The new Vauxhall Frontera will be one of the UK’s cheapest electric cars - and in a UK first, it will cost the same as the petrol version.
The chunkier, slightly larger replacement for the Crossland will be available to order in October from £23,495 for both powertrains. Vauxhall says this "eliminates the price disparity that usually exists between electric and petrol versions of the same car" - which it puts at an average of 31%.
Vauxhall already offers versions of its other electric cars on a PCP for the same deposit and monthly payment as their petrol equivalents, but on a five-year PCP against four for the ICE versions. The electric Frontera, however, will be offered on equal terms to the petrol car.
That list price also makes the Frontera one of the country's cheapest full-size electric cars, undercutting the likes of the MG 4, Fiat 500 Electric and Mazda MX-30.
The entry-level Frontera Electric has a 112bhp motor on the front axle – giving a 0-62mph time of 12.1sec – which is fed by a 44kWh battery that's good for 186 miles of range and charging at up to 100kW. A 'Long Range' version will launch in 2025, boosting the range to 248 miles.
The cheapest petrol hybrid variant, meanwhile, gets 99bhp from a 1.2-litre triple mated to a 48V, 28bhp electric motor in the gearbox. A more powerful version with 134bhp is available from £24,995.
While the pure-EV is a five-seater, the hybrid will be optionally available with seven seats - also true of the closely related Citroën C3 Aircross, which shares parent company Stellantis’s new Smart Car platform and is due a few months later.
Vauxhall UK managing director James Taylor said offering EV and ICE derivatives at the same price will be crucial to driving uptake of electric cars and complying with the UK’s zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, under which manufacturers must achieve a 22% EV sales mix in 2024, rising in increments each year until the end of the decade.
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A step by step guide backed up by reassuring words on how the sat nav would guide them to a charger would be a big help.
At the minute, many buyers are still in the dark somewhat.
Price parity is just the start. It won't be long before new EVs are cheaper than new ICE cars, as well as being far cheaper to run. The fossil fuel brigade will really start to freak out then.