Vauxhall Mokka GSE review: proper components yield a decent performance EV

Woah – a go-faster Mokka?

A Mokka with an extra shot, if you will. Vauxhall’s varied performance car story takes another twist with the latest iteration of the GSE badge – now standing for Grand Sport Electric – being fixed to a spunky little crossover.

An uprated, 276bhp electric motor drives the front axle for 0-62mph in 5.9 seconds and a 124mph top speed. Small performance EV afficionados (do those exist?) will know the bones of its recipe from the related Abarth 600e and Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce, not to mention the upcoming Peugeot E-208 GTI and Lancia Ypsilon HF.

The Mokka GSE is the latest slice of Stellantis pie, baked with familiar ingredients but – they claim – its own unique flavour.

Is that possible?

The point’s still up for debate. The chassis folk who worked hard on toughening up the Mokka didn’t work alongside the Italians or French; nor does there appear to be a cohesive idea of how this supergroup of small Stellantis cars complement each other. On paper, it’s like honing the perfect pop ensemble, but forget Posh or Scary – they all want to be Sporty.

Very good. But will petrolheads ever dig a Mokka?

The Opel/Vauxhall team have sourced all the gold-star bits that might snare car folks’ attention. There’s a Torsen limited-slip differential on the front axle. Alcon brakes, like an Aston Martin Valkyrie, with vast 380mm front discs. Michelin Pilot Sport EV tyres in bespoke trim. Plus a suspension setup that’s almost 50 per cent stiffer than a regular Mokka’s and whose work is spread much more evenly across the car. Hydraulic bump stops, like its Alpine A290 arch-rival, help ensure that its firm ride isn’t without composure.

Mind, its Stellantis cousins boast a pick ‘n’ mix of those bits, too. And while this 10mm-lower, 20in-wheeled GSE is a meaner, more muscular Mokka than those perched below it, it looks a much subtler device than the 600e and Junior, with a less vibrant colour palette to match. But then performance EVs offer something their ICE-powered forebears can’t – the ability to enjoy a scenic stretch of road without buggering up everyone else’s peace. Maybe dipping below the radar visually can be construed as a neat extension of that.

What does it cost?

Vauxhall has worked hard to ensure the Mokka GSE clears all the various legislative hurdles placed in front of it, and dipping below £37,000 helps it qualify for the Electric Car Grant while avoiding the ‘premium car’ tax that kicks in at forty grand. Its resulting £36,995 RRP is cut to £35,495 while the government's big pot of money is still available. That puts it right in the A290’s firing line while undercutting the Abarth and (especially) the Alfa fairly handsomely.

Heck, it’s even priced below a top-spec Mokka Ultimate possessing almost half the power, at least on list price alone. Finance deals might rebalance that and help Vauxhall make some money from the 1,000 or so Mokka GSEs it expects to sell in Britain annually. Which yes, means it leans more towards ‘niche halo car’ than ‘volume seller’, but performance cars have often fallen into that hinterland.

So, whassit like?

Good, is the short answer. Point it at an interesting piece of road and it’s a fun thing to hang onto, its mechanical LSD as sharp as you’d hope in corners and as pivotal to its handling as the Drexler diff in the previous-gen Corsa VXR of a decade ago. Whatever speed you approach a turn, it’s a case of simply pointing the ‘wheel in, stamping on the gas and getting dragged mercilessly out the other side.

With around 1.6 tonnes to haul (300kg more than an old Corsa) it’ll push wide with truly greedy entry speeds, but it otherwise exhibits the alacrity a hot hatch ought to. The entertainment? Almost. An Abarth and Alfa perhaps display an even more lurid side in corners, the Mokka playing things with a safer bat. No handbrake in the middle to tug mid-corner, of course, nor a cheekier mode for the stability control. But there’s still lots to like.

The brakes are a highlight, the GSE’s engineers opting to decouple their regen functionality when you engage Sport mode to provide as much feel through the left pedal as possible. It’s a success, until you realise you’re scoring two miles per kWh (versus 3.36mpkWh claims) and rinsing its modest 54kWh battery to the tune of a 100-mile range rather than the claimed 201. Eek. Press the ‘B’ button below the gear selector and you can have Sport mode with regen, it’s worth adding. But you’ll sacrifice ultimate brake feel on a trackday…

Um, who’s taking EVs on those?

It’s a pertinent question, and most of Opel/Vauxhall’s endeavours serve to produce a car that’s over-engineered for the tootling EVs are best used for. It’s the classic conundrum – the more performance you squeeze out of an electric car, the more stress it places on its driver to hunt out public charging. Which does take the fun out of the wild mountain passes hot hatchbacks have always dazzled us upon.

But this is a neat-handling, tenacious little thing. The GSE had enough latent agility and sharpness to liven up your commute and it's a useful case study in prudently bolting proper components onto an electric crossover being better than merely turning the dial up on its motor(s) and hoping for the best. MG and Volvo, take note.

Does it not ride a bit abruptly?

The damping does feel tough but there’s composure to it – UK surfaces might be more punishing but on the smooth, dry Spanish tarmac of its launch event, it felt nicely set up. Though its ginormous 20s thump around loudly over broken surfaces and the tyres kick up a lot of roar at speed – motorway cruising ain’t peaceful – to provide the most obvious clues you’ve opted for the fast, gnarly one. This otherwise looks and operates a lot like any other Vauxhall Mokka at pottering speeds, the interior functional but unexceptional when you don’t have a view of its fabulously hugging front seats. Which you invariably don’t whilst sat in them…

One perk of the flawed old Nissan Juke Nismo – among the first performance crossover curios on the market – was the vantage point it suddenly allowed on the hedge-lined rural roads Britain is chockful of. If the ride quality of the Mokka isn’t too exposed by the roads of Vauxhall’s core (indeed only) market then perhaps this is a fresher, savvier interpretation of the same philosophy.

That’s assuming car folk can bear to admit they drive a Mokka.

It seems an odd place to start, when the Corsa has decent enough performance heritage, but there’s a Mokka GSE rally car to tie the marketing beautifully together and a rather crucial new Corsa coming soon, its design a (presumably very heavily) diluted version of the Corsa GSE Vision Gran Turismo. There’s a promising glint in the engineers’ eyes when you suggest how well a Corsa GSE would pair with the E-208 GTI. Whether EV hot hatches charm you or not, they’re a market segment clearly building momentum.

Price: £36,995 (£35,495 with ECG)
Transmission: Single electric motor, front-wheel drive
Power: 276bhp, 254lb ft 
Performance: 0-62mph in 5.9s, 124mph top speed
Battery/efficiency: 54kWh, 3.36 miles per kWh
Range: 201 miles (209 miles with optional Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres)
Charging: 100kW DC, 11kW AC
Weight: 1,597kg