition to an all-electric future as no reason for that to change. As a result, the e Vitara is one of the few cars of this type available with four-wheel drive, although most versions are front-wheel drive-only.

Although the majority of the e Vitara is Suzuki’s own work, one key element has been outsourced — its battery technology. The e Vitara uses BYD’s Blade LFP battery, bought in from the Chinese company. This battery comes in two capacities of either 49kWh or 61kWh, resulting in WLTP range figures of between 213 miles and 264 miles, depending on the model. These figures are hardly game-changing but they are reasonably competitive.

Despite the heritage of its name the Suzuki e Vitara will have a tough job vying for attention in a very competitive market. These days, most mainstream manufacturers have representation from at least one entrant, if not more among small electric SUVs.

There are lots of minor variations among alternatives in terms of size, price, power and driving range — when matching-up in these areas, the e Vitara’s closest rivals are the Ford Puma Gen-E, the roomy Kia EV3 and the upmarket Volvo EX30. However, relax those common factors even a little and literally dozens more alternatives come into play — and some very tempting ones at that.

With such plentiful competition, it is difficult for the Suzuki e Vitara to stand out, but that doesn’t stop it being a likeable and capable car in its own right.

One way in which the car does stand a fighting chance of gaining attention is with its warranty. Like the scheme adopted by Suzuki’s chums at Toyota, the initial agreement is a bog-standard three-year/60,000-mile one, but that’s automatically extended by a year when you have your car serviced annually within the Suzuki dealer network, up to a maximum of ten years or 100,000 miles.

What’s more, the eight-year battery warranty that legislation demands of electric car manufacturers will also be topped up to ten years/100,000 miles by Suzuki in the same way. In fairness, that in itself makes the e Vitara much more compelling.

Suzuki e Vitara: Range and charging times

The entry-level version of the Suzuki e Vitara has a relatively small 49kWh battery pack, giving it an official WLTP driving range of 213 miles. All other versions of the car get a larger 61kWh battery but the range this gives depends on how many driven wheels your car has. With front-wheel drive, this battery will take you up to 264 miles on a full charge according to official figures, but that drops to 245 miles if you go for a four-wheel-drive AllGrip-e version. Compared with rivals, these official range figures are no great shakes but they are competitive.

Like with all EVs, though, these laboratory-gleaned range figures should be treated with a healthy level of scepticism because they’ll likely be very difficult to regulate in the real-world. Even in perfect conditions, assume that you’ll get 15-20% less than that, and in cold weather, your return will be even less. Prolonged high-speed motorway runs will also see your real-world returns plummet.

We haven’t seen a figure for how long it takes to charge the Suzuki e Vitara on a regular three-pin domestic socket but charging that way is likely to at least a full day. Besides, you shouldn’t need to, because as an added incentive, Suzuki is providing a free Ohme home charger, including installation, with every e Vitara sold before the end of 2025, and hopefully beyond.

On a connection like this, a 10-100% charge of the entry-level 49kWh car should take around 6 hours 30 minutes, while the larger battery should take on the same charge in around 9 hours. Using a domestic charger also allows you access to EV-specific energy tariffs, reducing the cost of running it even further.

However, the news is less good if you’re planning to regularly rely on DC public chargers, because the e Vitara’s maximum DC charging speed is pretty low at just 70kW. With either battery pack, a 10-80% charge will take around 45 minutes and will also be much, much more expensive than a home charge.

Having taken a softly-softly approach with the Suzuki e Vitara’s suspension the result is one of mixed success. Let’s start with the positives because for much of the time, the softness translates into a smooth ride, with good absorption of lumps and bumps, particularly larger ones.

However, while the e Vitara keeps life comfortable for a good proportion of the time, things are certainly not perfect. Despite its softness, the suspension can still struggle to deal with smaller bumps that are high in frequency, such as those you find on a surface that’s ripply or grainy, and in those situations, that Suzuki can feel unsettled. Find yourself on an undulating road with marked elevation changes, meanwhile, and you’ll find that the body of the car bounces up and down too much for comfort.

That being said, it come as little surprise that the soft suspension also results in quite a bit of body lean in corners. Although the e Vitara isn’t particularly heavy by EV standards, you're aware of its mass when you’re changing direction.

Although it can feel untidy in turns, it's nevertheless stable and safe, nor are you ever short of grip regardless of whether you’re in a front-wheel-drive car or a four-wheel driver. Whatever the case, the e Vitara’s steering has a rather numb and artificial feel but at least it reacts consistently and is nicely weighted.

Given that it’s an EV, we were surprised that the e Vitara isn’t a bit more refined than it is. Granted you don’t hear much noise from the motor or transmissions, but there’s a fair amount of wind- and road noise to be heard quite a lot of the time, even at moderate speeds.

The e Vitara is unconventional among small electric SUVs in that it can be had with four-wheel drive — only the Volvo EX30 and its Smart #1 cousin are similar in this regard. However, those two are very different propositions to the Suzuki because they have crazy power outputs, while the Suzuki is more focused on delivering a bit of off-roading ability, as befits its heritage.

The Suzuki's AllGrip-e package is an on-demand system, where the front-mounted motor drives the car in normal circumstances and the second rear motor, which is quite a lot less powerful, chimes in when either the front wheels start to slip or when the driver demands full acceleration. 

Suzuki laid on a fairly undemanding off-road course for us to try the car on. Although it’s not got the mud-plugging credentials of the Suzuki Jimny, it’ll do more than you might expect off-road. There isn’t enough ground clearance for rock crawling or anything like that but it’ll dispatch muddy fields and slopes fairly easily.

There are three different electric drive systems on offer in the Suzuki e Vitara, all using a single-speed transmission which is driven as you would a conventional automatic gearbox. Each has an electronically governed top speed of 93mph.

Suzuki distinguishes between the models by referencing the battery capacity and driven wheels rather than the power on offer. Consequently, the entry-level e Vitara is the 49kWh fitted with a single front-mounted electric motor that produces 144PS and 193Nm of torque, which is enough to take the car from 0-62mph in 9.6 seconds.

The 61kWh also has a single electric motor at the front but with a smidge more power at 174PS but no change in the peak torque. It's a bit quicker going about the benchmark 0-62mph dash, which it dispatches in 8.7 seconds, but the main reason for choosing this model is the increased range, not the performance.

This larger battery is shared with the range-topping 61kWh AllGrip-e versions, which adds a second motor on at the rear to give four-wheel drive. The total power output only rises to 183PS but there’s a much bigger boost in torque — now up to 307Nm. As a result, the 0-62mph time drops to 7.4 seconds but the range also falls.

Power delivery for the front-wheel drive 61kWh e Vitara feels slightly unconventional for an electric car. With most EVs, the rate of acceleration feels strongest when pulling away from a standstill, tailing-off more as you go faster. With the e Vitara, meanwhile, the pickup actually feels comparatively restrained off the line, with the torque feeling at its strongest when you’re already doing 30mph or so, and then you nail the accelerator.

Even as you near the top of its performance potential, it feels as though its been calibrated to mimic a combustion-engined car's characteristics rather than the norm for EVs.

This trait remains true regardless of which of the three driving modes you select, comprising Eco, Normal and Sport. These alter the drive system's behaviour very slightly to maximise either range or performance, according to your needs at any given time. The more restrained modes don’t limit the maximum amount of power you’re served up — it’s just that you have to press the accelerator pedal down further in order to access it. The accelerator's responses are also dialled down quite a bit. 

Even in the weakest Eco mode, the rate of acceleration and response is perfectly adequate for the vast majority of driving situations, while the Normal and Sport just make things incrementally feel a tad more eager. 

There are also three settings for the regenerative braking. Handily, there’s a button on the centre console with which to activate and deactivate the system but more annoyingly, you have to select the system’s level of intensity through convoluted touchscreen menus, rather than with more convenient steering wheel paddles that you find in some rival EVs. Even in its strongest mode, the regen isn’t particularly strong and in its weakest, it has barely any effect. This certainly isn’t the one-pedal experience you might be hoping for.

The Suzuki e Vitara’s roster of standard safety equipment includes seven airbags, along with two Isofix points for easily securing child seats. Of course, it’s always better to avoid having an accident in the first place and in order to help you on that score, the e Vitara’s list of standard driver assistance features includes a driver attention monitor, traffic sign recognition with intelligent speed limit assist, lane-keep assist, lane-departure prevention, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and adaptive cruise control.

Happily, these systems aren’t anywhere near as annoying as they are in many cars we’ve tested recently. They’re not too over-sensitive and the bings and bongs generated aren’t too loud or grating. If your tolerance for such things isn’t as great as ours and you are minded to turn them off, then it involves delving into a couple of on-screen menus and disabling them individually, which is complicated and time-consuming. There is, however, a favourites button on the steering wheel that can be configured to carry out the same task in just a few taps.

The e Vitara has already been smashed to smithereens by the good folk at Euro NCAP, yet despite the generous-sounding level of standard safety equipment provided, the car was only awarded four stars out of five.

Many EVs have surprisingly low thresholds for towing, and the Suzuki e Vitara is one of them. Regardless of version, the maximum the car is rated to pull is just 750kg for a braked trailer.

Like the regular hybrid-powered Vitara, the Suzuki e Vitara is a small car. It measures 4275mm long, 1800mm wide, 1635mm tall and has a wheelbase of 2700mm. Even given those modest dimensions, its practicality credentials are mixed.

Things look rather good in the passenger compartment. There’s lots of space in the front of the cabin and there’s plenty of adjustment in the steering column and driver’s seat — in the range-topping Ultra versions, the latter movement is electric — helping you to find a comfy driving position. Your seating position isn’t as high up as in many other compact SUVs but it’s loftier than that in a similarly sized hatchback.

Initially things look even better for those in the back, because there’s shedloads of legroom there, plus enough shoulder space for two adults to travel comfortably, or for a third to squeeze in for shorter journeys. A perfectly flat floor in the back means there’s also space for everyone’s feet.

Frustratingly, you will find that rear headroom isn’t quite so generous. You’ll be okay if you’re up to around six-feet tall, but that’s about the limit before passengers start noticing contact between ceiling and their scalps.

You might consider the e Vitara’s sliding rear seats to be something of a party piece but in actual fact, we’d say that they’re a necessity. Slid right back and the Suzuki’s boot is tiny at 244 litres for Motion versions or 238 litres for Ultra models, yet when pulled to the very front of its runners and that space increases to 310 litres (Motion) or 306 litres (Ultra).

That’s better, but even then, it’s small compared with many rivals. With the rear seats in that position, a six-foot adult will find their knees pressing into the backs of the front seats, but their legs will fit. The back seats also recline at various pre-set stages, allowing their occupants to choose how relaxed they want their seating position to be.

While the boot space is undeniably small, there’s a good amount of additional space under the standard-fit false floor. There’s no frunk under the bonnet, so this is probably where you’ll end up storing your charging cables, yet there's space for more besides under there.

The e Vitara's rear seats fold down to deliver a maximum cargo space of 562 litres, which seems curiously low — that's because it's only measured up to the height of the window line, not the roof as is the norm. 

The packaging is more impressive than the payload, however — the rear seatbacks split in a 40/20/40 configuration, which is more versatile than the 60/40 split found in most rivals, while the folded seats sit flush to the false boot floor, giving you a level load area. Those backrests do lie at a slight angle, mind, meaning there’s a modest slope to your extended load bay.

Much like with its practicality, the Suzuki e Vitara is something of a mixed bag when it comes to quality. Judged harshly, you’ll find that the vast majority of the interior surfaces that surround you are hard to the touch, rather than cushioned and pleasingly tactile. As a result, some other small SUVs feel plusher inside.

Judged with more realism, it's worth noting that the same is true in most other small SUVs and that the e Vitara’s interior panels are textured in such a way that they still look appealing, with a variety of textures, finishes and colours on display giving a pleasantly cheerful and interesting feel.

The toughness and durability of the materials also mean that the interior should withstand the cut-and-thrust of family life effectively.

The Suzuki e Vitara’s infotainment system is based around two large screens placed side-by-side on the dashboard. There’s a 10.25-inch digital driver information display behind the steering wheel and immediately to its left is a 10.1-inch touchscreen, which falls in the middle of the dashboard and takes care of much all the car’s other functionality.

That includes all the stuff you’d expect, in this day and age, including DAB radio, Bluetooth connectivity, navigation, plus wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. You also get two USB-A and a pair of USB-C ports — one of each front and ear — which will be music to the ears (or video games to the eyes) of teenagers who want to keep their devices charged. Higher-spec Ultra trim adds a wireless phone charger and upgraded audio.

The system is far from perfect, though. The driver's display screen isn’t very customisable because there are only three layouts to choose from, all looking decidedly similar and containing much the same information. The central screen has very limited customisability either.

More annoying is the fact that as you switch between functions on the central screen, you’re subjected to irritating on-screen animations to highlight the fact — they also take far too long to play, delaying you from doing the thing that you’re actually trying to do.

Despite a couple of irritations, the interface is actually good overall from an ergonomic point of view. You have handy shortcut icons on either side of the screen to help you navigate logically to the function you want, and the sensitivity of both the icons and the screen is reliable. The graphics are reasonably slick and the reaction times are quick as well — animations notwithstanding. 

Granted, a few of the more obscure functions are buried in the menu structure, so it’s certainly not impossible to get lost, but most of the time you should be able to find your way around pretty effectively. It’s certainly a more intuitive system than many of the overly complicated ones we've encountered in other cars lately, including the Volvo EX30's, with which the Suzuki e Vitara competes.

We're also giving Suzuki major props here for going against the grain in automotive interior design by providing actual physical controls in the middle of the dashboard for operating the air-con. Okay, so these only allow you to adjust the cabin temperature and fan speed — anything more involved, such as changing the direction of the airflow, still has to be done through the touchscreen. However, this is still much easier and less distracting than having to use the touchscreen for everything. Bravo, Suzuki.

When Suzuki first released the pricing of the new e Vitara shortly before its launch, we couldn’t help but raise our eyebrows a bit, because it was a chunk more expensive than we were expecting.

However, something happened between those prices being announced and the car actually arriving in showrooms — the government's Electric Car Grant (ECG). This pledged a contribution of either £1500 or £3750 towards the price of a brand new EV, depending on satisfaction of various very complicated criteria, for both the car and its maker.

Now, for reasons too convoluted — not to mention dull — to fathom, the Suzuki e Vitara doesn’t qualify for either level of grant. However, the shifting landscape of the EV market meant that Suzuki had to react and that took the form of Suzuki Granted.

This is essentially a self-funded grant from Suzuki towards the cost of cars bought by retail buyers (fleet customers still pay full whack) and it stands at the largest amount awardable through the Government’s scheme of £3750. That immediately makes prices look a lot more inviting although as far as we can determine, the Suzuki Granted scheme is only running until the end of 2025.

The entry-level Suzuki e Vitara with the 49kWh battery checks in £29,999 according to the price list at or £26,249 with the Suzuki Granted discount. The cheapest Motion-trim version with the larger 61kWh battery — in other words, the car we think most buyers will actually want — costs £32,999 which equates to £29,249 with the discount. Importantly, most versions are within touching distance of the £30,000 mark, which we think will be an important psychological barrier for buyers.

If you fancy the AllGrip-e four-wheel drive system, then factor-in a £2000 increase, while Ultra specification — only available with the 61kWh battery — adds £2800 to the bill.

Compare the e Vitara’s revised prices with those of rivals, and things look good. It’s very similar in price to the Ford Puma Gen-E, it’s a useful slice cheaper than the Kia EV3, and it’s quite a lot cheaper than the Volvo EX30. That puts it in a relatively strong position among other cars of this type. Yes, the Jaecoo E5 is cheaper still but the Suzuki is a better car by some margin.

At the time of writing, the e Vitara was far too new for examples to have made it onto the used car market in any meaningful number. However, we do know that Suzuki UK’s initial delivery of cars totaled around 1200 to be spread throughout the firm’s national dealer network, which is a lot. So, it’s worth keeping an eye out for any pre-registered examples or ex-demonstrators that might pop up in the classifieds.

If you have the means, home charging is by far the most affordable way of 'filling up' your Suzuki e Vitara with power. And there’s more good news on this score — if you provide the driveway or garage, Suzuki will provide a free Ohme home charger (including installation) with every e Vitara sold before the end of 2025, and hopefully even beyond.

Assuming that you pay the UK’s national average rate for your domestic electricity, a 10-100% charge of the entry-level 49kWh car will cost around £12. With the 61kWh car, the same charge will cost around £14. 

However, you can cut costs a lot further by getting yourself onto a domestic power tariff that allows you to charge up your car overnight on heavily discounted off-peak electricity. Do so, and you’ll likely pay a third of those costs, maybe even less.

By stark contrast, using DC public rapid chargers will be by far the priciest way of getting charge into your car, because the power that comes out of these is usually ludicrously expensive. For comparison, a 10-80% top-up of the 49kWh battery on one of these is likely to cost around £43, while the same top-up of the 61kWh car will likely cost around £54. It won’t even be that quick — around 45 minutes — as the car’s maximum DC charging speed is just 70kW.

Insurance groupings are about par for the course among EVs of this type. You pay a group 20 premium on the entry-level model, and a group 23 premium on the front-wheel drive models with the larger battery. For the four-wheel-drive models, it’s either 27 or 28, depending on trim level.

EV drivers are no longer spared VED road tax payments, so your car will be liable for the same £195-per-year flat rate as drivers of petrol and diesel cars. At least the e Vitara’s prices are low enough that you won’t have to worry about the hefty Expensive Car Supplement that’s applied to cars that cost over £40,000 when brand new.

The Suzuki e Vitara is available in two trim levels — Motion and Ultra.

Although impressively well-equipped, the precise amount of kit you get with it depends on which battery option you choose.

Standard features for the Suzuki e Vitara Motion comes includes:

• 18-inch alloy wheels
• Automatic LED headlights, rear lights and daytime-runnning lights
• Automatic main beam
• Automatic windscreen wipers
• Electric front and rear windows
• Dark-tinted rear privacy glass
• Electrically adjustable and folding door mirrors with integrated indicators
• Heated door mirrors — 61kWh models only
• Keyless entry and starting
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Reversing camera
• Fabric seat upholstery
• Heated front seats — 61kWh models only
• Sliding and reclining rear seats
• Rear seat central armrest
• Synthetic leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Heated steering wheel — 61kWh models only
• 10.25-inch driver's display screen
• 10.1-inch multimedia touchscreen
• DAB radio
• Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity
• Bluetooth connectivity
• Integrated navigation system
• Four-speaker audio system
• Automatic climate control
• 12-colour interior ambient lighting
• Auto-dimming interior rear-view mirror
• Electric parking brake
• Adaptive cruise control
• Snow driving mode — front-wheel drive models only
• Trail driving mode — AllGrip-e models only
• Hill Hold Control
• Hill Descent Control — AllGrip-e models only

Additional equipment for the Suzuki e Vitara Ultra includes:

• 19-inch alloy wheels
• Automatic adaptive main beam
• LED front fog lights
• Glass roof with sun shade
• 360-degree parking camera system
• Fabric and synthetic leather upholstery
• 10-way electrically adjustable driver's seat
• Premium Infinity by Harman six-speaker audio system
• Wireless smartphone charging pad