New Vauxhall Corsa Electric 2023 facelift review
The Vauxhall Corsa has been updated for 2023, and we get behind the wheel of the all-electric model to see what’s changed
4.0 out of 5
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Verdict
The all-electric Corsa is better than ever – but then it needs to be to justify the price rise. The areas where Vauxhall has focused its improvements are welcome, with decent infotainment, plus a battery and powertrain combination that rivals any in the segment. As ever, keen finance deals will be crucial to maintaining the Corsa’s popularity.
To fully understand the importance of the facelifted Vauxhall Corsa, let’s first take a look at some of the car’s impressive sales figures: 14.5 million have been sold in its 41-year history (including its Nova predecessor), and it now accounts for 40 per cent of all Vauxhall sales. Most notably, the Corsa knocked the Ford Fiesta off the top spot in Britain’s best-selling car list – in both 2020 and 2021.
The Corsa lost out to the new Nissan Qashqai last year, but we may see the momentum shift back to the supermini thanks to a mid-life update. Our first taste of the revised Corsa comes here, in the ‘Electric’ form.
There are three core specifications of the Corsa, whether you choose the Electric or the petrol model – with Design, GS and Ultimate offered. The EV range kicks off at £32,445 for the Design, £34,080 for GS and £38,585 for the range-topping Ultimate. The Ultimate might soon play second-fiddle to a GSe variant, however, as we expect to see the sporty trim arrive on the Corsa Electric sometime in 2024.
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Those prices might seem rather punchy when you look at the BYD Dolphin’s £26,195 starting price, or the fact you can have the larger MG4 for only a couple of hundred pounds more. But Vauxhall emphasises that a strong majority of its cars are sold on finance, and it’s through this the Corsa Electric starts to look more appealing – we’ll touch on this later.
In terms of design, the Corsa is the last Vauxhall passenger vehicle to adopt the brand’s new ‘Visor’ front end – incorporating the headlights into the grille for a sleeker look. GS and Ultimate models receive 17-inch alloy wheels, black badging, ‘sports front and rear body styling’, a black roof, tinted windows and alloy-effect pedals. In the interests of sustainability there’s no chrome to be found anywhere on the outside of the car.
Inside, there’s the addition of a 10-inch central touchscreen, replacing the seven-inch display on the old car. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are still standard fit, but they’re much better integrated on the larger screen. That’s just as well because upon starting up, the standard infotainment system (developed in unison with Qualcomm) seemed a bit laggy – although after a few minutes it got up to speed. It’s also supremely easy to navigate, and able to receive over-the-air updates.
Ultimate also adds a slew of safety technology like automatic lane positioning, extended traffic sign recognition and adaptive cruise control – the latter of which we found to work pretty seamlessly.
Despite being the top-spec version of the Corsa Electric, the Ultimate car’s interior still disappoints in certain areas. There’s a swathe of Alcantara on the doors cards and seats, but there’s far too much cheap, hard plastic on show and a few unsightly blanked-off buttons – a little confusing given its position as the range-topping model. Elsewhere, the Corsa Electric has disposed of its gear selector on the centre console, for a neater toggle switch that we’ve seen on many other Stellantis products.
It’s worth noting that the entry-level Design uses the old (46kWh usable) battery and (134bhp) motor, for a range of 222 miles. Mid-range GS can be had with either the setup, but Ultimate only comes with the bigger battery. Vauxhall claims 4.2 miles per kWh, but we easily managed 4.6mi/kWh – making it pleasingly frugal. You shouldn’t see a big drop-off in the winter months either, thanks to the standard-fit heat pump. All cars are rated at 100kW for DC rapid charging, so a 10-80 per cent recharge will take around half an hour.
Despite the extra power, the Corsa Ultimate manages the 0-62mph sprint in 8.1 seconds – half-a-second slower than the pre-facelift car. This difference isn’t really noticeable on the road however; the Corsa Electric still feels perfectly nippy around town with the rapid throttle response you expect of an EV. Acceleration is smooth, but it does tend to fade away at the top end – when joining a motorway, for example. That said, that initial hit of torque makes overtakes pretty easy.
At around 1,500kg, the Corsa Electric does a good job of hiding its relative heft by having a low centre of gravity. This helps it feel planted in the corners and while the steering isn’t the most communicative, directional changes don’t upset the balance too much. The flip side of this is a rather surprisingly firm ride. The cheaper Design comes on 16-inch wheels – we’d like to try these on UK roads to see if the Corsa copes better, but our Ultimate version made a bit of a fuss over rougher surfaces.
To maintain eye-catching finance deals, Vauxhall is looking to offer longer loan periods – with a five-year term seeing a Corsa Electric Design starting at £375 per month with a £3,900 deposit. No matter which specification you choose, the new Corsa Electric certainly makes more sense on PCP; an entry-level Peugeot E-208 (which admittedly still uses the older powertrain) costs £700 less to buy outright.
| Model: | Vauxhall Corsa Electric Ultimate 156PS |
| Price: | £38,585 |
| Engine: | 1x e-motor, 51kWh battery |
| Power/torque: | 154bhp/260Nm |
| Transmission: | Single-speed auto, front-wheel drive |
| 0-62mph: | 8.1 seconds |
| Top speed: | 93mph |
| Range/CO2: | 246 miles/100kW, 10-80% in 30 mins |
| Size (L/W/H): | 4,061/1,765/1,435mm |
| On sale: | Now |
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