23 Vauxhall Corsa

You can choose to have Vauxhall's smallest model in battery-powered form. Jonathan Crouch drives the Corsa Electric

Ten Second Review

To suit the current zeitgeist, there's a version of Vauxhall's fifth generation Corsa supermini - this car, the Corsa Electric - 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 Stellantis Group technology we first saw in the Peugeot e-208 and the DS 3 E-TENSE. It appears in this car, the Corsa Electric, which was 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 Electric's WLTP-rated 222 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 Electric 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 the availability of 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, both with built-in navigation: a seven-inch Multimedia Navi system or top-spec 10-inch Multimedia Navi Pro. Both monitors deliver the expected smartphone-mirroring functionality. The two variants also get 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 Corsa Electric, there are two mainstream trim levels - 'GS Line' and 'Ultimate' - and you'll be paying in the £31,000 to £34,000 bracket. Both the Corsa Electric and its cousin the Peugeot e-208 make more sense as EVs than another key Zero Emissions small car rival at this price point, the MINI Electric. That MINI's priced at about the same level as this Vauxhall, but has a much lower operating range, a three-door-only body style and a tiny boot - plus it would probably cost around £3,000 more when equipped to a similar standard. There aren't really any other direct all-electric small hatch options. A battery-powered family hatch like a Kia Niro EV or the Renault ZOE would cost around £35,000. Standard kit across the range is generous. Even base 'GS Line' gives you LED headlights, a 7-inch Multimedia Navi infornment screen with built-in navigation and 'Apple CarPlay' and 'Android Auto' smartphone-mirroring. Plus there's a 7-inch digital instrument cluster, electronic climate control, sports alloy-effect pedals and 17-inch bi-colour alloy wheels. Top 'Ultimate'-spec gets you a 10-inch centre screen and a contrast-coloured black roof, plus 'IntelliLux' adapative LED Matrix headlights.

Cost of Ownership

If you're a Corsa Electric owner, you'll need to know that getting anywhere near the quoted 222 mile WLTP-rated range figure will necessitate staying in the powertrain's provided 'Eco' mode - activating its 'Sport' mode setting will reduce your range by around 10%. What about charging times? Well, using the 7kW wallbox you'll need to get installed in your garage as a Corsa Electric owner, a full charge from empty will take seven and-a-half hours. If when you're out and about, you find a public 50kW Rapid Charger, the replenishment time to charge from 15 to 80% is 45 minutes. If you're fortunate enough to find a 100kW Rapid Charger, that falls to 30 minutes. If the charger in question is a 22kW accelerated public charger, then the replenishment time will vary depending on whether you've paid a little extra to get the Corsa Electric's standard 7.4kW on-board charger upgraded to 11kW spec. If you do that, you can reduce the 5 hour replenishment time with this kind of charger to 3 hours and 20 minutes. At the point of purchase of a Corsa Electric, Vauxhall will throw in a free six month subscription to BP Chargemaster's Polar Network.

Summary

We're still at the stage at which you have to be pretty sold on the EV concept to choose a car like this. Vauxhall says its goal is to reach a stage where the overall full-life cost of a Corsa Electric (taking into account purchase price or leasing costs, plus charging fees) is approximately the same as what you'd pay to run a well-specified petrol automatic variant. Well we're some way off that at present but it'll happen sooner or later. For the time being, this is pretty much state of the art in terms of full-electric small cars. Yes, you can get the same technology in a Peugeot e-208 or a DS 3 E-TENSE. And yes, other compact EVs like the Renault ZOE and the BMW i3 will take you a little further on a single charge. But this Vauxhall will reach a far wider audience than any of the models just mentioned. It will play a key part in democratising the idea of a supermini EV. And that makes it a very important car indeed.