2025 (74) Vauxhall Vivaro Life 100kW Combi XL 49kWh 5dr Auto

Vauxhall's largest People Carrier, the Vivaro Life Electric, now makes more sense with a larger 75kWh battery. Jonathan Crouch drives it.

Ten Second Review

Need a really large MPV? Perhaps you need a full-electric one? Here's Vauxhall's take on this concept, the Vivaro Life Electric, now improved with a larger 75kWh battery. This model is, as its name suggests, based on the marque's medium-sized Vivaro van but it's actually pretty sophisticated as well as being light, airy, and seriously spacious, with room for up to 9 people, depending on variant. If anything, its commercial vehicle roots serve as a strength and the huge interior, tough build and uncomplicated design might prove ideal for family buyers.

Background

These days, virtually all really large People Carriers are based on vans - and it's easy to see why. Starting with an LCV design is the obvious solution to maximise interior space. One LCV design in the case of most sales in this segment, which come from four nearly identically-engineered models, the Citroen e-SpaceTourer, the Peugeot E-Traveller, the Toyota Proace Verso EV and the subject of our test here, the Vauxhall Vivaro Life. As all those names suggest, these People Carriers are all primarily EVs these days, though each was originally launched back in the last decade with the diesel power that many family and business buyers might still wish they could have. But Stellantis, and here Vauxhall in particular, wants you to have an EV, which wasn't a particularly attractive option with the earlier feeble-ranging 50kWh version of this model. It might now make more sense though, with the bigger 75kWh battery that the brand standardised as part of the 2024 model year update that created the car we're going to look at here, an enhancement which also smartened the exterior styling and upgraded the cabin screens

Driving Experience

Vauxhall now restricts this Vivaro Life Electric to the largest battery it can offer in this LCV design - which is 75kWh in size, offering a WLTP-rated range of 219 miles. Unfortunately though, the same 136hp motor as was used for the old 50kWh model must power it along; yes, basically the same one as is used by the brand's Corsa Electric supermini weighing 600kgs less. So, as you can imagine, given that just 260Nm of torque must thrust nearly 2.2-tonnes of squarical MPV through the air, performance is somewhat lethargic. We can't remember driving an EV that took as long as 14.3s to reach 62mph, by which time you'll be pretty close to the modest 81mph maximum. Motorway speeding tickets will be rare. And it gets even worse if you engage the 'Eco' mode that'll be necessary to get anywhere near the quoted range stat because this reduces power output to just 80hp. The other drive settings are 'Normal' and 'Power'. As part of the changes made to this updated model, a three-stage brake regen system has been added, operable via these steering wheel paddles. The fiercest setting makes a difference to frugality but stops well short of offering the currently fashionable 'one-pedal' style of EV driving. Through the corners, as you would expect, there's plenty of body roll if, rather unwisely, you start throwing the thing about. If you can ignore both that and the slightly vague steering and find yourself absolutely having to push on, you'll find that there's reasonable grip and traction. The power steering is now electrically assisted (instead of electro-hydraulic) to reduce effort and improve manoeuvrability.

Design and Build

You might be pleased to find that this Vivaro Life Electric doesn't really shout 'school bus' in terms of the way it looks. Not in this updated form anyway. As before, this Vauxhall's a substantial thing, available in two lengths - the 4.981mm M version or the 5,331mm XL variant. But you choose a big MPV for what it offers inside. As we'll see here, depending on the spec choices you make, this Vivaro Life can take six, seven, eight or even nine people. Up front, models models have two individual seats but with base Combi trim, a two-person passenger bench from the Vivaro van would enable you to take three. With this updated model, the dashboard has been redesigned to incorporate this larger 10-inch central HD touchscreen, plus there are storage compartments that are now larger, more numerous, and more cleverly designed. The big bus-like steering wheel has also been revised, now with a selection of integrated controls and the ability to be heated. Through it, you view a 10-inch digital instrument screen which prioritises a central digital speedo. Everything else you might need is on the centre screen, now redesigned with the currently favoured Stellantis Group 'widget' format which divides the monitor with the features you most commonly use. Time to take consider the passenger compartment. With plush 'Ultimate' trim, the sliding side door on each side is motorised, though you might not think that such a good idea if you're standing outside in a downpour waiting for it to open. As for what lies inside, well it depends on the spec level you've chosen and the options boxes ticket. With the two mainstream 'Combi' and 'Design' versions, there's a 60-40-split three-person bench. The standard 'Ultimate' layout has three individual seats mounted on the rails under the floor mat which allow them to slide them back and forth - or be taken out and be turned to face those behind. The seat backs recline too. Your other choice with 'Ultimate' trim is to create a more VIP-like feel with an optional 'F2F-2nd Row pack'. This gives you two individual seats separated by a sliding central unit, out of which table flaps open each side. As for the third row, well once again, the layout depends on trim and options. 'Combi' and 'Design' versions get a one-piece three-person bench. The standard 'Ultimate' layout has three individual seats mounted on the rails. But if you've bought the optional 2-seat pack for the second row, you're probably going to want to tick the box for the other F2F pack that provides a 2-seat pack for this third row as well. On to luggage space. Annoyingly, the useful opening tailgate window (which if you've only small bags to put in alleviates the need to raise the heavy tailgate) only comes as standard with top 'Ultimate' trim. Without that, you've to give your back a work-out with the tailgate - which will require lots of space to be left behind the vehicle if you're to operate it. It's a versatile space, with a light on both sides and four tie-downs - but obviously a lot more versatile if you've got the 'Ultimate'-spec model floor rails to slide the third and second row benches about. And if you've avoided base 'Combi' trim, where the third row seat back can't be folded. Obviously if you lump the two seating row benches out completely, you'll get essentially a Vivaro delivery van - with a completely flat floor. With the second and third row seating removed, there's 3,161mm of loading length in the M version and up to 3,511mm of loading length in the XL model. Depending on the loading length you settle on, maximum load volume varies between 3,500 litres and 4,200 litres.

Market and Model

As you've probably realised by now if you're ferrying about a large family or running a shuttlebus business, transporting the number of people you can get into a large MPV like this isn't cheap. Only the base Combi models benefit from the government's £1,500 Grant, which means a grant-deducted starting price for them of just over £35,000. With prices rising to just under £50,000 for the 'Ultimate' version we tried; think just over £50,000 with key VIP options fitted. There are three trim levels - base 'Combi', then mid-level 'Design' and the top 'Ultimate'. In each case, you can pay £900 more to graduate from the standard 'M' Medium-length body shape to the lengthier 'XL' variant, a premium you're going to need to spend to get the full VIP experience. Unlike with this model's near-identical Citroen SpaceTourer Stellantis Group close cousin, it's not possible for conventional customers to get this Vivaro Life with a combustion engine, but it's worth mentioning in passing that those intending to use this Vauxhall for a wheelchair accessible vehicle conversion still can. That would be an 8-seater 2.2-litre 180PS diesel auto (in both body lengths) at prices which started from around £37,500 at the time of this review. As for equipment, well spec of the base nine-seater 'Combi' model limits you to the basics, but they include most of what you'd need. Tick off twin sliding side doors, air conditioning, rear parking sensors, auto headlamps and wipers, cruise control with a speed limiter and high beam assist. Inside, there's a 10-inch digital driver's instrument screen, a heated driver's seat and a 10-inch central HD Touch screen with voice recognition, 4G connectivity and 'Mirror Screen' wireless 'Apple CarPlay' and 'Android Auto'. And there's a Vauxhall Connect app so you can interact with the car via your smartphone.

Cost of Ownership

We gave you the EV mileage figure in our 'Driving' section - up to 219 miles; it's up to 279 miles in city-only use. Those are for the 75kWh battery we tried; the smaller 50kWh battery is no longer offered. To get close to the quoted stats, you'll obviously need to engage the most frugal 'Eco' mode frequently - which reduces power output to 80hp. To maximise range, you'll also need to regularly engage the fiercest of the regenerative braking settings, activated by steering wheel paddles. An 'e-Coaching' section of the centre screen gives you tips to improve frugality, though most of them are pretty self-explanatory, like 'smooth acceleration limits energy consumption'. That screen's 'Energy' section has a 'Statistics' screen which shows your energy consumption in mi/kWh for the last 30, 60 or 180 minutes. Like its Stellantis cousins, the Vivaro Life Electric can only be DC-charged at up to 100kW, which isn't especially rapid these days but is enough to provide an 80 per cent charge in 45 minutes. This EV People Carrier features an 11kW on-board charger. A full charge from a 7.4kW domestic wallbox takes 11 hours 20 minutes. Using an 11kW wallbox and a three-phase supply, you can reduce that to seven and a half hours. Connected to a domestic plug, you'd need a yawning 36 hours 45 minutes for a full charge. For peace of mind, the lithium-ion battery packs offered in this model come with an eight year/100,000 mile warranty, for up to 70% of the initial battery capacity. The centre screen's aforementioned 'Energy' section allows you to manage your charging regime (which you can also do via the provided Vauxhall Connect app). Service intervals are every 25,000 miles or every two years, whichever comes first.

Summary

With this larger 75kWh battery fitted, this Vivaro Life Electric at last makes some sort of credible sense for larger families and businesses needing to provide comfortable shuttle transport. This design's now a decade old but large MPVs like this one have long shelf lives and this one's been carefully updated so that the age doesn't show too much. It certainly has a very flexible cabin. And if you buy in at the bottom of the line-up, you won't actually be paying all that much more than you'd need for a much smaller compact MPV like Vauxhall's own Combo Life. And you'll be getting a vastly more versatile People Carrier in return. Splash out on the VIP-style 'Ultimate' model and of course it's a different story, but for its intended market, this big Vauxhall's appeal as a potential boardroom on wheels will have its advocates. Of course, you could get much the same thing with a Citroen, a Peugeot or a Toyota badge. But go the Vauxhall route with its larger dealer network and you might well get a better deal. And if you do, then you might well be quite satisfied with what's served up by this improved Vivaro Life, providing you don't expect the kind of extensive drive range that still isn't really on offer in this segment. Life, they say, is what you make it. You might enjoy yours a little more with one of these.