Vauxhall Corsa Electric review

This new face also makes the Corsa one of, if not the, best-looking supermini on sale in the UK, battling with the Peugeot 208 and Cupra Born for the title. Coupled with new LED lights (standard across the range) and some fresh ‘Corsa’ lettering at the rear, it really is remarkable the impact that not a lot of change has achieved. This update also brings with it the Graphite Grey colouring – something that will be rolled out across the rest of the line-up soon – which, against the black Vizor, is really rather nice.

Even before its facelift, the changes to the shape of this generation of the Corsa will be readily apparent to anyone familiar with the fifth-generation Corsa. Shorter at the kerb but notably lower of roofline (by nearly 50mm), the sixth-generation Corsa – first released in 2019 – is a car of smaller, less monocabby proportions than its predecessor, and also of crisper styling details.

At launch, much was made of the weight loss delivered by the new Corsa’s PSA Group (as it then was, pre-Stellantis merger) Common Module Platform, which takes the lightest petrol-engined examples below a tonne on unladen kerb weight. Not so surprisingly, the 50kWh and new, longer-ranged 51kWh drive batteries, along with the heavy control electronics of the Corsa Electric, prevent it from coming even close to such a mark. Claimed kerb weight for the electrified version is from 1469kg. That’s still lighter than both a Honda E and a Mazda MX-30, interestingly, but heavier than a Mini Electric.

Part of that weight can be explained by the fact that the Corsa Electric has a stiffer, more widely braced body structure than a regular Corsa supermini. Because its lithium ion battery is carried in a sideways ‘H’ arrangement under its front  and rear seats and along its transmission tunnel, it also has a centre of gravity that's 57mm lower than the normal Corsa's, although lowering a car’s major masses even that much doesn’t always offset the addition of half a tonne of ballast.

Or, rather, batteries. The fact is, in now offering the new 51kWh of electricity storage, the Corsa Electric is one of the better-served cars in its class for electric range, rated as it is for up to 246 miles on the WLTP combined cycle.

The Corsa Electric 51kWh long-range models are powered by Stellantis’s new front-mounted, AC synchronous electric motor that produces 156bhp – first used on the Vauxhall Astra and also set to be fitted to the updated Peugeot e-208. For smaller-battery models, the previous car’s 134bhp motor remains. Both produce 92lb ft of torque. The front axle is made up of MacPherson struts, and the rear of a torsion beam and Panhard link (the latter helps to better locate the rear wheels under cornering load).

As part of the facelift, the model’s trim levels have been simplified from four to three. The Corsa Electric range is now offered with the new entry-level Design specification, which rises to GS and then tops out at Ultimate. Most cars get a 7.0in digital instrument display and 10.0in infotainment screen – the Electric’s Design trim drops the 10.0in screen for a 7.0in; the petrol’s Design spec uses a 3.5in digital display. The car gets 17in alloy wheels on all but Design, and heated sports seats, a reversing camera and tinted windows are among the equipment lures of top-level trim. Vauxhall’s adaptive matrix LED headlights are standard across the range.

This set-up is offered in all bar one versions of the Corsa: the Electric’s Design trim, which instead uses the older 7.0in touchscreen. This will be updated to reflect the rest of the range at the start of 2024, Vauxhall has confirmed

This smaller screen, which offers wired smartphone mirroring for Apple and Android phones, has menu shortcuts placed around the perimeter of the screen itself. But on the Elite Premium model, it’s a 10.0in system with a row of physical menu buttons below it in addition to the volume knob.

There is a separate climate panel below the screen, which is very handy, although the temperature figure is displayed on the screen itself, which feels like a mis-step, but in the interests of saving money, you can understand the decision. There’s a physical switch too for the car’s lane-keeping assist system. Unlike with some Stellantis group model relations, then, you don’t have to scroll through the touchscreen interface to find the control for every little thing.

By bringing that battery regen in early as you lift off the accelerator, what that ‘B’ mode does do is improve the car’s drivability under deceleration. It simply gives the brake pedal less to do in otherwise blending up motor regen before incorporating the friction brakes. In ‘D’ mode, the brake pedal can frustrate by needing a split second to make the drive motor respond and begin to slow the car down, causing the pedal to feel spongy and dead, and often making momentum harder than it need be to manage at low speeds.

As regards real-world range, testing the new powertrain on a short course that used a mix of urban and motorway-speed roads in Germany, we achieved a staggeringly good 4.4mpkWh. This is thanks to the new efficiencies of that powertrain; when we tested the Vauxhall Astra, which uses the same kit, it achieved a similar 4.3mpkWh.

The Corsa Electric’s smaller 50kWh, 134bhp powertrain, which we tested before in the UK, it returned an average of 3.1mpkWh at a 70mph motorway cruise, and 3.7mpkWh over the full course of our road test (the latter figure, as ever, including the influence of track testing). From a drive battery of 46kWh of usable capacity, that would make for just under 145 miles of typical UK motorway range on a charge; more like 174 miles in mixed urban and intra-urban daily use; and possibly 190 miles or more at an efficiency-optimised, 40-50mph cruise. Although it might not be enough for everyone, that’s a relatively strong showing on range for an Ev priced at just over £30,000.

The car’s grip level isn’t particularly high on its Michelin Primacy economy tyres, but the chassis and steering are well attuned to it. The Corsa Electric tucks into a faster corner fairly willingly and without much initial roll. That roll builds as lateral forces rise, and as it does so a modicum of stabilising roll understeer comes along with it, obliging you to add a little extra steering angle in order to stay on your intended line if you’re hurrying along. But the electronic stability and traction control systems (which are effectively always active, although they can be dialled back at low speeds) keep a close but subtle rein on the car’s drive motor and braking systems, working to keep its path neat and tidy without intruding much.

Vertical body control isn’t quite as cleverly managed as the lateral handling. Since the Corsa Electric does carry more mass than most cars of its size, it begins to heave and pitch a little on testing country roads, although not as markedly as some small EVs might. The Corsa Electric’s tendency to oscillate over its torsion beam rear axle, whose tuning makes for quite an accommodating ride elsewhere, is the main sign the car will give you that it’s running out of composure over bigger long-wave lumps and bumps. It threatens to run out of travel at times, although only the very ambitious or daft would actually make it do so.