Vauxhall Frontera Electric review

Our opinion on the Vauxhall Frontera Electric

The Vauxhall Frontera Electric has a lot going for it as a spacious five-seat family electric SUV with a decent amount of kit on board. It’s bigger than the pricier Vauxhall Mokka, although you can tell where money has been saved in the Frontera with its harder plastics. It could also use a bit more grunt because the powertrain feels like it can only just manage the SUV’s size and weight. On the whole, the Frontera ticks all the right boxes for those on a budget.

About the Vauxhall Frontera Electric

Both the Vauxhall Frontera and Citroen C3 Aircross share the same bodyshell and running gear, with only a few key design cues separating them. The Frontera gets Vauxhall’s Vizor front end, for instance, while the tail-lights are of a different design, too. Inside, the Frontera's layout has more in common with the Vauxhall Mokka, featuring two digital screens instead of the Citroen’s single screen and a slender digital driver’s display set above the steering wheel.

This review focuses on the Vauxhall Frontera Electric, but if you’re tempted by combustion or hybrid power, be sure to check out our in-depth review of the standard Vauxhall Frontera.

We’ve tested the Vauxhall Frontera Electric against the BYD Atto 2, and while the Frontera provided a comfortable ride, a spacious interior and big boot, its weak performance and poor efficiency meant it was the BYD that won the test.

There is plenty of comfort on offer in the Vauxhall Frontera Electric, which is what you really want from a compact family SUV such as this. We’d like some more performance, though, because the car feels underpowered.

Used - available now

2025 Vauxhall

Frontera

3,260 milesAutomaticPetrol1.2L

Cash £19,997

View Frontera

Unlike the old Frontera, this version is front-wheel drive only, so there’s no real off-road ability to speak of. If you want to hit the rough stuff, the Jeep Avenger is similarly sized to the Frontera but a bit better equipped to tackle trickier terrain. 

Electric motors, 0-60mph acceleration and top speed

We were surprised to find that the electric model felt so sluggish during testing. All versions use the same 111bhp and 125Nm of torque on tap, which isn't enough to make the Frontera set off in a spirited fashion. The 44kWh manages 0-62mph in 12.8 seconds, while the heavier 52kWh model takes longer at 13.0 seconds, and both of those times are before you add passengers and their luggage. 

This is one of the somewhat rare occasions where an EV’s combustion-powered twin is quicker. The lighter 110bhp Hybrid produces 205Nm of torque and accelerates from 0-62mph in 11 seconds, while the more powerful 145bhp version delivers 230Nm of torque and completes the same sprint in 9.0 seconds.

In the real world, the electric powertrain is smooth and fuss-free, but you have to wait for larger gaps when pulling on to a roundabout, for example. The extra weight of the Extended Range model blunts the car’s acceleration even further.

Town driving, visibility and parking

A high driving position offers a good view of your surroundings, while light controls mean the Frontera is easy to drive. Standard rear parking sensors and a camera help with positioning the car. Mid-range GS trim adds front parking sensors.

Low-speed comfort is decent, with only the biggest potholes unsettling the car, while the light steering and relatively tight turning circle help with manoeuvrability. We just wish the engines were a bit more responsive.

There are two levels of energy recovery on offer, with the stronger setting set as the default. It’s not the most powerful regeneration we’ve experienced, but you soon get in tune with its ability and adjust your driving style to make the most of it.

Country road driving and handling

On faster roads the Frontera is competent, but in no way exciting to drive. The only real challenge is maintaining momentum to compensate for the car’s relative lack of power. 

Body roll is well contained in most instances, and there’s good grip. The electric model feels more stable and sure-footed than the hybrid car, with the battery's low placement in the chassis helping to keep the weight distribution as low to the ground as possible.

Motorway driving and long-distance comfort

Once you’re up to the national limit, the Frontera is pleasant enough. Only the biggest bumps unsettle the ride, while wind and road noise are well suppressed. 

Throttle response is a little jerky when lifting off the accelerator, but if you switch from the standard energy recovery setting to the Comfort setting (via a ‘C’ button next to the drive selector), this sees the Frontera coast when lifting off the gas, making progress much smoother.

Officially, the standard range 44kWh Frontera Electric covers 186 miles to a charge, which isn’t much to write home about. We found its real-world efficiency in cold weather to be quite poor, just 2.8 miles per kWh or only 123 miles to a charge, caused no doubt by not having a heat pump to help take a load off the battery when it’s cold outside.

One issue with the Frontera is that higher speeds reduce efficiency. Anything faster than 45-50mph causes the battery to drain faster. At one point when travelling at 70mph in the Frontera, we were losing one per cent of battery capacity per mile covered, but this consumption rate slowed at urban speeds.

The Extended Range version has an official figure of 249 miles, but again, there’s no option of a heat pump, and it will likely suffer a similar drop in range at higher speeds.

Charging speeds are decent courtesy of the small battery sizes. There’s a maximum DC rate of 100kW, so the 44kWh battery can charge from 20 to 80 per cent capacity in 26 minutes, while the 54kWh pack isn’t far behind at 28 minutes. From a typical 7.4kWh home wallbox charger you can recharge the 44kWh battery from flat to full in seven hours, while the 54kWh pack takes eight-and-a-half hours.

Insurance groups

The Vauxhall Frontera Electric sits between insurance groups 14 and 20 out of 50, so premiums should be pretty reasonable across the board. It’s a similar story with the closely-related Citroen C3 Aircross, as this resides in groups 15 and 16, but covering the BYD Atto 2 will be a much costlier affair as it’s placed between groups 30 and 32. 

Tax

The affordable pricing of the Frontera means no model goes above the £50,000 luxury car tax threshold for EVs, so you'll only have to pay the standard VED road tax rate. One thing to be aware of is that EVs may be subject to an eVED pay-per-mile fee if that comes into force from April 2028 onwards.

The Frontera Electric will best serve company car drivers over the hybrid because EVs incur the very lowest Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) tax rates.

Depreciation

Our market data predicts that after a period of three years or 36,000 miles, the Frontera Electric SUV will only retain between 33 and 35 per cent of its initial value. For comparison, the electric BYD Atto 2 holds on to between 39 and 41 per cent of its original value, while the Citroen e-C3 Aircross maintains between 45 and 49 per cent of its value.

To get an accurate valuation for a specific model, check out our free car valuation tool... 

Vauxhall’s distinctive Vizor grille helps the Frontera to stand apart from the Citroen C3 Aircross, as does a dashboard layout that foregoes that car’s high-set digital display for a more conventional screen behind the steering wheel. 

The Frontera’s blocky side profile and upright stance give it an almost MPV-like shape, while adding the £400 white roof has a dramatic effect on the model’s style; from some angles it almost mimics the Land Rover Defender. 

Interior and dashboard design

The Frontera’s cabin layout is straightforward, with a straight-edged dashboard and centre console, twin digital displays, and some smoked silver trim to provide relief from the black plastic used across most of the interior. There are neat little ‘shark’ motifs here and there – a common Vauxhall design touch – while the twin cup holders feature an elasticated fabric strap that stretches around the binnacle that the drive selector sits in, so oversized drinks bottles are easier to fit in.

Materials and build quality

Cabin build quality is good, although the hard plastics used inside do give away the Frontera’s budget leanings. The fabric seat upholstery is decent and should be easy to clean, while higher-spec GS models and above add more fabric trim to the dashboard and doors to boost their premium appeal.

Infotainment, sat-nav and stereo 

Twin 10-inch displays sit on the dashboard, with the central touchscreen angled towards the driver for easier access and a small cowl over the driver’s display to help reduce reflections. There are separate climate controls, too, with a trio of chunky rotary controls on Design-spec cars or chunky buttons and toggle switches on models featuring climate control.

The Vauxhall’s native infotainment system is used in several other Stellantis models, and features touch-sensitive volume and shortcut controls on either side. The infotainment took a little while to boot up for us once, but it’s responsive to inputs. The menu interface is easy to navigate, although that’s more to do with the fact that it’s a basic set-up. The driver’s display can be configured to show different information, but only to a limited extent compared with the fully digital displays found in various Volkswagen Group cars.

A six-speaker sound system is standard across the trim line-up and delivers respectable sound quality for this car's affordable price. There's no opportunity to upgrade to a fancier system like you'll find in the Suzuki e-Vitara, though. Wireless mobile phone charging is standard across the Frontera range.

“I feel the Frontera has a much more natural driving position compared with its Citroen C3 Aircross sibling. The larger steering wheel in the Frontera means you can see the digital display directly behind, whereas I have to drop the steering wheel into my lap in the Citroen.” – Dean Gibson, senior test editor.

While the hybrid version of the Frontera has the option of seven seats, the electric car is simply a roomy five-seater. 

Dimensions and size

The Frontera costs less than a Vauxhall Mokka, but you get more car for your money, because it’s longer, taller, and has a far bigger boot. In fact, it’s probably one of the best-value cars around in terms of space per pound.

Seats & passenger space

The Frontera has a relatively tall, narrow body, so access to the cabin is straightforward, and the driving position offers a good view out. There’s plenty of wheel and seat adjustment on offer to get comfortable, too.

Storage includes twin cup holders with elasticated sides, while a shelf ahead adds wireless phone charging beneath a pair of USB-C sockets. Further back, there’s a storage tray behind the electric handbrake and an armrest with a narrow bin beneath it, while the door bins are wide and deep with high sides. As with other Stellantis models, the glovebox is compromised on right-hand-drive cars due to the location of the fuse box.

There’s plenty of kneeroom in the back of the Frontera for an adult to sit behind their own driving position, and in our Frontera versus Atto 2 twin test, we found the Frontera offered the most headroom (1,030mm in the Frontera versus 935mm in the Atto 2). It's a little narrow for sitting three abreast, but at least the floor is relatively flat for the middle seat occupant, so they won't have to straddle an awkward central tunnel. The Frontera Electric isn't available with seven seats like its hybrid sibling, but we don’t feel that’s a hardship, because the rearmost seats are pretty cramped and only really good for short trips.

As with the front door bins, those in the rear are deep and wide, while there are two sets of Isofix child seat attachments in the back. There are no air vents in the back, but rear passengers are provided with two USB-C sockets and a 12-volt supply beneath the seat to help keep devices charged.

Boot space

There’s a generous 460 litres of luggage capacity on offer in the Frontera as standard, which is more than the 400 litres of boot space provided in the Atto 2, thanks to the Frontera's longer and wider load area, according to our figures. The Frontera also has a false floor that allows you to carry charging cables separately from the rest of the boot. The rear seats have an offset split to boost versatility, while the backs slope up slightly to help with unloading larger items. When the rear seats are folded, a maximum capacity of 1,600 litres is available. 

One sign of cost-cutting in the Frontera is the parcel shelf. It doesn’t have clips to locate it; instead, notches cut into the panel sit on the hooks on either side of the load area.

Towing

Unlike the hybrid model, the Vauxhall Frontera Electric isn’t rated for towing. If you need to pull a small caravan or trailer, you’ll need the regular Vauxhall Frontera in five-seat hybrid version form, which has a braked towing capacity of 1,250kg.

“There are plenty of little places where you can see the cost-cutting in the Frontera – there are no front grab handles, the glovebox isn’t damped, there’s no light on the passenger sun visor, and it hasn’t got the brake hold function that a lot of autos have.” – Paul Barker, special contributor.

Neither the Frontera nor the platform-sharing C3 Aircross has been tested by Euro NCAP yet, but there is a decent list of safety kit as standard to help prevent you from getting involved in a collision in the first place. This includes rear parking sensors, lane assist, active braking, collision warning, speed limit recognition and driver attention alert. Vauxhall equips the Frontera with dashboard switches that let you easily deactivate the speed limit and lane departure warnings if you wish. 

It's a shame that access to the Isofix child seat mounting points is hidden behind some fiddly zips, rather than the easily removable plastic tabs like you'll find on some of its rivals.

While it’s yet to face safety testers, many examples of the Frontera have been given a thorough going-over by their respective owners. According to our 2026 Driver Power customer satisfaction survey, the Vauxhall Frontera is the fifth-best car to own among the 50 models on the list. This is a very respectable result, with owners praising this car’s practicality and running costs. The Vauxhall brand also finished sixth out of 30 brands in the best manufacturer table, yet another admirable achievement.

• Best buy: Vauxhall Frontera Electric GS Extended Range

The entry-level Vauxhall Frontera Electric starts from just shy of £25,000. However, while it goes against the Frontera’s value-for-money brief, we’d venture towards the £27,000 mark to get the higher-spec GS trim, as it adds some luxury to the mix. We’d also add an extra £3,000 to the price to gain access to the larger 54kWh battery.

You can save on the list prices by building your new Vauxhall Frontera Electric with the Auto Express Buy A Car service. We also have a selection of Frontera Electric leasing deals to choose from, as well as new Frontera Electric models in stock right now.

Vauxhall Frontera Electric alternatives

The obvious rival to the Frontera Electric is the Citroen C3 Aircross, which is a similar price and has the same powertrain options. But as already mentioned, the different driving position required to see the dials might be a deal breaker for some. Other electric alternatives include the BYD Atto 2, which isn’t as roomy as the Frontera but has better efficiency and a longer range. The Jaecoo 5, Suzuki e Vitara and Toyota Urban Cruiser are a similar price, but nowhere near as spacious.

Vauxhall Frontera Electric pictures

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