Vauxhall cuts price of Astra Electric with new Griffin edition

Vauxhall has announced a new special edition of its Astra Electric hatchback and estate that cuts the price by almost £3,000.

The new Astra Electric Griffin joins the Corsa YES and Mokka Griffin in a line-up designed to make Vauxhall’s electric models more affordable. Like the Corsa and Mokka, the Astra Griffin is also available for the same monthly payments as the petrol equivalent.

While the Griffin brings the Astra Electric price down by £2,800, Vauxhall says it actually offers more equipment than the previous entry-level Design model. Among additional highlights are heated seats certified by the German campaign for healthier backs, a heated steering wheel, wireless phone charging and a 180-degree camera. Visually, all versions of the Griffin get tinted rear glass as standard and the Sports Tourer estate adds roof rails.

Like the rest of the Astra Electric range, the Griffin comes with a 154bhp motor at the front wheels and a 54kWh battery offering up to 258 miles of range, with 100kW DC charging.

As well as cutting the list price of the Astra, Vauxhall has announced a new finance package that offers monthly price parity between electric and petrol versions.

Customers taking a PCP deal will pay £399 per month, with a £2,000 deposit, regardless of the powertrain. This also represents a saving over the previous entry-level Design model.
As with the Corsa YES edition, Vauxhall has achieved this by offering the electric model on a five-year contract rather than the four-year package for the petrol model. However, it says that EV drivers on the longer contract will enjoy greater savings over the length of the deal thanks to lower energy costs and cheaper maintenance.

Vauxhall is among a number of car makers who have recently cut their EV prices in reaction to the ZEV mandate.The SMMT warned recently that despite rising EV sales, the industry was likely to miss the mandated 22% of all new car sales being zero-emission by the end of the year. Other brands, including Fiat, Volvo, Mazda, Honda and Renault have either cut prices or launched new cheaper variants to boost sales of their EVs.

Orders for the Astra Electric Griffin and Astra Sports Tourer Electric Griffin are open now, with deliveries beginning later in August.