Opel Corsa Electric

The Opel Corsa Electric is Opel’s answer to a question a lot of buyers are actually asking: does an EV have to cost more and do less than the gas version? For a small hatchback built to survive European city streets and multi-story car parks, that’s not a rhetorical question — it’s the whole sales pitch.

Opel updated the range story again in March 2026. The Opel Corsa Electric now ships with a 51 kWh battery pushing 115 kW (156 hp), good for up to 429 km on the WLTP cycle — about 24 km more than the previous version, with no price increase attached. That’s worth noting because “same price, more range” is rarer in this segment than manufacturers make it sound. Earlier spec sheets floating around the web (some dated mid-2026) list the same 51 kWh pack returning 405 km WLTP, and a separate 54 kWh “Long Range” variant landing in the 424–429 km band. The numbers overlap enough that it’s hard to tell whether this is one battery getting a software or chemistry refresh, or genuinely two different packs sold in parallel. Treat the 405 km figure as the older number and the 429 km figure as current, but don’t be shocked if regional configurators still show both.

Charging is unremarkable in the way you want charging to be unremarkable. DC fast charging tops out at 100 kW, which gets a 10–80% top-up done in roughly 27 minutes — not class-leading, but enough for a motorway stop. At home, the standard 7.4 kW onboard charger (11 kW optional) takes about 5 hours 15 minutes for a full charge on a wallbox. Nobody’s buying a Corsa for road-trip bragging rights; this is a car that lives on overnight charging and errands.

The drivetrain hasn’t changed dramatically since the Vizor-face redesign: a single 115 kW permanent-magnet motor, front-wheel drive, 260 Nm of torque, 0–100 km/h in 8.1 seconds, top speed 150 km/h. None of that is quick. It’s also not supposed to be. This is a city car with a battery, not a hot hatch in disguise.

Where the money actually goes is pricing and trim. UK pricing (as the Vauxhall Corsa Electric) starts around £27,000, with Yes, GS, and Ultimate trims — What Car’s advice, for what it’s worth, is stick with the base Yes trim and just pay up for the bigger battery instead of chasing equipment. In Germany, the special-edition Corsa Electric YES starts at €32,485 including VAT. US pricing figures circulating online (some sites quote a rough $37,800) should be treated skeptically — Opel doesn’t sell in the US market, so any dollar figure is either a currency conversion or a placeholder, not a real sticker price.

The Opel Corsa Electric isn’t trying to win a spec sheet fight. It’s trying to be the car someone buys because it’s parked outside a Vauxhall or Opel dealership, costs about what the last one did, and now goes about 15% further on a charge. For a lot of buyers, that’s the whole appeal.

Opel Corsa Electric Photo

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Full Electric Vehicle Specifications