2025 Vauxhall Grandland Review

Ever since the first-generation Vauxhall Grandland was unveiled in 2017 it's been a popular family SUV, trading on affordability over actually being much good. Its rivals have moved on in terms of comfort, space and driving appeal, and so Vauxhall hopes this all-new second-generation Grandland can help it catch up with the likes of the Volkswagen Tiguan, Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson.

While it's still a fair way off the all-round success of our favourite family SUV (hello Kia Sportage), this new Grandland is a much more likeable car than the previous version. It's nearly 20cm longer than the old car, which gives much more interior space, while a wider cabin gives it an airier feel.

Unless you pick an entry-level Design model you're treated to a giant 16-inch infotainment screen and digital dashboard, which sits amid a cloth-lined dashboard that feels far nicer than Vauxhall's plasticky efforts of yore.

Rear-seat space is plentiful even for tall adults and, unlike the new Peugeot 3008 with which the new Grandland shares most of its parts, the Vauxhall has decent rear-seat headroom because it doesn't have a sloping coupe roofline. The Grandland's 550-litre boot is just about big enough for a family holiday too, and it doesn't shrink if you pick the all-electric option over the 1.2-litre petrol.

While the petrol version of the Grandland is dubbed a hybrid, it can only realistically drive on electric power alone up to about 10mph, so think of it more as a mild hybrid. On the plus side, you should average about 50mpg in the real world. The big news for the new Grandland is it's now available as an EV. The 73kWh battery is good for a range of about 325 miles, and it can charge at up to 160kW for a 20-80% charge time of just 26 minutes. A larger battery version with a range of over 400 miles will be available later on.

You won't be wowed by the way the Grandland drives – and the petrol version is a bit sluggish – but it's reasonably comfortable and refined. Factor in the fact that the EV is only about £2,000 more than the petrol version and you've got one of the more affordable electric family SUVs on sale.

Step out of the latest Peugeot 3008 and into the Vauxhall Grandland and you'll see a host of similarities, from the cloth covering most parts of the dashboard to the gear selector and switches. 

Vauxhall's gone its own way when it comes to the infotainment system though, putting a 16-inch whopper right in the middle of the dashboard. The left-hand side of the huge screen is designed so your passenger can switch radio stations and control your media, while the central portion houses the usual infotainment functions – including wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as ChatGPT. 

The system's fine to use, but as in the Peugeot it takes some fiddling through menus to find the functions you want, but on the plus side you can hold the end of the left-hand indicator stalk to put the screen in 'pure' mode, which removes lots of the icons from the central infotainment screen and the driver's display. It's worth noting that entry-level Design models have a smaller 10-inch screen, while all models get a 10-inch digital driver's display for your speed and trip computers. Ultimate models get a large head-up display that you can adjust using a notch on the door-mirror adjustment knob. Handy.

Whichever trim you pick, Vauxhall's seen sense and given the Grandland a full set of physical climate controls, as well as some shortcut buttons to help you turn off the speed-limit warning bong.

If you pick a mid-spec GS model or top-spec Ultimate version of the Grandland you'll get the so-called Pixel Box. This is a compartment for your mobile phone that sits beneath a sliding lid in front of the gear selector. It has an opaque plastic window so you can see your phone is sitting there charging, but you won't be distracted or able to read your phone while driving. It's also designed to light up when you switch the ignition off so you don't get halfway to the house before realising your phone's still in the car. We've all been there.

There's a big focus on comfort in the Grandland's cabin, with special front seat bases that are designed to lift each buttock, letting your tailbone hover slightly for less back pain on long drives. There's an option to upgrade to even fancier seats with adjustable side bolsters (these have been approved by the German campaign for healthier backs), or there's a leather seat option which adds ventilated and massage front seats, as well as heated rear ones.

The main benefit of the new Grandland being bigger than the old one is improved cabin space. The whole car is 5cm wider than before so your front and rear passengers benefit from lower levels of enforced intimacy. Headroom is generous up front and in the back, and even if you're like our 6'3" test subject, you won't hit your head on the roof even with the Ultimate model's sunroof. Peugeot 3008 take note.

Kneeroom and footroom are also plenty good enough for tall adults in the back seats, and your rear passengers have a cloth pocket on the back of the front seats for storing mobile phones and sweets. It's a handy pocket, but it's high up and miles away from the USB-C charging points on the rear of the front armrest, so expect some dangling cables if you charge on the go. All four door bins in the Grandland are a decent size and will swallow a big bottle of water.

Boot space is good – you get 550 litres which is 30 litres more than the Peugeot 3008, and like in that car, the Grandland's boot floor can be propped up at 45 degrees so you can access the charging cable storage underneath. Only Ultimate models get an electric-opening tailgate and a 360-degree parking camera, while mid-spec GS models get a reversing camera and entry-level Design models just get front and rear sensors.

Towing capacity isn't the best on the new Grandland – the EV version can tow 1.2 tonnes on a braked trailer, while the petrol hybrid can pull 1.1 tonnes at best. For reference, a Tesla Model Y can tug just under 1.6 tonnes.

The most affordable version of the Grandland has a 1.2-litre hybrid petrol engine. With 136hp and 10.2-second 0-62mph time it's not going to peel your face off, even though the 20hp electric motor helps give you a little more torque than a pure petrol motor would muster. Vauxhall claims it can drive at up to 83mph on electric power alone, but in reality the petrol engine kicks in even under mild acceleration. You should average about 50mpg. It's a shame that acceleration is quite weak from 50-70mph, and the gearbox can be a bit slow to respond when you floor it.

For about £2,000 more you can get the Grandland as it was intended – with a fully electric powertrain. Offered from launch with a single front-wheel-drive motor with 213hp, the electric Grandland has punchier performance than the petrol version, but it's still on the genteel side. You'll get from 0-62mph in nine seconds, but acceleration once you're on the move is noticeably stronger than the petrol version.

The electric Grandland's 73kWh battery can theoretically let you travel 325 miles on a charge, and charge at up to 160kW, meaning you can top the battery up from 20% to 80% in 26 minutes. Dual motor versions and a bigger 425-mile battery version are coming soon.

The Grandland's a pretty refined car to drive at motorway speeds, with little wind or road noise entering the cabin. It's worth noting that the petrol hybrid version weighs 500kg less than the electric version so it does ride a little better over bumpy roads, despite having a simpler rear suspension setup than the EV's multi-link system.

At 2.1 tonnes the Grandland EV is pretty porky, but Vauxhall's given the car frequency selective dampers in the suspension, which can automatically adjust stiffness depending on the road surface conditions to give as smooth a ride as possible. The result? Well, the electric Grandland still lurches slightly over big compressions in the road, and you certainly feel more imperfections in the cabin than in the hybrid version, but to our backsides it beats the new Peugeot e-3008 for outright comfort. It's still no Rolls-Royce though, so temper your expectations.

Neither version of the Grandland is especially fun to drive, but both can get down a 60mph country road without leaving you fearing for your life – the steering is light but you quickly learn to trust the amount of grip on offer and settle into a rhythm.