According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, new vehicle registrations in the United Kingdom rose to 1,903,054 last year. Of those, battery electric vehicles accounted for 314,687 registrations. That's 16.5 percent of the market, which most likely prompted Stellantis to lower the starting price of the Vauxhall Corsa Electric.
Enter the Corsa Electric YES Edition. Alternatively dubbed #YES because hashtags are supposedly hip in this day and age, the YES Edition lowers the Corsa Electric's entry price by 5,550 quid. £26,895 is $34,105 at current exchange rates, making the subcompact hatchback the most affordable battery electric vehicle in this part of the world.
By comparison, the MG 4 EV starts at £26,995 or approximately 34,230 in US dollars. Even though it's fairly affordable, the Corsa Electric YES Edition is nicely equipped from the outset. For starters, prospective customers are presented with red paint, a black roof, black exterior badges, red accents for the seats, and – get this – one year's worth of free charging credit. There is a catch, though…
By one year's worth, Opel's British cousin refers to 5,900 miles (9,495 kilometers). The 50-kWh battery pack offers 221 miles (356 kilometers) on a full charge, thus meaning 26.7 full charges. The second catch is that said credit can be used exclusively at Tesco Extra and Tesco Superstore chargers. Without the credit, owners need to shell out anything between 44 pennies per kilowatt hour at 7 kilowatts or 69 pennies per kWh at 75 kW.
In the supermini's case, fast charging at 100 kW replenishes the battery from zero to 80 percent in a little over 30 minutes. Based on Groupe PSA's e-CMP vehicle architecture, the Corsa Electric is a front-biased hatchback with a 100-kW drive unit. 100 kilowatts is 136 PS or 134 mechanical ones.
Photo: Vauxhall
When it comes to peak torque, Vauxhall quotes 260 Nm or 192 pound-feet. Not bad for a subcompact, yet not exactly hot-hatch territory. Remember the Vauxhall Corsa VXR? Better known as the Opel Corsa OPC in the rest of the continent, the hot hatch belts out 207 ps (204 horsepower) and 245 Nm (181 pound-feet) from 1,900 through 5,800 rpm.
16-inch black alloys, a 7-inch digital instrument cluster, a 10-inch touchscreen, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as keyless entry and start are standard as well. If red isn't to your liking, fret not because the YES Edition is also available in white, black, and gray. The finishing touch comes in the form of a dashboard badge.
Considering that Vauxhall moved 40,816 units of the Corsa in 2023, chances are the Corsa Electric YES Edition will help the British marque get closer to the Nissan Qashqai. The compact SUV was the second best-selling new vehicle in the UK last year, boasting 43,321 registrations. Recently facelifted Ford Puma ranked first thanks to 49,591 sales.
It should be noted that Nissan's crossover is available as a range-extended electric vehicle, whereas the Puma will soon receive a battery electric sibling. Pricing for the Puma Gen-E isn't out yet, but we do know how much the Qashqai e-Power costs: £34,020 or 43,155 freedom eagles.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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