THE Vitara has been a major player in Suzuki's range for decades and now the company's first all-electric vehicle has arrived and it's called the eVitara.

It will be sold alongside the regular family friendly combustion Vitara SUV.

Don't make the mistake of thinking Suzuki has just replaced the regular engine with an electric motor and battery pack - the eVitara is a completely new product from the ground up and it is the first of four new electric vehicles planned by the brand to arrive by 2030.

It has been developed by Suzuki and will share some parts with Toyota's Urban Cruiser.

It is being built in India and features the company's familiar chunky looks.

The newcomer is offered with a choice of two battery packs and unlike any of the opposition it can be had with four-wheel-drive if you select the larger battery.

There are two battery capacities offered in the eVitara - 49kWh and 61kWh - made up of compact ‘blade' batteries that are sourced from Chinese firm BYD.

Cars with the smaller battery can only be had in Motion trim and it costs a premium of £3,000 to upgrade to Ultra trim in the more powerful model which can also be had with the AllGrip four-wheel-drive system.

There are three driving modes: Eco, Normal and Sport. The biggest change between them is a sharper throttle pedal in Sport mode, which makes for a more responsive drive. I sampled the eVitara with the larger 61kWh power and it proved to be a smooth if not spectacular performer.

All cars in the range are good for a top speed of 93mph and my car with 142bhpon tap takes 8.7 seconds to reach 62mph.

Light steering and a tall driving position makes it ideal for town driving and visibility is good. There is also a reversing camera to help you out and this makes parking easy.

The eVitara opts for comfort over sharphandling but it does handle well out on openroads and the suspension deals well with most surfaces.

It feels agile and smooth and it also cruises nicely at motorway speeds.

Suzuki claims a range of 264 miles for this model but in real world driving you can expect to get between 10 and 20 per cent less and during the very cold spell I didn't even manage that.

If you use a home wallbox it will take five and a half hours to fully charge and the smaller battery will take an hour less. A fast charger will take the large battery from 10-80 per centin 45 minutes.

The chunky exterior design continues inside and the black and tan interior is nice, although it is only available with certain exterior colours.

The materials should stand up to family life and the screens display all the information you need.

Sadly the infotainment system is sluggish and some functionsrequire too many touches on the main touchscreen to get what you want. The result is that it can be quite distracting when driving.

The boot can take 310 litres of kit and up to 562 with the rear 40 20 40 seats folded flat. There are lots of storage areas in the cabin and plenty charging points.

The eVitara also features lots of safety equipment and the overall equipment levels are generous.

It comes with a generous warranty that is good for three years or 60,000 miles but this is extended to 10 years and 100,000 miles if you continue to have scheduled services completed by Suzuki dealers.

Suzuki has a very loyal following so the eVitara should do well if customers intend to switch to electric power but it sits in a very tough sector with some strong opposition.

The car I sampled was priced at £32,999, but the company is offering its own £3,750 electric car grant to reduce the purchase price.

With the grant in place you can buy the smaller battery model from £26,000.