It may no longer be the pride of the Luton, but the Vauxhall Vivaro Electric range is still something worth shouting about.
Production might have ended at the Vauxhall Luton van plant, but the Vivaro Electric van lives on with a healthy set of vital statistics to make this medium electric van one of the better models available for its range, battery size and charging speeds.
Because of its "Made In Britain" status, the Vivaro Electric has been a popular choice for early adopters looking to go electric, which is why you'll find it in a range of urban and last-mile delivery roles for everyone from Blue Chips to builders.
This Vauxhall Vivaro Electric battery range guide will not only give you the need to know battery specifications for the electric Vivaro, it will also tell you the real world driving range and charging times both the original generation of the van (badged as the Vauxhall Vivaro-e) and the more recent battery update.
This guide also applies to the range for the Opel Vivaro-e and the Opel Vivaro Electric battery range and size as well.
The Vivaro-e was the launch name for the electric Vivaro, winning the coveted International Van of the Year title in 2021 alongside its Stellantis siblings the Citroën e-Dispatch and Peugeot e-Expert. It launched with a choice of two battery sizes, providing a cheaper entry point into the range, albeit with a greatly reduced range.
The Vauxhall Vivaro-e's range depended on which of the two battery sizes you had.
50 kWh Battery: This smaller battery had a usable capacity of around 46.3 kWh and was officially capable of a WLTP-rated range of up to 143 miles (230 km).
75 kWh Battery: The larger battery had a usable capacity of around 68 kWh and a WLTP range of 205 miles (330 km).
Our real world testing of the long range battery Vivaro-e showed that it was actually pretty good at coming close to its claimed range. We managed more than 190 miles while running empty. With a full load on board, however, the range dropped to around 140 miles, which is about 65% of the claimed mileage. Not great, but also not terrible for an early electric van.
The original Vivaro-e came with both AC and DC charging options. In fact, we can't confirm this but we seem to remember, the small battery option only came with AC charging as standard, and that DC charging was a cost option.
AC Charging (Level 2): A standard 7.4 kW onboard charger was fitted, with an optional 11 kW charger available. With the 7.4 kW charger, a full charge for the 50 kWh battery took approximately 7 hours 30 minutes. The 75 kWh battery took approximately 11 hours to charge fully with the 7.4 kW charger.
DC Fast Charging: The van supported a peak DC charging rate of up to 100 kW.
As well as changing the name from the Vauxhall Vivaro-e to the Vauxhall Vivaro Electric, 2024 models introduced a battery update for the Vivaro Electric (and its passenger version, the Vivaro Life Electric).
The update kept the battery size the same, but improved technology and cooling meant that there was not only an improvement to the WLTP test figures, and therefore the Vauxhall Vivaro Electric's range, but also an improvement to the efficiency and the rate at which the Vivaro Electric consumed the power.
The WLTP range was improved in 2024 for the 75 kWh battery model, and although the battery size remained the same the WLTP range was increased to up to 217 miles (350 km).
Back in the real world, the range improved even more than the WLTP numbers might suggest. We found that a full charge of the Vivaro Electric would likely give a range of around 170 to 175 miles, or around (280 km), with a variety of driving conditions and a moderate payload.
As well as the battery update, the 50 kWh battery option was dropped from the range in the new update.
Charging speeds are just as critical as battery size, but unfortunately Vauxhall did not improve the peak DC charging rate, which remained at 100 kW for the newly named Vivaro Electric.
A 5-80% charge for the 75 kWh battery will take approximately 45 minutes using a 100 kW DC fast charger.
