Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric (2026) Review

Introduction

Shortly after man (or woman) invented the wheel, along came the Vauxhall Astra. Or at least that’s how it seems. That’s because the Astra has been around for 45 years now and is currently in its eighth generation.

And now Vauxhall has given its ever-popular car a major mid-life facelift with sharper styling featuring state-of-the art headlights, upgraded powertrains that deliver improved efficiency, plus lots and lots of choice.

There is a five-door hatchback or Sports Tourer (estate) and these are available in trims called Griffin, GS and Ultimate. Additionally, customers can choose from a 1.2-litre 145PS Hybrid, a 1.6-litre 195PS Plug-in Hybrid or 156PS fully electric powertrains, across both body styles.

The headline news is the simplicity and parity of the pricing. There is no longer a price step-up from hatchback to Sports Tourer (it was previously about £1,500). And all powertrains carry exactly the same price-tag too, so there’s no financial penalty for choosing EV above hybrid for example.

What are the Pros and Cons of the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric?

Pros:

• Attractive pricing structure
• No estate car price increase over hatchback
• Easy to drive
• Exceptionally practical
• Comfortable and well equipped

Cons:

• Some rivals are more dynamic and engaging to drive
• Boot capacity not as good as some competitors
• Limited rear legroom if seats pushed back

What are the first impressions of the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric?

The pressure is mounting on manufacturers to give their cars distinctive styling cues these days so they stand out from the crowd. Think BMW’s larger-than-life kidney grille, Kia’s Tiger Nose face and that iconic Jeep seven-slot grille – all design traits that make the car instantly recognisable.

And Vauxhall has its Vizor front end which, until now was okay, yet hardly memorable. But the 2026 Astra takes the design to a new level with a permanently illuminated Griffin emblem as a centrepiece with horizontal and vertical lights creating a compass effect. It’s the first time this feature has been introduced on a production Vauxhall and it takes its inspiration from the 2023 Corsa GSE Vision Gran Turismo concept car.

It certainly gives the Astra a stand-out front end and other eye-catching features include sleek streamlining on the Sports Tourer with rear privacy glass, body-coloured door handles, a black contrast roof and model-specific 18-inch alloy wheels with neat ASTRA lettering.

There are seven colour options, including a new Contour White shade, while Electric Yellow is new to the hatch and Clover Green makes its debut on the Sports Tourer. This was the colour of our Sports Tourer Ultimate test car and looked striking with the black contrast roof.

What are the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric’s key features?

The Vauxhall Astra is offered in three well-equipped trims called Griffin, GS and Ultimate.

Griffin specification includes tinted rear windows, roof rails on the Sport Tourer, a black roof, illuminated Vizor, LED taillights, new LED headlights with slim design and 17-inch alloy wheels. It has twin 10-inch infotainment screens, sat nav, plus Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Comfort-wise, owners get Vauxhall’s patented Intelli-seat that features a unique slot to cushion the lower back, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, keyless entry, electronic climate control, a frameless rear-view mirror, acoustic laminated side glass (EV only), and a flex load floor on the estate.

Step up to GS and it gains a sports bumper, 18-inch black alloy wheels, the upgraded high-tech digital dashboard interface, a 180-degree reversing camera, sports seats, dual-zone electronic climate control, plus electric and heated door mirrors.

The range-topping Ultimate adds the upgraded ReNewKnit upholstered seats with heating and massage function, a heated windscreen, and a powered tailgate (Sports Tourer only).

What’s the range of the electric Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric?

The 2026 Vauxhall Astra Electric has a larger capacity battery that has increased in size to 58kWh. That’s an additional 4kWh and results in an extra 22 miles of driving range between charges.

The combined range is set at 274 miles, while the city range is up to 347 miles between charges.

How does the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric perform and handle when put to the test?

The all-electric Astra Sports Tourer has a 58kWh capacity battery with single electric motor. With 156PS and 270Nm of torque, the front-wheel drive family estate can reach 62mph from a standing start in 9.0 seconds and tops out at 106mph.

The combined driving range of up to 274 miles is good enough, especially as it can take a 20 to 80 per cent boost in 31 minutes via a 100kW fast charger. The city range is higher at 347 miles thanks to lots of stop, start driving where energy is captured during braking.

When put to the test, the electric Astra Sports Tourer accelerated smoothly through the single-speed transmission to reach motorway cruising speeds and there is ample power to overtake slower-moving vehicles too.

It’s well-balanced on twisting lanes and the refinement levels are most impressive with barely a sound filtering through into the cabin. We should probably point out at this stage that we were driving on silky smooth Croatian roads with not a single pothole in sight. We imagine the ride will be less forgiving on our broken UK road surfaces.

Driver visibility is good and the car is deceptively agile when manoeuvring through busier towns and villages with nicely weighted steering.

Drive modes called Eco, Normal and Sport alter the characteristics of the Astra, while the steering wheel-mounted paddles can be used to adjust the strength of the regenerative braking with three settings to choose from.

We also took a drive in the Astra Hatchback in Ultimate trim, but powered by the plug-in hybrid set-up that features a 1.6-litre 195PS engine with 360Nm of torque. This model can complete the 0-62mph dash in 7.6 seconds and maxes out at 140mph (84mph in electric mode) and it can deliver 52 miles of EV-only driving.

Despite the figures suggesting it should be more dynamic to drive, we still preferred the refinement of the EV and, to be honest, the all-round handling. It seemed quicker off the mark, although it clearly shouldn’t and the pick-up acceleration also seemed superior.

One of the headline technology features on new Astra is the lighting. The Ultimate trim features the innovative Intelli-Lux HD lighting as standard, and this is available on the Astra Hatchback and Astra Sports Tourer for the first time. These adaptive, glare-free headlights consist of more than 50,000 elements and cut out preceding and oncoming road users faster and more precisely than previous Matrix technologies. The light tunnel area which is not illuminated becomes narrower than before while the rest of the road remains well lit. According to Vauxhall scientific tests, at speeds of 50mph, objects in front of the vehicle are detected about 30 to 40 metres earlier, offering the driver extra time to react. They also adjust the light beams accordingly when driving in fog or on rain-drenched roads to reduce glare.

We ventured out on a night drive along dark country roads to test out these lights. The new technology certainly impressed, lighting up the twisting curves in the road and illuminating the edges really well, but we did find the headlights far too bright when we met other Astra test cars coming in the opposite direction.

What’s the charging speed of the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric?

The Vauxhall Astra Electric has been updated with a 58kWh battery that supports 100kW fast charging. This enables a 20-80 per cent recharge in 32 minutes. There is an 11kW on-board charger as standard, meaning a 20-80 per cent boost from an 11kW AC charger can be accomplished in 3 hours, 20 minutes, or 5 hours via a 7.4kW home wallbox.

The Astra is also available with Vauxhall’s ‘Electric All In’ package, which has a number of benefits such as £500 credit towards either an Ohme home wallbox, Tesco charging credit, an Octopus Electroverse charging credit or connect kerb charging credit.

And it comes with eight years of comprehensive roadside assistance, including emergency charging.

What are the day-to-day running costs with the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric?

The pricing structure for the Vauxhall Astra really couldn’t be simpler to understand. Prior to this latest refresh, the Sport Tourer cost about £1,500 more than the Hatchback. But now there is total parity. And the same can be said for the powertrains too – so if a customer wants an EV, hybrid or plug-in hybrid, they all cost the same.

With that in mind, the entry-level Griffin grade costs £29,995, the GS is priced at £31,495, while the range-topping Ultimate is £33,995. It’s worth noting that Vauxhall has not yet applied for the Government’s Electric Car Grant, so the price of the EV model could end up considerably under-cutting alternative powertrains.

When it comes to day-to-day running costs, EV owners now pay a first-year road tax fee of just £10, increasing to the £200 standard charge after 12 months.

But as all models are priced well below the Government’s recently increased £50,000 Expensive Car Supplement threshold, there will be no further costs there.

For anyone thinking about choosing the electric Astra (Hatchback or Sports Tourer) as a business car, it has an attractive Benefit in Kind tax rating of four per cent.

And warranty-wise, the vehicle is sold with a standard three-year, 60,000-mile warranty, that extends to eight years or 100,000 miles for the battery.

What’s the interior like with the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric?

Vauxhall cars have never been particularly blessed with overly-impressive interiors, although the quality has improved significantly by adopting some fellow Stellantis Group fixtures and fittings.

Our Ultimate grade Sports Tourer featured ReNewKnit upholstered seats, which is 100 per cent recycled vegan suede. They also had multi-level heating, a massage function and memory settings, which is handy if the car is shared between drivers. Despite being mainly power-adjustable, any forward or backward movement was still manual.

The on-board tech is quite standard these days, so expect full smartphone connectivity, sat nav, a DAB radio, Bluetooth and a number of other functions. The twin 10-inch infotainment screens look upmarket and the on-board technology worked smoothly enough on our test drive, with a head-up display to keep an eye on the speed too.

There is a nice mix of physical controls, which is always welcome in the current overly touchscreen-dependent era, and the ChatGPT AI functions also worked well.

Is the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric practical, and how big is the boot?

With the pricing parity between hatchback and Sports Tourer models, the latter becomes a very attractive choice for active families who need plenty of boot space for their weekends away.

The Astra Hatchback measures 4,374mm in length, is 1,859mm wide, 1,472mm tall and has a 2,675mm wheelbase. By comparison the Astra Sports Tourer is 4,642mm long, is the same width as the hatch, 1,498mm tall and has a wheelbase stretching 2,732mm.

The cabins on both cars are almost identical when it comes to space, so there is bundles of room for two tall adults up front to stretch out. Provided the front seats are not pushed too far back, a further two adults can sit in the back, although add a third and it gets a tad cosy. Both cars would easily cope with carrying three youngsters though.

The larger dimensions certainly become more noticeable when it comes to storage though. The Astra Hatchback can swallow 310 litres, increasing to 1,236 litres with the split-folding rear seats dropped, whereas the Sports Tourer sees capacities that range from 516 to 1,553. The boot floor is adjustable and, on our high-end Ultimate car, there was a powered tailgate for added convenience.

Additionally, there are numerous storage options throughout the cabin too, including a glovebox, door bins, a central cubby, a wireless charging pad, some trays, a small hidden compartment at the bottom of the dashboard, plus two USB-C ports up front and just the single one in the rear, which may lead to some squabbling – after all, teenagers need to be connected at all times, right?

The Astra EV also boasts Vehicle-to Load capabilities, meaning it can power up external devices such as e-bikes, laptops, camping lights and much more besides.

Is the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric a safe car?

It’s unlikely the 2026 Astra will be re-tested for a new Euro NCAP safety rating. That means it will carry over the four-star rating awarded to the vehicle when tested in 2022.

Back then, the Astra was given an 80 per cent score for Adult Occupants 82 per cent for Child Occupants, 67 per cent for Vulnerable Road Users and 66 per cent for Safety assist.

The car has automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, the Intelli-Lux HD pixel headlights with 50,000 light elements, a lane keep assist, driver drowsiness monitor, traffic sign recognition, eight airbags, hill start assist and Isofix mounts on the outer rear seats.

Features on the Griffin trim include adaptive cruise control, front and rear parking sensors and high beam assist. The GS trim gains a 180-degree reversing camera, while the Astra Ultimate gets Intelli-Drive 1.0 which includes blind spot alert, lane change assist, lane positioning assist and rear cross traffic alert.

Can I choose optional extras with the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric?

The trim levels on the 2026 Vauxhall Astra are generously-equipped as standard, with additional features added as you move up through the grades.

But customers can look to add a few extra options. Black paintwork is included as standard, but other shades such as the Clover Green on our test car costs an extra £650. A sunroof is available on lower trims for £500, and a tow bar can be added to any vehicle apart from the EVs, and this is priced at £605.

A luggage restraining net is £100, while spare wheel provision, which prepares the boot for carrying a spare, as opposed to the standard repair kit, costs £20.

Finally, an alternative onboard charger that replaces the standard 3.4kW unit for a 7kW charger is offered on plug-in hybrid cars for a £500 fee.

Each trim features specific alloy wheels, so there are no additional costs there.

What are the main rivals and alternatives to the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric?

There is a wealth of models vying for sales in the highly competitive C segment and that means the Astra will face some stiff opposition from the likes of the Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus, Skoda Octavia and even from fellow Stellantis stablemates such as the Peugeot 308.

What’s the final verdict on the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric?

There’s no denying the success of the Astra with Vauxhall once claiming that one in four Britons had owned one at some point. But, with so much competition in the C-segment and a constant stream of new arrivals from China, how can the Astra stay fresh and remain in the limelight?

The answer is this mid-life refresh which gives the car added styling cues and enhanced technology. But, possibly more importantly, there is the pricing restructuring which sees all powertrains costing the same and the hatchback and Sports Tourer also priced identically.

That simplistic structure makes it easier for customers to choose an Astra to suit their needs and budgets.

Yes, there are more dynamically-styled rivals out there and the Astra is not exactly a powerhouse when it comes to performance, but the all-round appeal has certainly been elevated by this 2026 revamp.

Where to next?

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**Score based on Select’s unique meta score analysis, taking into account the UK’s top leading independent car website reviews of the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric.

**Correct as of 24/03/2026. Based on 12 months initial payment, 5,000 miles annually, over a 48 month lease. Initial payment equivalent to 12 monthly payments, or £5,791.56  (Plus admin fee) Ts and Cs apply. Credit is subject to status.

Every lease deal is a fixed monthly cost for the whole of your contract, apart from changes to government costs, e.g. VAT changes or road fund license cost changes and in certain specific cases where the funder changes the price. Electric range quoted is WLTP.

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