Frederic Manby puts Vauxhall’s newly released Grandland GSe through its paces and finds an SUV with super-hatch acceleration thanks to a petrol turbo engine with two electric motors
Vauxhall ranks number six in the UK, ahead of its Stellantis kin, behind, in order of sales, Volkswagen, Ford, Audi, Toyota and BMW.
After a too-long journey I was aching, and started scribbling notes. The trip started with a fully charged battery for the PHEV motors and the computer showed well over 100mpg. A PHEV’s battery needs charging to maintain such heady economy, say every 40 miles - making it wallet friendly for short trips, rather less so for touring. Memo: if the battery is flat then the CO2 is. Annoyingly, the prediction of miles left in the tank overtook the actual mileage.
A word in its favour. My pernickety sister liked its looks. Her mood changed when she released the seat belt which reeled in so rapidly that the blade lashed and bruised her bare arm. Sisters, I mumbled silently, only to gash my bare ankle on the bottom corner of the door as I exited the Grandland. Served me right? Cost me an arm and a leg, you could say.
This car costs £45,700 and lacked familiar ingredients. There was one front old style USB point and one 12v socket. Rear passengers get neither a USB nor a 12v socket . For a family cum-business car at any price these days this is skimping. The door pockets are poorly shaped to hold a drinks bottle securely: mine was deposited on the floor when I opened the door. An irritation was the nearside wiper which missed an arc of glass.