Vauxhall Corsa-e Review - Why It's A Game-Changer

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Ten Second Review

To suit the current zeitgeist, there's a version of Vauxhall's fifth generation Corsa supermini - this car, the Corsa-e - that's fully battery-powered. But would you want to pay the significant premium necessary to get it? Time to check out this little battery-powered hatch.

Background

Supermini-sized full-electric cars haven't generally been very credible to date, with one or two notable exceptions. But times are changing. Pretty soon, most volume brand manufacturers are going to be offering little EVs with the kind of driving range you once had to pay luxury money for. Vauxhall has found itself in the vanguard of this change courtesy of the borrowed PSA Group technology we first saw in the Peugeot e-208 and the DS 3 Crossback E-TENSE. It appears in this car, the Corsa-e, the Griffin brand's very first Zero Emissions model.

Driving Experience

Here, as with this model's cousin the Peugeot e-208, a 50kWh lithium-ion battery is mated to a 100kW electric motor putting out 136PS and working through the usual single-speed auto transmission you get with EVs. Like all electric vehicles, this one develops all its torque at once and simply hurls itself away from rest (the 30mph mark is reached in just 2.1s and 60mph is crested in only 7.6s), disguising the fact that (also like all EVs) this Zero Emissions variant has a bit of a weight problem - that drivetrain adds over 300kgs of bulk. That other small battery-powered little hatches manage this issue a little better is evidenced by the fact that the Corsa-e's WLTP-rated 209 mile driving range is easily improved upon by the latest versions of the Renault ZOE and the BMW i3.

Still, all of this does represent a brave new world for forward-thinking supermini buyers looking to make the (still rather expensive) switch into all-electric motoring; it seems like only yesterday, after all, that a fully-charged small EV could only manage around half the kind of range you get from this one. Of course, you certainly won't achieve anything like that kind of operating capability if you get anywhere near this EV's quoted 93mph top speed. Or if you habitually drive your Corsa-e in the 'Sport' setting that'll be necessary to release to full 136PS power output just mentioned. The quoted range figure will only be distantly possible if you instead engage a somewhat restrictive 'Eco' mode that drops power output right down to 83PS.

Design and Build

Visually, this electric Corsa is virtually identical to the combustion-engined version, with the exception of different alloy wheel designs. An exterior highlight that Vauxhall is particularly proud of it's the fact that this is the first car in the class to feature adaptive glare-free full-LED headlights - the brand's 'IntelliLux LED Matrix' package, the kind of thing previously restricted to much larger cars. Inside, all Corsas have identical cabins, which centre around a new touchscreen infotainment system on the dash. Two set-ups are available to buyers: a seven-inch Multimedia Navi system or top-spec 10-inch Multimedia Navi Pro.

Both monitors deliver the expected smartphone-mirroring functionality and of course there's navigation too - which is optional with the smaller screen. Avoid entry-level trim and you'll find another 7-inch digital display featuring with virtual dials in the instrument binnacle. Build quality doesn't match the highest standards in this class, but ergonomically, there's not much to fault. The seats are supportive, nothing's irritatingly awkward to get to and everything's exactly where you expect it to. Rear seat space is a bit cramped but boot room is the same as with the combustion-engined versions - 309-litres, extendable to 1,118-litres when you fold the rear bench.

Market and Model

For this all-electric Corsa-e, there are two available trim levels - SE Nav' and 'Elite Nav' - and you'll be paying in the £27,500 to £31,500 bracket, once the available £3,000 government Plug-in grant has been deducted from the mildly alarming initial asking price. This means, that, rather bravely, Vauxhall has priced the base Corsa-e around £900 above the entry-level 'Allure'-spec version of its Peugeot e-208 cousin. And a top-spec 'GT'-spec e-208 will save you nearly £1,500 over a top 'Ultimate Nav'-spec Corsa-e. Which is interesting positioning given that the two products are basically the same.

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