There is often a tension among siblings. competition. This is the same in real life as it is with automobile companies. Even if everyone operates under one roof and shares the technology, everyone still wants to be ahead. If the host sponsors this race, then a competition is inevitable. This is exactly the case at Stellantis, where CEO Carlos Tavares puts the profit margin above all else and sees each brand as a separate business unit that should generate as much profit as possible. This situation doesn’t necessarily make things any easier for Opel. The French landlords are only too happy to use the expertise of the Rüsselsheim experts, but if the Opel models are too good, the French landlords grumble.
Nevertheless, the Adam Opel House likes to talk about the “yellow EMP2 platform” because a lot of know-how from local engineers went into the further development of the vehicle architecture, from which the PSA siblings also benefit. In contrast to the Peugeot E-308, the Opel is said to be more authoritative and dynamic. The fathers of the compact backpack actually succeed in this. It hangs a bit better on the gas and the chassis is firmer without being too hard. This achieves the clarity that the technicians set themselves as their goal. This is also because the Opel station wagon is around 40 kilograms lighter than the Peugeot. But the Astra becomes a nimble summiteer thanks to its performance. 115 kW / 156 HP and the torque of 270 Newton meters are not. But not every electric car has to compete with a hypercar.
After 9.3 seconds, the E-Blitz reaches the 100 km/h mark from a standstill. That’s fast enough. Especially since the Astra Electric is quite elastic at speeds of up to 130 km/h. Only above this does the propulsion matter become more difficult before the top speed of 170 km/h is reached. The other side of the reserved power coin is consumption. We sucked an average of 16.7 kWh / 100 km from the batteries during our test drive, which included speeding along the highway. That’s 0.9 kWh/100 km more than Opel specifies as the WLTP value. That’s pretty good, since we were driving with winter tires when the outside temperature was nine degrees. Due to the moderate use of energy, the batteries with a capacity of 54 kilowatt hours can travel 413 kilometers according to the WLTP cycle.
When charging, the Astra Electric, like the Peugeot, doesn’t tear up any trees. After all, the three-phase onboard charger shovels 11 kW of electricity into the energy storage units, so that they are filled in around 5 hours and 45 minutes. If the Opel is connected to a DC fast charging station, it has a maximum of 100 kW and the battery is filled from ten to 80 percent after about half an hour.
To drive in a relaxed manner, the Eco driving mode is sufficient. The differences between the driving programs are not particularly pronounced, but they are noticeable. If you overdo it in the curves, the Opel will push outwards over the front wheels. As soon as you ease off the accelerator, the Astra Electric Sport Tourer immediately behaves quite decently again. ‘One of the advantages of every well-equipped Opel model is the AGR seats. We were traveling in the top GS line, which had comfortable and back-friendly seating on board. There is enough space in the 4.64 meter long Opel so that two adults can sit behind each other. The trunk has a volume of 516 liters; if you fold down the backrests of the back seat, it becomes 1,553 liters. Not exactly a world record, especially since the Peugeot E-308 SW is ahead in this discipline with 548 to 1,574 liters. Another downside is that the electric sports tourer does not have the flex floor concept.
The infotainment with the two ten-inch screens for the digital instruments and as a control unit for the infotainment differs from that of the E-Peugeot, where the digital instruments are located as a narrow band above the steering wheel. You quickly find your way around the Opel, even if the French playfulness has penetrated to Rüsselheim. We like the fact that there is a real button below the central screen that you can use to jump to the home screen, as well as the standard equipment with full LED headlights including high beam assistant, front collision warning with automatic emergency braking as well as pedestrian detection and lane keeping assistant. The price: 43,490 euros, a surcharge of 1,500 euros over the five-door model. With the GS equipment used, the Opel Astra Electric costs 46,560 euros. It then includes amenities such as traffic sign recognition, adaptive cruise control including a stop function, a 360-degree camera and the aforementioned AGR seat for the driver including seat and steering wheel heating. For comparison, the Peugeot E-308 SW costs 48,440 euros in the GT version. The Opel Astra Electric Sports Tourer is already available from dealers.
