Vauxhall might just have been paying attention when, in reviews of its new Vauxhall Astra Electric earlier this year, we recorded that a £40,000 starting price looked a bit steep.
More likely is that customers have been saying the same thing. That’s why, thanks to a new entry-level Design trim, you can now order an Astra Electric hatchback for less than £38,000 or the Sports Touring estate version from £39,995.
That’s still money you might otherwise spend on some quite practical family EVs, of course. But, in that vein, the Sports Tourer might seem to offer a more competitive set of qualities than the regular hatchback. Longer of wheelbase, it supposedly has more occupant space than the regular Astra, as well as a boot some 30% larger.
The hatchback version of the car is available for delivery now, before the estate arrives in showrooms in spring 2024. And the addition of the Design trim level is all about driving the monthly cost of finance on the car down towards parity with Vauxhall's combustion-engined models.
It isn't quite there yet; but even so, with a decent but pretty typical deposit and over a five-year term, Vauxhall can now do you an Astra Electric from around £400 a month, where a petrol-engined one might be had for a little less than £300.
