Vauxhall Frontera Electric review

Vauxhall speaks of a ‘detoxed user experience’ in here and it shows, with a rather industrial look, lots of hard-wearing plastics and minimal distractions. It’s all very tidy but the vibe is uninspiring, and it’s certainly not as flashy as some rivals.

We’d have preferred a bit more padding to Vauxhall’s new flat bottomed steering wheel, but it’s otherwise a good size. The dashboard is clean and gets a handy storage shelf with a practical rubber tray. There’s also a flexible strap around the centre console, which allows you to store larger devices such as laptops or iPads where the cupholders would normally be. Interesting idea, but looked a little... cheap.

Upper spec models get front Intelli-Seats with a slot that helps to relieve the pressure on the tailbone, and behind the front seats there’s room for two adults to sit comfortably with plenty of legroom; three at a push, but you wouldn’t want to be three abreast back there for very long. No seven-seat option in the Frontera Electric (unlike the hybrid) either, remember.

Detoxed user experience, you say? Uh oh…

Wait, it’s not as bad as it sounds. All variants get a dual 10-inch screen setup, joined at the hip and angled towards the driver. They’re clean to read and fuss free, but the driver display is very limited in customisability and the main display feels quite basic.

It gets better though, because Vauxhall has used common sense by keeping its climate controls separate from the main display, courtesy of a dedicated climate control panel just below the main touchscreen. It’s very intuitive and easy to use, which is more than can be said for some rivals.

A comfort pack introduces a heated steering wheel and seats (and windscreen), while all versions get two USB-C ports front and rear, plus wireless charging and voice recognition.

Will I fit the kitchen sink in it?

Well, seats up you’re looking at 450 litres of luggage space in the boot. Fold them down and this extends to 1,600 litres. A fact that Vauxhall is very proud of, waxing lyrical about it having a bigger boot than an Astra Electric Sports Tourer despite it being the same length as an Astra.

Additional versatility is provided by split-level boot floor and 60:40 split folding rear seats. But that’s pretty much the norm these days.