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Vauxhall's improved Astra Plug-in Hybrid offers family hatch customers undecided about the switch into full-EV motoring an appealing interim option. There's a useful EAER-rated electric driving range of up to 52 miles, fashionable looks, fast battery replenishment times and an eager petrol engine for longer trips. Plus an estate model option if you want something a whole lot more practical than an SUV. Sounds promising.
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Background
In the automotive world, EVs are in everyone's thoughts right at present. And if not EVs, then SUVs. Yet there remains a significant group of motorists who don't want either of these things. They see the need for electrification, but they don't want the limitations of an EV. They share a desire for a more fashionable family car, but for them, that isn't delivered by an SUV. For these people, Vauxhall's Astra Plug-in Hybrid, could be ideal.
It competes in the growing PHEV sub-sector of the family hatchback segment, started by the Golf GTE and now also populated by Plug-in Hybrid versions of the Peugeot 308 and the DS 4. Plus if you've more to spend, PHEV versions of the Audi A3 and the Mercedes A-Class. Lots of choice in the class then. Why would you select this Astra in preference? Let's take a look at the recently improved version of this model to find out.
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Range data
| Min | Max |
| Price | 29995 | 34995 |
| Insurance group 1-50 | 27 | 27 |
| CO2 (g/km) | 18 | 18 |
| Max Speed (mph) | 140 | 140 |
| 0-62 mph (s) | 7.9 | 7.9 |
| Electric WLTP-Rated Driving Range (miles) | 50 | 50 |
| Min | Max |
| Combined Mpg | 122.8 | 122.8 |
| Length (mm) | 4374 | 4374 |
| Width (mm) | 1860 | 1860 |
| Boot Capacity (l) | 422 | 608 |
| Power (hp) | 195 | 195 |
| Torque (lb ft) | 360 | 360 |
Driving experience
There's very much an EV-style feel here thanks to the way that, like most Plug-in Hybrids, this one reverts to electric power as long as there is charge in its battery. This means you start up and pull off in impressive silence, plus manoeuvring at low speeds and most of your town work will also be done emissions-free. The powertrain on offer here is the usual now-uprated one that the Stellantis Group fits to its latest PHEV models, a 1.6 litre turbo petrol unit producing 150PS allied to a single electric motor delivering 110PS, the combined maximum in the mainstream Hybrid 195 variant being 195PS and 360Nm of torque. There's now a 7-speed auto gearbox (replacing the previous 8-speeder) and the electric motor is now powered by a larger 17.2kWh battery (it was 12.4kWh in size before). Vauxhall reckons this can take the car up to 52 miles (EAER-rated) on electricity alone (12 miles better than before but still well short of the 89 mile figure of a rival VW Golf eHybrid). As before, there's an EV top speed of 84mph. For that, there's a dedicated pure electric mode.
Shift out of that and employ the engine and rest to 62mph can be dispatched in 7.9 seconds on the way to a top speed of 140mph. There are three drive modes - 'Hybrid', 'Sport' and 'Electric'. The PHEV powertrain adds quite a bit of weight to this car's EMP2 platform, but that shouldn't be particularly obvious unless you really start throwing car about.
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Design and build
Unless you happen to notice the extra charging flap or the different badging, there's no real way to guess that this is a Plug-in hybrid Astra. Which is entirely as most customers will want. This improved version of the eighth generation Astra has a much smarter look, whether you order it in hatch or Sports Tourer form. There's a smarter, more purposeful look for the Vauxhall 'Vizor' front face, while the brand badge is now illuminated, with lighting strips either side, flowing into redesigned headlamps now featuring the brand's anti-glare 'Intelli-Lux' technology. The front bumpers have also been redesigned - as have the wheels, available in 17 or 18-inch sizes. Plus there are additional colour choices.
Inside, the main change is the installation of the brand's more supportive 'Intelli-Seats'. These are characterised by a recessed channel running up the middle of the front seat bases, which - inspired by the saddle design on road bicycles - reduces pressure on the tailbone (coccyx). Further up the line-up, the car now comes with multi-adjustable, AGR-certified seats for driver and front passenger with covers made of an eco fabric called 'ReNewKnit'. This mono-material, with a high-quality suede appearance, is 100% recycled and, unlike composite materials, does not have to be laboriously separated, reducing the CO2 footprint and helping to avoid waste. These chairs include multi-stage seat heating, electro-pneumatic lumbar support, and massage and memory functions.
The dashboard's 'Multimedia Pure Panel Pro Navigation' design is much as before, with a 10-inch digital instrument cluster and a 10-inch central colour touchscreen. But Vauxhall says that central monitor's user interfaces have been made clearer and more intuitive, in line with those on the Grandland SUV.
Everything else is as before. Which means that in the rear seat, you get 680mm of leg space, 10mm more than in the Peugeot 308, but it still feels a touch more cramped than the class norm: a SEAT Leon for instance, has 20mm more room for stretching out. A third central passenger could be accommodated but, as with most cars in this class, it'd be a bit of a squash.
Out back in this PHEV version, as in the full-EV Astra, there's a 352-litre boot - down from 422-litres in the conventional Hybrid model. that's because of the battery below the cargo area floor. You also lose the ordinary variant's adjustable-height base. With the Sports Tourer PHEV estate, there's a 548-litre boot (down from 608-litres with the conventionally-engined Hybrid model) and there's 600mm of load height, along with a 40:20:40 rear seatback split.
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Market and model
In an interesting approach to pricing, Vauxhall has recided that all electrified versions of this model - Hybrid, Plug-in Hybrid and Electric - should be priced at exactly the same level. And that there should be no price premium to graduate from the hatch body shape to this Sports Tourer estate. Which is a huge change from the approach taken with the pre-facelift version of this model, where the price difference between the Hybrid and the Plug-in Hybrid variants was vast; and there was a premium of at least £1,250 (and sometimes much more) if you wanted the estate version rather than the hatch.
All of this means that prices start from around £30,000 with base 'Griffin' trim for either hatch or Sports Tourer versions of the Astra Hybrid e-DCT6, the Astra Electric or this Astra Plug-in Hybrid e-DCT7. There are two other mainstream trim levels, also featuring electrified engine price parity - mid-level 'GS' (from around £31,500) and top 'Ultimate' (from around £34,000). Remember that if you were to choose the Astra Electric rather than this PHEV version, you'd be able to deduct a £1,500 government grant from these quoted figures.
Whatever trim level you end up choosing, you can expect plenty of equipment for the money, with standard features like full-LED headlights, digital instrument dials, a head-up display and standard wireless 'Apple CarPlay' and 'Android Auto' smartphone-mirroring for the centre dash screen. Plus heat for the front seats and steering wheel, a wireless charging mat and a 180-degree reversing camera. You'll be able to specify your Astra with large wheels - up to 18-inches in diameter - and above base trim, you get a 2-tone paint finish.
Top 'Ultimate' variants get the brand's 'Intelli-Drive 2.0' technology, which includes Advanced Intelligent Speed Adaptation (which monitors both road signs and weather conditions to adjust the vehicle speed) and Semi Automated Lane Change (which works at speeds between 45mph and 70mph, with the driver able to instruct the vehicle to change lanes). conditions permitting. The 'Intelli-Drive 2.0' package also includes Rear Cross Traffic Alert, which uses radars on the rear bumpers to detect moving objects to the rear sides of the vehicle, such as cars or motorcycles manoeuvring in a car park, alerting the driver when reversing.
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Cost of ownership
As we mentioned in our 'Driving Experience' section, up to 52 miles of EAER-rated battery running is now claimed from this improved Astra Plug-in Hybrid, while CO2 is now rated at between 49-53g/km. This all means a more affordable BiK tax rating. There's the usual rather fictitious 3-figure PHEV combined cycle fuel reading - in this case 122.8mpg for both versions. You can maximise efficiency by regular activation of the provided 'B' gearbox button, which emphasises regenerative braking, harvesting energy as you cruise or brake to replenish the battery.
From a household plug, both Astra Plug-in Hybrid variants can be replenished in 7 hours 24 minutes. Plug into a 3.2kW home wall box or public charger and replenishment will take 4 hours 17 minutes. Connected up to 7.4kW home wall box or public charger, you can reduce that to 2 hours and 5 minutes. So that you don't have to use valuable charging energy with the climate fan cooling or heating the interior when you first get into the vehicle, the Astra Plug-in Hybrid offers a thermal pre-conditioning function. Insurance for the 180PS Plug-in Hybrid models lies between 26E-28E. Service intervals are every year or 20,000 miles.
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Summary
Rather against the odds given its vanilla history and current shared Stellantis Group engineering, this improved Astra Plug-in Hybrid stands out as one of the more interesting choices in its class. To drive, it's obviously not that much different to the Peugeot 308 and DS No4 models that share its now-improved PHEV powertrain, but this Vauxhall's stylish to look at and avant-garde to sit in. Decades of company reps could never have imagined that one day, an Astra would be like this.
They'd never have imagined that an Astra would cost £35,000-£40,000 either, but if you can make that budget work for you (or your company accountant), then all the other stats add up quite nicely, particularly those relating to efficiency. The Astra has evolved. And if you want to see by just how much, then try one of these.
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