Hybrid Opel Grandland drove 1115 km on a single tank and charge — in real conditions

Opel has tested the new Grandland Plug-in Hybrid in the GS configuration to find out how much range this car can provide in real-world driving conditions. As it turned out, this plug-in hybrid was able to outperform the WLTP cycle by 24%.

Thus, according to the official WLTP test cycle, the Grandland Plug-in Hybrid offers a combined range of up to 897 km, of which up to 87 km is purely electric. The company’s management was interested in whether the crossover with a full tank of fuel and a fully charged battery (17.9 kWh) could cover a distance of 1000 km. To ensure that the testing conditions did not seem too easy, the test was carried out in the cold season.

While the WLTP cycle range is determined at temperatures of around 23 degrees Celsius, Grandland’s new plug-in hybrid set out on a windy and rainy January morning at 11 degrees Celsius. By the end of the test, the temperature had dropped to 4 degrees Celsius. In keeping with the season, the test was run on 19-inch winter tires instead of summer tires with lower rolling resistance and in a fully equipped GS configuration.

The hybrid was tested on typical commuting routes from the Rhein-Main area around Rüsselsheim and Frankfurt to the Rhein-Neckar area and back. The routes included free-flowing motorway sections with traffic jams and rush-hour traffic, as well as country roads and city traffic, including stops at traffic lights – a real-world test that reflects the true daily needs of many company car drivers. The range was measured until the fuel tank and battery were empty. The testing took place in four stages (with breaks to meet legal requirements for driving time).

The result, or the distance covered by the Grandland, exceeded the expectations of the Opel team. The car covered a total of 1115 km at an average speed of 80 km/h. Of these, the hybrid traveled just over a third of the total distance (380 km) solely on battery power, i.e. without local emissions. This electric range was achieved thanks to energy recovery during braking. During testing, the car demonstrated a highly efficient overall average fuel consumption of 4.6 liters per 100 km. For reference, the Grandland Plug-in Hybrid powertrain has a power output of 143 kW (195 hp) and 350 nm of maximum torque.

The price of the new Opel Grandland Plug-in Hybrid starts at €40,150.

Source: stellantis