• PHEV best for economy…
• …If you charge regularly
• Rivals have longer warranties

What are the running costs?

It’s the plug-in hybrid Grandland that’ll be cheapest to run, although you’ll need to regularly charge the battery to get the best economy. A real world electric only range in the high 20s/low 30s means that many commutes can be covered on volts alone, while it helps improve economy on longer runs as well, with mid-to high 40s possible. You’ll need to drive almost exclusively on electric to get anywhere near the official claims.

A Volkswagen Tiguan e-Hybrid is better at long distance economy in our experience, while those predominantly doing lots of motorway miles will be better off with the diesel. Don’t totally discount the petrol. A cheaper purchase price and early-30s real world economy, while not brilliant, still makes sense for low mileage private buyers.

If you’re a business user, the plug-in hybrid once again makes the most sense on account of its low BIK tax bracket. There are alternatives such as the Skoda Octavia iV that sit in an even lower band, though.

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Servicing and warranty

You can opt to pay monthly for a fixed-price Vauxhall service plan to help spread the cost and offset inflation, with instalments that should be easy to swallow. Expect servicing for the petrol to be cheaper than for the diesel and plug-in.

The warranty for the car is a standard three-year or 60,000-mile deal, with unlimited miles in the first year. This can be extended for a fee, although if your concern is with the hybrid’s battery, this is covered for eight years/100,000 miles and guarantees at least 70% of the pack’s capacity will remain at the end of this period.

Reliability

• Vauxhall doesn’t have the best track record
• The old Grandland X received 12 recalls
• Hopefully lessons have been learnt

There were a number of recalls on the old Grandland X, the last being in July 2021, but with near identical mechanicals you’d hope those bugs would be ironed out in the Grandland. Although a number of these were for the diesel engine, they also affected the suspension in all models.

Vauxhall as a brand doesn’t perform amazingly in reliability surveys, either. If you want something more reliable, a Toyota CH-R, Toyota RAV4 or a Lexus NX might be worth considering.