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Vauxhall’s star quality

BY RAY MASSEY MOTORING EDITOR

VAUXhALL has unveiled allelectric versions of its popular Astra hatchback and estate cars — with order books opening in the new year. first deliveries of the zero-emissions Astra electric and Astra Sports Tourer electric — set to be one of the first all-electric estates on the market — will be made in June.

Their arrival increases Vauxhall’s pure electric passenger car line-up to six models, as the British marque accelerates towards becoming an electric-only manufacturer from 2028.

It also means the Astra will be available in four powertrains: electric and plug-in hybrid, as well as conventional petrol and diesel. Sportier GSe electrified variants of the plug-in hybrid arrive in early 2023, with fully electric variants to follow.

Prices for the all-electric Astras are expected to start at about £40,000 for the hatchback and £42,000 for the estate.

Both are powered by a 156hp (114kW) electric motor and a 54kWh battery, giving them a range of up to 258 miles from one charge. Acceleration from rest to 62mph takes about 8 seconds and top speed is 105 mph. The 54kWh battery is made up of 102 battery cells housed in 17 modules.

Charging to 80 per cent takes 30 minutes with a 100kW DC rapid charger and is expected to take seven-and-a-half hours on a domestic wall-box. All models have a three-phase 11kW AC onboard charger as standard.

The Astra electric and Astra Sports Tourer electric have ergonomic Active Sports seats certified by Germany’s AGr (Campaign for healthier Backs).

Driver aids include a 10in digital instrument cluster and 10in central display, a large intelligent head-up display unit and ‘hey Vauxhall’ natural voice recognition. There’s 516 litres of luggage space with the rear seats up, or 1,553 litres when folded down.

Safety features include: front collision warning with automatic emergency braking; lane-keeping assist; and sleepiness detection.

Available also as a petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid with up to 43 miles of electric-only range,

the current Astra hatchback range starts at £25,420.

The Astra Sports Tourer is priced from £26,440 for the Design 1.2T 110PS and goes up to £39,635 for the GS Line 1.6T 180hp plug-in hybrid.

Escape: Budget break

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2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

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