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In 2021, Vauxhall brought us a fully electrified version of its Combo compact MPV, this Combo-e Life/ Combo Life Electric model featuring remarkably few compromises over its combustion engine counterpart. There's quite a price premium to pay for the BEV drivetrain, but if you can justify it and cope with the 174 mile driving range of the earlier version of this model, this Vauxhall, like its Peugeot and Citroen design counterparts, might be tempting option if you're looking for a full-electric compact family car and don't want a compact SUV. Here, there's the option of a 7-seat cabin too, which is quite rare to find in an EV at present.
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Detailed ratings
Compact Full Electric Cars
History
Because from 2021 onwards, all Vauxhall vans got fully electric powertrain options, the brand's MPV customers got offered BEV technology too. We saw this first with the large Vivaro-e Life model, which was followed shortly after by this smaller Combo-e Life, which shared its design with two French counterparts, the Citroen e-Berlingo and the Peugeot E-Rifter.
Like those two in-house rivals, this one got the 50kWh battery that by 2021 Peugeot, Citroen and Vauxhall seemed to fit to every EV they were making, even the biggest MPVs. In the Combo of course, a battery of that size was far more appropriate and it was built into the car in a way that didn't compromise cabin space. The Combo-e Life was re-named the Combo Electric in 2022. And was significantly facelifted and given a longer driving range in mid 2024, but it's the earlier 2021-2023-era models we look at here.
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What you get
The practical, squarical shape makes this Combo-e Life model's remit pretty clear. Its two design stablemates, Citroen's e-Berlingo and Peugeot's E-Rifter, try in different ways to add a bit of visual spice to this sensible, versatile LCV-like package. That's far less the case with this Vauxhall, though the Griffin brand is keen to point out the way that this model's high bonnet and short front overhangs deliver what the brand hopes is a 'balanced, robust and confident' demeanour.
There's plenty of Vauxhall brand identity at the front and two crisp lines flow down the raised bonnet to the grille with its familiar Griffin badging in an effort to impart a feeling of stability. As with this model's Citroen e-Berlingo and E-Rifter counterparts, you get a choice of wheelbases. There's the 4.4-metre-long 'M' (for 'Medium') body shape, which can be had with either five or seven seats. And the 4.75-metre-long 'XL' body style, which comes in seven seat form only.
The second row features a 60/40 split-folding seats - or (with plusher trim) three individual chairs. And the front passenger seat can be fully folded extending the length of the load area so that even large items, such as flat-pack furniture or ladders, can be carried inside. Get a 'Medium'-length model whose original owner paid extra for a third seating row and the rear pews will be for very small youngsters only. Even in the 'XL' version, the rearmost row is really designed for kids.
Finally, let's consider boot space. Medium variants with five seats feature up to 597-litres of cargo capacity, extending up to 2,126-litres of space with the rear row folded. While 'XL' variants come with 850-litres of space, and up to 2,693-litres with the rear rows folded.
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What to look for
As with other small MPVs, check for child damage inside and alloy wheel scuffs outside. And of course you'll want a fully stamped-up service record. What else? Well examine for flaking of paint on the bumpers and check that the air conditioning works and that the pixels on the centre display are all good. Also check for rear bumper scrapes. Finally check that the Bluetooth pairs reliably with your phone handset. Electrical glitches are relatively common, so make sure everything electrical in the car works and double-check that there are no unexplained warning lights on the dashboard. Vauxhall's infotainment touchscreen software can sometimes cause the monitor to freeze or fail completely. A software reset may solve the problem, but some owners have had to replace the entire unit, which is not a cheap operation.
The drive battery in used Combo e-Life / Combo Electric models should have quite a bit of life in it, unless you happen to be looking at one of the very earliest '21-plate versions. When the battery is on its way out, you'll obviously find that it won't go as far on each charge - and when it starts to run low on charge, you'll find that the car will particularly start to struggle going uphill. When it gets old, the lithium-ion battery used here can suffer from the ionised liquid in the battery freezing certain cells; those cells are then unable to receive charge.
Before going to all that trouble though, make sure the issue really is the battery. If the car won't charge, it could be a problem with your home electrics (or those at the public charge point you're using). Check the charge light to make sure that electricity really is going through the charge port. And make sure there really is charge in the socket you're using to power from - plug something else into it to see - say, your 'phone. If that charges OK, it could be that your charging cable is demanding too much power, so try another power source. Another problem could be that the circuit may have tripped due to a circuit overload. Or perhaps there could be a problem with the charge cable: this needs to be cared for properly. Repeatedly driving over it (as previous owners may conceivably have done) will damage it eventually. Make sure you do a charge-up before signing for the car you're looking at. When you do this, make sure that when you plug in to start the charge cycle you hear the charge port and the cable locking and engaging as they should; that's all part of the charger basically confirming with the car's onboard computer that everything's good to go before releasing power. But if the charging cable fails to lock as it should, then that won't happen. If there is a failure to lock, the issue could be actuator failure, caused by a blown fuse.
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Replacement parts
(approx based on a 2021 Combo e-Life excl. VAT - autopartspro.co.uk) A pair of front brake pads are between £18-£11 depending on brand. A pair of rear brake pads are between £23-£58. A pair of front brake discs start in the £30-£38 bracket; rears are between £23-£34. Pollen filters cost around £9-£50 and wiper blades cost around £6-£9.
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On the road
There's not too much to adjust to at the wheel if this is your first experience of an EV. The Combo-e Life offers three driving modes - 'ECO', 'Normal' and 'Power'. You won't want to spend too long in 'ECO', unless you really are eeking out battery capacity because it reduces the powertrain's normal 134bhp output to just 80bhp and also restricts the climate system to conserve power. Vauxhall recommends that you do most of your driving in the 'Normal' setting, which increases the motor output to 107bhp.
The top 'Power' mode isn't really intended for sporty driving but for situations when you're carrying heavy loads. The powertrain also has a 'B' setting which increases the level of regenerative braking to a point where the car slows so much when you come off throttle that you'll very rarely need to use the brake, unless you're coming to a complete stop.
You will want to know about driving range, which for this earlier model is claimed at 174 miles, around 30 miles less than the full-electric Vauxhall Corsa and Peugeot 208 superminis of this period that also used this battery. Like all electric vehicles, this one has a bit of a weight problem - that drivetrain adds over 300kgs of bulk, but that arguably helps the Combo-e Life when it comes to ride quality; you'll feel things like speed humps keenly, but at speed on the open road, it handles tarmac tears a little better than its combustion cousins.
This Combo feels really at home in an urban environment - surprisingly really because it's quite a large car, especially in long wheelbase form. But you'll feel really confident in it on the school run because all-round visibility is great, the steering is light and as we've said, the suspension deals with poorer surfaces quite well. Parking's easy too.
And charging: what about that? Well, as you'd want, this Combo supports up to 100kW rapid (DC) charging, with an 80% re-charge taking less than 30 minutes, while a full charge from a 7.4 kW single-phase wallbox takes 7.5 hours thanks to the 7.4kW on-board charger.
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Overall
This electric Combo MPV probably won't be the family car you promised yourself, but it could well be the one you really need. Assuming that the price being asked is similar or cheaper than you'd have to pay for this car's virtually identical Citroen e-Berlingo and Peugeot e-Rifter design stablemates.
This Vauxhall's probably ideal for family folk who want a spacious compact electric vehicle - maybe as a second car - but don't want an SUV. Something that's realistically priced - on a lease deal anyway - and has an acceptable driving range. Plus this electric MPV Combo can be a van if you need it to be. Everything you really need then. And nothing you don't.
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