The onslaught of electric vehicles from Stellantis continues in Europe where the Opel Astra will be offered for the first time in 32 years without a combustion engine. Mechanically linked to the Peugeot E-308 unveiled in September, the electric compact car will also be available in hatchback and station wagon body styles similar to its French cousin. Based on a platform developed for ICE-powered cars, the electric vehicles look almost like their petrol and diesel counterparts.
The folks in Rüsselsheim say the Astra Sports Tourer Electric is the first zero-emission wagon from a German brand, though Porsche begs to differ since the Taycan Cross/Sport Turismo models are also long-roof electric vehicles. Much like the Peugeot E-308, the quiet Astra is a front-wheel-drive-only affair with a single electric motor. It develops an identical output of 156 horsepower (115 kilowatts), but the torque is surprisingly increased by 10 Newton-meters (7 lb-ft) to 270 Nm (199 lb-ft).
12 Pictures
The differences in Opel’s favor continue as the electric Astra can travel 416 kilometers (258 miles) on a full charge while the E-308 is rated at 400 km (248.5 miles) for the same WLTP cycle. Both models share the same 54 kWh battery with a useful capacity of 51 kWh. It takes about half an hour to charge the battery to 80% when charging from a 100kW DC station.
Opel points out that while “many other electric cars” have a top speed cap of 150 km/h (93 mph) or 160 km/h (99 mph), its Astra EV duo tops out at 170 km/h (106 mph) . ). In terms of practicality, the wagon can swallow 516 liters behind the rear seats and 1,553 liters when folded down. As expected, the volume is significantly less than that of the ICE (608 liters and 1634 liters, respectively).
On sale next spring, the purely electric Astra complements the top-of-the-range GSe version, a plug-in hybrid model with 225 hp (165 kW) and 360 Nm (265 lb-ft). The Grand Sport Electric is also available in both body styles and you can also have the PHEV setup on equivalent versions of the Peugeot 308.
With many new electric vehicles on the horizon, Stellantis is effectively signaling the beginning of the end for its ICEs in Europe, where all of its many brands will be selling only electric cars by 2030.
