Vauxhall Corsa Electric Review

Pricing

At launch we criticised the Corsa Electric (which was then called the Corsa-e) for being a very expensive car. Since then the price has bounced up and down like a yo-yo, but has now settled at around £32,455 for the new, entry-level Design model. 

Vauxhall and its dealers are experts in making new cars affordable, so it’s worth doing some research and calling a few showrooms to see what the current deals are leasing, PCPs and PCH. There have also been a couple of special editions which throw in extra equipment.

Without those deals though, there's no doubt the Corsa Electric looks pricey. You’re talking about a £38,500 Ultimate, and there are a lot of very good cars near that price - you might be surprised to learn that a Tesla Model 3 is currently about £42,000 in the UK and there is usually an offer on in-stock cars.  If you don't fancy that, then an MG4 Trophy is £32,440, the Hyundai Kona 65kWh is £38,595 and the Jeep Avenger starts at £35,700.

Running costs 

A Vauxhall Corsa has always been one of the cheapest cars to run, and the electric version makes it even more affordable – once you’ve taken the initial purchase price into account. First the fuel costs: plug in at home, where you’re paying the average amount of about 34p per kWh and a Corsa Electric will cost about £12 to charge. That should be good for 200 miles, which works out about a half of the cost of a petrol car which is managing about 50 mpg. Multiply that over a year and 10,000 miles and it’s a £400 saving. 

As Vauxhall is heavily geared to fleet customers, servicing and insurance rates tend to be cheaper than most rivals and the Corsa Electric will need less attention at the workshop than a conventional petrol or diesel. 

Talking of fleets, a Corsa Electric as a company car will make huge sense, following the new rules around benefit in kind taxation. They mean you’ll pay 2% tax for having an electric car in the 2023/25 tax years, saving thousands compared to a petrol or diesel car. The trouble is that you'll be taxed on that high list price, so you'll pay more than rivals.

We also have to talk about depreciation. As the expected resale value is low, it means the finance costs will be higher unless Vauxhall or the leasing company does some tweaking of the interest rates to make it work.