10 October 2023
Britain’s market-leading small EV gets a mid-life refresh with a new face, equipment, and bigger battery option
As the electric car scene steadily grows, new brands are cropping up and coming to the fore, some grabbing market share phenomenally quickly and establishing new, alternative reputations among their evangelical followers. But, among the cut-priced alternatives from eastern markets, some of the old car makers are seizing the opportunities that zero-emissions motoring brings rather effectively too, backed by the established sales and support machinery and the customer bases that have sustained them so well for so long.Here’s a case in point: one of Britain’s best-selling small electric cars is the Vauxhall Corsa Electric, the all-electric version of the company’s sixth-generation Vauxhall Corsa. When it launched in March 2020 (then as the Corsa-e), it was received well by buyers, quickly topping the charts month after month. It was also no mean feat for Vauxhall to have punched such a neat hole through the resistance of established competitors like the Renault Zoe and BMW i3, to have beaten off fresher challengers such as the Mini Electric, Honda E and Mazda MX-30, and even to have scalped in-house relation the Peugeot e-208, in order to score that result.By its nature, it’s a simpler and more familiar kind of EV than some of its rivals, designed and intended very much to make the switch to electric motoring easy. It isn’t a particularly quirky or different sort of EV, then – and, as we’ll explain, it doesn’t look particularly alternative, it doesn’t offer myriad, oddly titled trim levels, or come made of a host of recycled materials. You don’t buy it on subscription; you don’t own the car but lease the battery; and you needn’t join a cult to have one. This is just a small, pretty simple electric car – but, as you’ll read, it’s one that comes with a price you might just be able to stomach, a real-world range that might just suit your purposes, and very few airs or graces besides. It now arrives with a mid-life refresh to propel itself back to the top, and Vauxhall hopes to do that with a smart new face, improved interior, and, most importantly, a bigger battery pack with longer range. Is it any good? We find out.Facelifted 2023 Vauxhall Corsa Electric tested by Will Rimell