Vauxhall Corsa Electric

The Vauxhall Corsa Electric is a compact, sporty electric car

Overview

The Vauxhall Corsa Electric – old name ‘Corsa-e’ – was designed from the ground up to be a mass-market electric car.

Released in 2020, it looks – both inside and out – pretty much identical to its petrol and diesel siblings.

However, under the hood, it’s a whole new ball game. Out with the internal combustion engine, in with the electric motor.

The Corsa Electric is based on a new electric drivetrain called the eCMP platform, as are the Peugeot e-208 and the DS 3 Crossback E-Tense.

It’s a sporty 5-seater, with an exciting exterior and a more conventional interior.

Read our review of the Vauxhall Corsa Electric below to discover its key features, including pricing, trim levels, range, charging times and costs, efficiency, and more.

Vauxhall Corsa-e Price, Trims & Variants

The price of the Vauxhall Corsa Electric starts at £26,895 for the base Yes trim, and goes up to £38,585 for the top spec Ultimate (51 kWh) trim. Here are all the variants:

Range & Batteries

How far can you drive on a full charge of the battery in the Corsa Electric? In ideal conditions, you should be able to achieve the official ‘WLTP’ range in miles. However in winter, for example, electric car batteries don’t perform as well, and actual range will be lower.

This table shows both the more optimistic WLTP range, and a rough, more likely ‘average’ range for the various versions of the Corsa:

Efficiency

We are all used to ‘miles per gallon’ of petrol or diesel when thinking about efficiency in traditional cars. With EVs, you need to replace ‘gallon’ with ‘kWh’. 1 kWh = 1 unit of electricity. So the ‘miles per kWh’ measure tells you how many miles you can go on 1 kWh of electricity – the higher the number the better.

Here’s data for the Vauxhall Corsa Electric, together with an equivalent in miles per gallon (yes, electric cars really are that efficient!):

Charging Times & Costs

If you have off-street parking, the best and cheapest place to charge your Corsa Electric is at home. Depending on your home energy tariff, you’ll either charge at a standard flat rate or at a lower off-peak rate. The 0-100% charge times below are a ‘worst case’ scenario – typically you will charge 1-2 hours a day, or maybe go for a longer charge on just a couple of days a week.

Charging at Home on an Off-peak rate of 10p per kWh

Charging at Home on a Peak rate of 34p per kWh

When you’re on a trip, you can get a quick boost at a rapid charger. These vary in terms of charging speed and you are also limited by the Vauxhall’s maximum charging rate. Take the 10-80% charging times with a pinch of salt – the charging rate will gradually decrease and times are often longer.

Charging in Public at a 50 kW Rapid Charger at a rate of 50p per kWh

Charging in Public at a 150 kW Rapid Charger at a rate of 60p per kWh

Charging in Public at a 350 kW Rapid Charger at a rate of 70p per kWh

Performance

TheVauxhall Corsa Electric, like all pure electric cars, has its wheels turned by one or more electric motors. The motors themselves are powered by a lithium-ion battery. Battery + electric motor is a great combination, giving you instant torque with no gears to change.

You’ll find the Corsa eerily quiet after an internal combustion engine. Here are the performance stats:

Vauxhall Corsa Electric Boot Space & Dimensions

The electric Corsa is a hatchback, and its boot space can be further increased by folding the rear seats down. Here are all the boot and dimensions measurements:

Boot Space & Cargo Volume

Dimensions

Next Steps

We hope you’ve enjoyed this brief analysis of the Vauxhall Corsa Electric. We’ve focussed mainly on potentially unfamiliar electric car related items, such as batteries, range and charging.

Where to next?

1. Narrow down your EV search in a systematic way using our Car Selector tool
2. Read more about the Corsa Electric at Vauxhall’s UK website
3. If you’re ready to go, consider leasing the Corsa from a low-cost broker