Car type Electric range Fuel economy CO2 emissions Plug-in hybrid 35 miles 192-204mpg 34-35g/km

Vauxhall is on the cusp of launching its first fully electric car – the Corsa-e hatchback – but before that landmark moment, there’s the small matter of its maiden plug-in hybrid (PHEV) SUV: the Grandland X Hybrid.

The company’s largest SUV is based on the same underpinnings as the Citroen C5 Aircross Hybrid, Peugeot 3008 Hybrid and DS 7 Crossback E-TENSE, while it can count the MINI Countryman S E ALL4, Kia Niro PHEV and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV among its rivals. The Ford Kuga and BMW X1 xDrive25e plug-in hybrids are due during 2020 too, making this an increasingly crowded segment.

It’s a shame, then, that the Grandland X lacks a standout feature to distinguish it from the pack. Yes, the 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine and dual electric motors deliver a hefty 296bhp, and the resulting 0-60mph time of 5.9 seconds is pleasingly daft for a family SUV. But this combination is typical of most premium plug-in hybrids these days, and not unique to the Vauxhall.

The prospect of 204mpg also looks promising on paper, but as is the case with any PHEV, this is a laboratory figure that assumes you’ll start each journey with a full battery. On our test run on a mix of motorways and country roads, we averaged around 45mpg: not bad for a car of this size, but short of what we’ve seen from some full hybrids – and even the odd pure-petrol car – that (in theory) should be less efficient.

