Vauxhall Grandland Electric GS long-term test: will an EV work with no home charger?

2023 Audi

e-tron

11,326 milesAutomaticElectric

Cash £27,744
View e-tron

2023 Audi

e-tron

51,562 milesAutomaticElectric

Cash £22,459
View e-tron

2021 BMW

X3

30,128 milesAutomaticDiesel2.0L

Cash £28,987
View X3

2023 Hyundai

Tucson

21,437 milesAutomaticPetrol1.6L

Cash £23,873
View Tucson

For example, there’s a Lidl just around the corner and if you sign up for the LidlPlus app, you get a lot more than a free tote bag and some cheaper pastries; LidlPlus, like some other supermarket charging apps, offers a small discount on charging. Dropping the price of charging from over 70p per kilowatt-hour to just over 60p saves around £7 per charge, which certainly takes the sting out of paying for each session.

However, I’ve noticed a couple of niggles with the car in my first 1,000 miles or so, and while these glitches are certainly not painful, they are undeniably irritating. The primary annoyance is the air-conditioning system, which sounds like a cricket has been trapped in the dashboard; the incessant chirping sound has felt somewhat akin to Chinese water torture on longer journeys, and has led me on more than one occasion to turn off the air-con completely – even in an admittedly welcome warm spell in April.

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Speaking of being rather toasty, the Grandland’s infotainment system tends to heat up so much (even when it’s not particularly balmy outside) that it can come as a bit of a shock whenever you touch it in order to choose a different song or adjust the climate controls; thankfully, the Grandland does have physical toggle switches for the temperature and fan speed.

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