► CAR lives with an electric Corsa
► Vauxhall's first EV for a new generation
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Electric cars either work for you very well indeed or not at all. There's rarely any middle ground. Owners need to have a well-defined daily commute that's aligned with the car's range; a combustion car to fall back on for longer trips or a deep-seated love of route planning and charging logistics; and unhindered access to their own recharging point, ideally at home or at work.
And then there are the hard-to-swallow cost issues. You'll need to be happy to pay more for less – running costs may well be lower, but you'll be paying steeper monthly lease costs over an equivalent vehicle for less range and less convenience. That's a long list of concessions to make to drive a car with a green stripe on its registration plates. But if you do make those concessions and you do come close to the ideal criteria, then electric cars are a revelation. Like strawberries in balsamic vinegar and black pepper, one taste means instant conversion.
Over six months and 4659 miles the Corsa-e has deeply impressed on all key levels. Driven in Normal or Eco mode, it delivers a full-charge range of around 190 miles – more than enough for our regular combination of school runs, work commutes, grocery shopping, and visiting family and friends. We have a domestic Chargemaster charger at home, and it quickly became second nature to plug in after every trip, to ensure maximum range.
The combination of a low-slung driver's seat, accurate steering, powerful brakes and Sport mode's 134bhp and 192lb ft makes for engaging dynamics, while the stiffened chassis and floor-mounted H-shaped battery pack result in a very low centre of gravity, which effectively camouflages the Corsa's portly 1530kg. It also floated across our craggy roads with far more finesse and composure than expected for a city runabout. The dark and compact cabin was, we found, accommodating enough for most trips, the ergonomics and perceived build quality were excellent, but we're still scratching our heads over the weird combination of standard equipment that had costly IntelliLux matrix LED lights sitting alongside a single USB port.
Vauxhall's goal is to produce an electrified version of every model by 2024. This is a great start.
By Ben Whitworth
Logbook: Vauxhall Corsa-e Elite Nav
Price £31,160 (£31,810 as tested)
Performance 50kWh battery, 134bhp, 7.6sec 0-62mph, 93mph
Efficiency 4.18 miles per kWh (official), 3.9 miles per kWh (tested), 0g/km CO2
Energy cost 3.0p per mile
Miles this month 1752
Total miles 4659
Month 5 living with a Vauxhall Corsa-e: tortoise beats hare
After bingeing on the Tangerine Dream's Sport driving mode, I reluctantly decided to try spending a month in Normal mode, in a bid to extend the Vauxhall's range. A quick recap on those modes. Sport gives you the full 134bhp and 192lb ft, with reduced steering assistance and an ultra-responsive accelerator. Normal reins you back to 109bhp and 162lb ft, softens the right pedal and amps up the steering assistance. Hair-shirt Eco mode limits you to just 81bhp and 133lb ft. Boo.
Sport mode is entertainingly quick up to 50mph, and usefully brisk from there to the 93mph limited top speed. The performance demotion from Sport to Normal is notable, not just in the ho-hum levels of performance but also in the accelerator's reduced responsiveness. While it did take a lot of shine off the driving experience, efficiency jumped from 2.8 to 3.9 miles per kWh. That translates to a quietly impressive 195-mile predicted range.
And Eco mode? It may boost Normal's range by a further 75 miles, but the Corsa felt so soul-crushingly slow and utterly inert to drive that I vowed to never use it again by choice.
By Ben Whitworth
Logbook: Vauxhall Corsa-e Elite Nav
Price £31,160 (£31,810 as tested)
Performance 50kWh battery, 134bhp e-motor, 7.6sec 0-62mph, 93mph
Efficiency 4.18 miles per kWh (official), 3.9 miles per kWh (tested), 0g/km CO2
Energy cost 3.0p per mile
Miles this month 1101
Total miles 2907
Month 4 living with a Vauxhall Corsa-e: the mile low club
A 140-mile round trip sums up both the benefits and the challenges of EV ownership. I need to deliver birthday presents to my sister-in-law and godson, and a look at my route on Zap-Map shows I will be able to complete the journey with range to spare. Excellent news, because despite the E's official 209-mile range, I've never seen more than an indicated 160 miles after a full charge. Still, that gives me 20 miles of leeway to play with...
So leaving home near Bognor Regis late in the afternoon on a full charge, I set off to Portsmouth in stop-start traffic around Chichester and then near-silent 50mph cruising along the A27 into Portsmouth. Twenty-five miles covered, a very happy sister-in-law, and an accurate 135 miles of indicated range. So far, so good.
Then it's up the A3 into New Haw for the next delivery, where I do my best to rein in consumption without slowing up the fast London-bound traffic. Above 50mph two miles disappear off the Corsa's indicated range for every mile covered. At 70mph, it's four computer miles lost for every mile travelled, even in Eco mode. Covering the 55-mile north-bound leg into Surrey leaves me with just 40 miles of range.
Determined to find out just how far I can travel on a full charge, I plot a less energy-sapping cross-country route home to make up the 10-mile shortfall between reality and what the E had thought possible.
Climate control off, soft Eco mode on, I head south after Guildford, past Goodwood to the coast. Ten miles from home the range has plummeted to a mile. The Corsa is telling me off for ignoring the sat-nav's list of nearby charging stations, and speed is limited to 15mph. I arrive home with the trip computer still indicating one mile of range.
This might-not-make-it trip cost just £4.76, it was made in comfort and safety, with zero local emissions. All EV positives. But an effective range of just 130 miles draws an indelible line between where battery technology is and where it needs to be on a £30k car.
By Ben Whitworth
Logbook: Vauxhall Corsa-e Elite Nav
Price £31,160 (£31,810 as tested)
Performance 50kWh battery, 134bhp e-motor, 7.6sec 0-62mph, 93mph
Efficiency 4.18 miles per kWh (official), 2.8 miles per kWh (tested), 0g/km CO2
Energy cost 3.4p per mile
Miles this month 689
Total miles 1806
Month 3 living with a Vauxhall Corsa-e: scrambling for sockets
The Corsa-e has just one solitary USB port, prompting on-the-go offspring arguments not only about who gets to charge their phone but also who gets to select their music using CarPlay.
Yes, I should just buy a multi-port USB adaptor, but that would mean cables snaking across the cabin and no access to CarPlay, which demands a direct link between iPhone and car. I curse the cost-saving accountants who nixed the idea of four USB ports. Sure, they may have saved millions over this Corsa's lifecycle, but if they knew the family discord their decision created, they'd know the difference between cost and value.
By Ben Whitworth
Logbook: Vauxhall Corsa-e Elite Nav
Price £31,160 (£31,810 as tested)
Performance 50kWh battery, 134bhp, 7.6sec 0-62mph, 93mph
Efficiency 4.18 miles per kWh (official) 2.6 miles per kWh (tested), 0g/km CO2
Energy cost 3.5p per mile
Miles this month 399
Total miles 1117
Month 2 living with an electric Vauxhall Corsa: quietly brilliant
To drive and to look at, the Corsa-e is utterly conventional. Power source aside, there's nothing unusual about it. Which, depending on your approach to electric mobility, is either a very good thing or a missed opportunity. Good if you want to segue from ICE to BEV with minimum disruption. But disappointing if you're keen to tell the world you've started future-proofing your transport decisions.
Look past the sober sheet metal. Put aside the ergonomically excellent but generic cabin. Ignore the odd juxtaposition of a penny-pinching solitary USB socket sitting alongside expensive matrix LED lights. Focus instead on the driving dynamics. Yes, it's heavy (550kg more than the lightest petrol Corsa), but 192lb ft of instant punch means it can really fly along, while the combination of weighty and accurate steering, a 57mm lower centre of gravity and a chassis 30 per cent stiffer than its petrol and diesel brethren means corners can be deftly and pleasingly sewn together.
Turning Vauxhall convention on its head, this Corsa is as dynamically engaging as it is visually anonymous.
By Ben Whitworth
Logbook: Vauxhall Corsa-e Elite Nav
Price £31,160 (£31,810 as tested)
Performance 50kWh battery, 134bhp e-motor, 7.6sec 0-62mph, 93mph
Efficiency 4.18 miles per kWh (official), 2.6 miles per kWh (tested), 0g/km CO2
Energy cost 3.6p per mile
Miles this month 456
Total miles 781
Month 1 living with an electric Vauxhall Corsa: hello and welcome
I've gone from the Zoe – the third generation of Renault's electric car – to the Corsa-e, Vauxhall's first electric supermini. It will be interesting to see if Renault's head-start still gives it an advantage, or maybe Vauxhall (along with its PSA colleagues, now absorbed into Stellantis) has been taking very careful notes all the time it's been standing on the EV sidelines.
The Corsa-e is a direct rival to the Zoe, weighing in at £31,160 on the road (including an £800 wallbox installation) in top-spec Nav Elite trim and £31,810 as tested with its £650 Power Orange paint. The 1530kg Corsa packs 134bhp and 191lb ft of torque. An 11kw onboard charger and 100kW DC rapid-charging capability come as standard. It's quicker than the Renault, posting a very respectable 7.6sec dash to 62mph and a 93mph top speed, but its 209-mile range is just eclipsed by the Renault.
Despite being very similar on paper, it's instantly apparent that the Corsa is a very different type of car. Just look at it, for a start. Ignore the paint and it's very conservative looking – which may be intentional, to more easily woo conservative buyers sitting on the electric fence.
The driving position is ace. The driver's seat can be dropped impressively low, so much so that getting out of the Zoe and into the Corsa feels like you've fallen into the cellar. It may be dark and more than a little drab, but sitting closer to the tarmac than the headlining is certainly a welcome change.
As is the ride quality. Oh my, how the Corsa flows down the road with a polished sophistication. Its MacPherson strut front and twist-beam rear suspension deftly sponge away intrusions with a well-damped deftness at which the Zoe can only marvel.
It's come-and-get-some quick too, with impressively high levels of refinement and insulation doing a fine job of masking the rate at which the scenery is smearing past. It lacks the instant out-of-the-blocks zestiness of the Renault, but the Corsa still feels alert and responsive, with a low centre of gravity and slightly weightier steering making it feel more secure and confident on faster flowing roads.
Other early notables, good and bad, include the phenomenal IntelliLux LED matrix headlights, a brake pedal that lacks the Zoe's millimetric precision and accuracy, tight-ish rear accommodation and a cabin with just one – yes, just one – USB port, which may turn out to have more of an influence on the family's impression of this car than any amount of ride quality and refinement.
By Ben Whitworth
Logbook: Vauxhall Corsa-E Elite Nav
Price £31,160 (£31,810 as tested)
Performance 50kWh battery, 134bhp e-motor, 7.6sec 0-62mph, 93mph
Efficiency 4.18 miles per kWh (official) 3.1 miles per kWh (tested), 0g/km CO2
Energy cost 3.2p per mile
Miles this month 262
Total miles 262