It’s six years since the Vauxhall Corsa debuted in electric form. Can the recently launched high-value Yes 25 edition supercharge its appeal for fleet buyers? By Al Suttie.
It’s six years since the Vauxhall Corsa debuted in electric form. Can the recently launched high-value Yes 25 edition supercharge its appeal for fleet buyers? By Al Suttie.
Vauxhall Corsa Electric Yes 25 156hp
List price (BiK): £28,835 (3%) Economy: 266 miles Test efficiency: 207 miles
The Vauxhall Corsa Electric is far from new, but this 25 edition is an effort by the company to inject some fleet-friendly sparkle into its supermini. It stirs up mixed feelings in the road test corner of my brain. I remember the petrol-powered Corsa as being a very decent small car, but the electric version was hamstrung by woeful range. Time to refresh the data bank.
The world has changed a great deal since the Corsa Electric first broke cover back in 2019. After all, Traitors wasn’t even a pilot series back then. The Corsa also has a lot more competition to contend with, not least the Renault 5 that has just scooped a category in the UK Car of the Year Awards. As a result, the Corsa does look a little dated from the outside, but in fairness it’s less fussy than some of its Stellantis cousins.
The Yes 25 trim brings a decent amount of kit to the party, including Vauxhall’s useful Intelli-LED headlights that are very useful at this gloomy time of year. Heated front seats are another feature I’m grateful for, but the 10-inch infotainment screen is some way behind the look and interaction of the best in this class. On the plus side, the older style of the Corsa means proper buttons for the heating – a win in my book.
In 115kW/156hp form, the Corsa Electric is as nippy as a supermini needs to be. It picks up smoothly from a standstill, accelerates up to motorway pace without fuss, and it’s all done with little in the way of noise from the motor, tyres or wind. It makes the Corsa a capable car for longer trips, though the battery range is still an issue here as I struggled to see more than 150 miles of range in normal use.
The Corsa is easy to charge at my local 7kW charging point, even if it’s not the quickest means. Topped and ready for the weekend, it’s clear we won’t be taking any of my son’s friends along to football as rear seat knee space is all but non-existent with the two of us in the front. I’m 5ft 10in, so hardly a giant, and this is an area where the Corsa has now fallen well behind the best in sector.
During the past few days, the Corsa’s gear selector has been a minor point of contention for me. The lever is simple to understand and reach, yet it has occasionally baulked at selecting forward or reverse. At first, I thought I wasn’t applying enough pressure to the brake pedal, but even with the anchors firmly stomped on it sometimes needs two or three attempts to go into the desired gear, which is plain irritating.
It’s easy to see why the Vauxhall Corsa is a big seller – it’s simple and does the job. However, many of us want something that does the job with a bit of chutzpah and this is where the Corsa Electric pulls up short. It’s also a little on the expensive side when you compare it with key rivals, so the Yes 25 might offers decent equipment levels it’s still not enough to make it a prime choice for fleet drivers.
