Vauxhall Frontera Electric Review 2025

One of the reasons many people with no experience of EVs cite for sticking with a combustion-engined alternative is their comparatively high price. While that price differential has been reducing year-on-year, for some it’s still too great. Aided and abetted by the government’s Electric Car Grant (ECG), that’s changing, with some now proving cheaper than petrol-powered equivalents. Find out if one such model is worthy of your attention with our full Vauxhall Frontera Electric review.

Yes, you did read that correctly — the Vauxhall Frontera Electric is a family-sized SUV that costs less than equivalent Vauxhall Frontera models propelled by a traditional engine, providing that you compare the least powerful mild hybrid versions with Frontera Electrics fitted with the smallest battery.

In fairness to its maker, orders for the Vauxhall Frontera Electric opened in January 2025 with price parity between those alternative drive systems but the Electric Car Grant’s introduction in summer — before customer deliveries began, ensured that the entry-level version dipped below £22,500, which isn’t much more than you would be charged for the cheapest Volkswagen Polo.

Yet the Frontera Electric, which resurrects a Vauxhall model name last used in the UK back in 2005, is much larger than a small hatchback. To help you get your bearings, compared with the omnipresent Nissan Qashqai, the Vauxhall is both 40mm shorter and narrower, so still a substantially proportioned SUV.

Beneath the Vauxhall Frontera Electric’s bodywork much is shared with the Citroen e-C3 Aircross, both brands being part of the enormous Stellantis manufacturing empire. That’s not unusual, although the fact that the two also have some common bodywork, most notably the rear wings, is a surprise. Whether most buyers notice — or even care — is indicative of why this cost saving measure received the go-ahead.

Once inside the similarities are less immediately obvious, as the Vauxhall Frontera Electric’s dashboard is straighter-edged and more soberly styled than the Citroen’s. Yet once you prod and poke around you will find plenty of switches and components such as the multimedia touchscreen which are common to both.

Four tall adults can easily set very comfortably inside the Vauxhall, with a fifth in the centre of the rear seat feeling a little pinched, but manageable for shorter journeys. Boot space at the back is generous at 460 litres with the rear seats in place, although unlike some EVs there’s no under-bonnet ‘frunk’ to provide additional carrying capacity.

Aside from the Citroen e-C3 Aircross, the Vauxhall Frontera Electric has an ever-growing number of battery-powered SUV rivals to contend with including the newly launched BYD Atto 2, the box-fresh Jaecoo E5 and the well-rounded MGS5 EV.

Two battery sizes are available for the Vauxhall Frontera Electric, although there’s just the sole 113PS motor used with both versions delivering just about adequate performance for a car of this type — this is not an EV that accelerates in such a way that keeps chiropractors in business remedying whiplash injuries.

Both battery packs are each available in the trio of trim levels that are familiar from many of Vauxhall’s other models, starting with Design, progressing through the sweet spot of the mid-range GS and topping-out with the Frontera Electric Ultimate. All versions benefit from standardised LED headlights, a reversing camera, air-con, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity plus a wireless smartphone charging pad.

Vauxhall Frontera Electric: Range and charging

It’s the 44kWh battery pack which gives the Vauxhall Frontera Electric its especially attractive starting price but it’s important to note that the official driving ranges for this choice are modest with a best of 189 miles. This could mean that during the wintery months when battery energy storage is less dense, you could be looking at a realistic range of below 150 miles.

Model-for-model it’s a £3500 jump to the larger 54kWh alternative with the peace of mind provided by an official range of up to 253 miles. Those aforementioned cold months are likely to still yield a real-world range above the 200-mile mark.

For reference, the same set-ups in the Citroen e-C3 Aircross deliver maximum official driving ranges of 188 miles for the smaller Standard Range battery and 249 miles for the for the larger Extended Range option.

If you can, it’s preferable — and far cheaper — to recharge electric vehicles at home, especially with a range of dedicated tariffs available to choose between. Using your domestic wallbox at an AC energy flow rate of up to 7.4kW, the 44kWh battery requires 4 hours 10 minutes to complete a 20-80% recharge, with the 54kWh version needing 5 hours 5 minutes to do the same.

For times when you need to use rapid DC charging at a public facility, the Vauxhall Frontera Electric’s on-board charger is limited to 100kW, a modest rate by 2025’s standards. Using such a hook-up, the 44kWh battery will increase from a 20-80% charge in 26 minutes, the 54kWh alternative taking two minutes more.

If you’ve had experience of driving older versions of its namesake and still shudder at the memory, then fear not — today’s Vauxhall Frontera Electric is competent in terms of how it behaves on the road, but no more than that.

For the most part that’s absolutely fine because the majority of family SUV buyers simply want a vehicle that provides unfussy transportation in relative comfort. But it provides little more than that, not excelling in any one area and certainly devoid of any characteristics sought by those who seek driving enjoyment.

Although comfy, the Vauxhall Frontera Electric’s suspension has been engineered so that its occupants are never unaware of changes in road surfaces and the variety of lumps and bumps they typically bring to the party. It’s not harsh as the damping rounds-off the sharper edges but you’re more aware of what’s going on beneath the car than you are in the equivalent Citroen e-C3 Aircross with its trick extra cushioning.

That relative firmness doesn’t translate to any kind of sporty sensation elsewhere in the Vauxhall’s driving experience, though, with the steering notably devoid of any meaningful degree of communication through the wheel to the driver’s hands.

Twirling the wheel left and right reveals its lightness, which is fine around town but when driving at speed some additional weighting wouldn’t go amiss. As the Vauxhall Frontera Electric has far more traction than its power can undo, it will neatly arc around bends exactly where you expected it to, only displaying a tendency to push wide when you attempt to carry an ambitious degree of momentum through corners.

There’s not a significant degree of body lean as you change direction through sweeping bends and that neatness is reflected by controlled movements under acceleration and harder braking. The brakes themselves feel reassuringly easy to gauge, even when the Frontera’s using its energy regenerative system — it all feels natural and ‘normal’.

Although there are two battery pack sizes available for the Vauxhall Frontera Electric they share the same single electric motor. All versions are front-wheel drive only and employ a single-speed transmission which is essentially used as you would a conventional automatic.

Producing 113PS and a maximum torque output of 124.5Nm, the Vauxhall’s no ball of fire when it comes to performance, with just about sufficient pace for it not to feel too slow.

Due to being 21kg lighter, the 44kWh version dispatches the 0-62mph acceleration benchmark in 12.8 seconds, the 54kWh alternative stretching it out to 13.0 seconds. Both models have an electronically capped top speed of 88mph.

Acceleration away from a standing start is smooth and immediate, just not remotely as swift as many other EVs prove to be.

It’s adequate for providing enough confidence to dart into a traffic gap on a roundabout but overtaking other traffic on a single-carriageway road will have your foot pressing on the accelerator harder in the forlorn hope of unlocking even more pace.

Regardless of speed, the Frontera Electric’s front-mounted motor is hushed, with its whirr gaining volume as the speed increases. Far more intrusive are the noises from underneath the car as the suspension’s worked and the tyres deal with the changes in road surface.

Those crash-testing gurus at Euro NCAP have yet to get their hands on the Vauxhall Frontera Electric — or its Citroen e-C3 Aircross cousin — so at present there’s no star rating reference point for it.

It does have a generous level of standardised safety equipment though, including automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assistance, hill-start assist and a driver attention monitor.

Towing with the Vauxhall Frontera Electric isn’t an option. Only Fronteras fitted with combustion engines are homologated for towing.

Interestingly, towing capacities are quoted for the equivalent Citroen e-C3 Aircross, although their maximum braked trailer weights are so low as to make it questionable about whether it’s worthwhile. With the 44kWh Standard Range battery the Citroen’s permitted to haul up to just 350kg, while the 54kWh Extended Range versions increase this to a still-modest 550kg.

Not the largest of family-sized SUVs, the Vauxhall Frontera Electric is nonetheless a practical option, although one which may be better-suited to younger families. Considering it has an almost identical footprint to the Vauxhall Astra hatchback, there’s a similar amount of space inside for people and their luggage to the Astra Sports Tourer estate — an impressive feat.

Up front, the seats have a good range of adjustment allowing for a fine driving position to be established, with a useful degree of movement in the steering column to see the display screens without the wheel impeding the view. Space is generous for heads, arms and legs, with no sense of being unnecessarily hemmed-in.

More expensive GS and Ultimate specification models have a different design of front seats from the entry-level Design models, which have been ergonomically engineered to provide optimum comfort and support, reducing fatigue on longer journeys. They’re firmer than the super-squishy armchair-like seats in the Citroen e-C3 Aircross, but they did feel good to sit upon during our extended tests.

Forward visibility is good with windscreen pillars that don’t feel excessively broad or positioned in such a way as to actively create blindspots. Rearward visibility is fine but could be improved with larger door mirrors and a reversing camera that displays its images in high definition.

Those dinky rearmost side windows provide a useful extra glimpse of what’s behind you when glancing over-the-shoulder, although the pillars just forward of them are very thick. Curiously, those extra windows are completely invisible in the rear-view mirror, so provide no benefit there.

Access to the rear seats is fine, with wide-opening doors and a high-set bench seat making it easier to install and remove child seats without causing back issues. For adult-sized passengers, a pair of six-feet tall occupants have plenty of space to sit behind two people up front of the same height, although the seat itself isn’t as comfy as it could be, with more under-thigh support from the cushion being desirable. 

Although there is a third, central seatbelt for the rear bench, it’s a narrower, less comfy place to be. The Vauxhall Frontera Electric isn’t the widest of SUVs and it’s the fifth passenger who feels the pinch. Unless they’re a particularly petite adult, it’s likely to be where someone only chooses to sit on shorter journeys.

While a third row of seats can be specified on combustion-engined Vauxhall Fronteras, the siting of the high-voltage battery packs mean it’s not possible to fit them in the EV version.

With the rear seats in place the Vauxhall Frontera Electric has a boot capacity of 460 litres when loaded to the height of the loadspace cover.

Unsurprisingly, the closely related Citroen e-C3 Aircross manages the same, the BYD Atto 2 can hold 400-450 litres depending on the version chosen, while the MGS5 EV is rated at 453 litres. All are trumped by the Jaecoo E5’s 480-litre load bay.

Folding the Frontera Electric’s 60/40-split rear seats over provides a relatively horizontal extended boot, which is on a continuous plane thanks to the standard Flex load floor. Removing this is necessary to benefit from the 1600-litre maximum capacity, which in turn creates a step up to the level of the folded rear seats.

Again, the Citroen e-C3 Aircross can also hold up to 1600 litres of cargo, comfortably ahead of the 1340-1370 litres in the BYD Atto 2 and 1441 litres in the MG S5 EV. Jaecoo doesn’t measure the E5’s seats-down capacity to roof height, so its 1180-litre figure isn’t a useful comparison up to the window line.

There’s no below-bonnet ‘frunk’ for the Vauxhall Frontera Electric but nobody’s likely to feel short-changed as a result given the space available in the regular boot. Loose charging cables neatly slot beneath the Flex floor anyway.

In-car storage cubbies are generally well-conceived including usefully proportioned door bins, a lidded space beneath the front central armrest, an elasticated strap around the drive selector console which can be used to hold all manner of smaller items close at hand.

There are also phone storage pockets on the front seatbacks of GS and Ultimate models plus a couple of rubber-lined open shelves moulded into the dashboard — a large one on the passenger side and a smaller one for the driver to the right of the display screen.

As is common with many Stellantis-designed cars, the position of the fuse box means that the glovebox for right-hand drive Frontera Electrics is significantly reduced compared with those with the wheel on the left. 

A positive mention is due for the physical air-conditioning controls positioned below the multimedia touchscreen rather than being integral to it. Much easier to operate while driving. 

With the Vauxhall Frontera Electric’s charging socket positioned on the left-side rear wing, meaning it’s convenient to reverse into public charging bays on occasions they need to be used and position the car accurately between the lines.

Somewhat incongruous to the EV experience is that the Vauxhall is turned on by using a traditional physical key rather than a starter button. Only a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.

Although the Vauxhall Frontera Electric’s dual-screen dashboard has a similar look to other models from the brand’s interior layout, the quality of the plastics used does feel on the cheaper side.

That’s somewhat inevitable given the low starting prices but cut-price doesn’t have to mean cheap-feeling as many of the more vibrant touches in its Citroen e-C3 Aircross cousin confirm.

Most of the plastics are hard to the touch, the silver-painted elements not remotely performing a convincing impression of metal surfaces and, together with other shiny surfaces, can be the source of reflections from direct sunlight.

While there’s no denying that it does feel built to a price, the Vauxhall Frontera Electric certainly felt well-assembled with no early signs of creaks or rattles developing in the early-build examples we tested. They would be obvious, too, given how much sound is transmitted into the car from its suspension and tyres as you drive along — again, more absorbent sound-deadening materials don’t come cheap.

It’s also worth noting that all of the physical controls work with a reassuring solidity even if their finish isn’t a tactile delight.

Two 10.0-inch displays sit side by side on the upper plane of the Vauxhall Frontera Electric’s dashboard, both with acceptably clear graphics without setting new standards for visual effects and sharpness.

Immediately ahead of the driver is display screen that provides key data such as the current speed, the cruise control set speed and the level of charge held in the battery. Considering the size of the screen, there’s a lot of empty space within it, lending it an air of looking short of love — larger graphics that fill more of the available space, greater configurability and even a range of designs would help here.

That layout is mimicked on the multimedia touchscreen, which is a neat touch, but its responsiveness didn’t always prove to be immediate or accurate to the request of a single finger dab. Everything accessible within menus is logically ordered, though.

As is the norm these days, most people will simply take advantage of the standard-fit Android Auto and Apple CarPlay wireless connectivity and use their phone apps for navigation — Google Maps makes the Vauxhall integral navigation system look outdated.

We noticed on each version we drove that CarPlay didn’t consistently display cleanly, with various elements becoming broken-up and displayed in a low resolution at seemingly random points in a journey. 

One especially thoughtful touch is the thin strip of a gently abrasive material along the plinth just below the touchscreen, perfect for resting supporting digits upon while operating the system with reduced risk of them slipping off the silvery plastic finish.

Six speakers are standard on all Vauxhall Frontera Electric models and do a decent sound reproduction job, if not exactly of a level that will have audiophiles begging you for a lift.

Following the introduction of the government’s Electric Car Grant, the Vauxhall Frontera Electric became £1500 cheaper model-for-model before any customers had even taken delivery of their cars.

Choose the smaller 44kWh Frontera Electric in entry-level Design specification and it can be yours for £22,495 — and remember, this isn’t a small SUV, just a small-ish family-sized one. Upgrading to mid-range GS trim increases the price to a still-very reasonable £24,895, while the range-topping Ultimate version weighs in at £25,695.

The 54kWh battery’s increased range will doubtless appeal to a broader audience, but considering there’s no increase in power from a gutsier motor, the £3500 cost increase seems steep. Yet that equates to a price spectrum of £25,995 to £29,195, which is still fine value considering the generous levels of standard equipment.

What of the Vauxhall Frontera Electric’s rivals? Given their similarities, the Citroen e-C3 Aircross is of most interest, although it’s not a direct comparison as the French brand doesn’t offer an entry-level trim as a Design specification and its kit count is also lower. With the ECG discount, it starts at £23,095 for the Plus with the Standard Range battery, rising to £24,995 for the larger Extended Range version.

You’ll need from £30,850 for the BYD Atto 2, upwards of £27,505 for the Jaecoo E5 and at least £28,745 for the MGS5 EV — note that none of those cars qualifies for the ECG discount.

In order to minimise running costs for the Vauxhall Frontera Electric, it’s vital to have a home wallbox charger installed. That way you will be able to access a slew of EV-friendly tariffs from a variety of energy providers, reducing unit costs down to the region of 7p/kWh.

Public rapid charging is pricey and something we recommend using as infrequently as possible, which is trickier with the 44kWh battery if you are intending to regularly cover long distances. Public rapid chargepoints are not financially viable alternatives if you can’t have a domestic wallbox installed.

Since April 2025 electric cars have no longer been exempted from VED car tax, with their owners having to stump up £195 annually from the first anniversary of the car being registered. They are also liable to pay the Expensive Car Supplement — the so-called luxury car tax — when they cost £40,000 or more, inclusive of the price of optional extras, although this latter point isn’t pertinent to the Frontera Electric.

Electric cars have very low Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) taxation rates for company car drivers making them especially attractive compared with combustion-engined alternatives thanks to their 3% levy for 2025/26.

There are three levels of specification available for the Vauxhall Frontera Electric — Design, GS and Ultimate. 

Standard equipment for the Vauxhall Frontera Electric Design includes:

• 16-inch Black steel wheels
• Body-coloured roof
• Black unpainted bumper skid plates
• Automatic Intelli-LED headlights with automatic main beam
• Automatic wipers
• Electric front and rear windows
• Electrically adjustable door mirrors with Black housings
• Rear parking sensors
• Reversing camera
• Grey fabric upholstery with Riaz Blue and Anthracite Melange panels
• 10.0-inch driver’s display screen
• 10.0-inch multimedia touchscreen
• DAB radio
• Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity
• Voice recognition
• Wireless smartphone charging pad
• Air-conditioning
• Centre console strap storage
• Flex-load boot floor
• Cruise control

Additional features for the Vauxhall Frontera Electric GS include:

• 17-inch Groot diamond-cut alloy wheels — 44kWh only
• 17-inch Ben Solo diamond-cut alloy wheels — 54kWh only
• Black roof
• Dark Silver bumper skid plates
• LED tail lights
• Dark-tinted rear privacy windows
• Electrically adjustable, heated and folding door mirrors with High Gloss Black housings
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Ergonomically engineered front Intelli Seats
• Marl Grey Melange upholstery with Black fabric inserts
• Faux leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Electronic single-zone climate control
• Auto-dimming interior rear-view mirror
• Front and rear LED interior reading lights
• Blind-spot alert

Further items of equipment included with the Vauxhall Frontera Electric Ultimate are:

• LED front fog lights
• Electrically heated windscreen
• High Gloss Black roof rails
• Heated front seats
• Heated steering wheel