Vauxhall Corsa Electric interior, dashboard & comfort
The electric Corsa's dashboard is a little drab, while the scratchy plastics on the doors aren't befitting of its price tag
Inside the Corsa Electric, you’d never know you were driving an electric car. It all feels reassuringly familiar, with a logical dashboard design and space for all your odds and ends. Top-spec Ultimate cars get a large 10-inch touchscreen display, compared to seven-inch unit found in the base GS Line model and the special Anniversary Edition Corsa Electric we drove.
Overall quality of materials and design is less impressive, especially when you consider the electric Corsa's fairly high starting price of over £29,000 as of September 2022. On the plus side, there's plenty of clever on-board technology, including driver-assistance features such as traffic-sign recognition, blind-spot monitoring and lane-keeping assistance.
Vauxhall Corsa Electric dashboard
The inside of the latest Corsa is functional but uninspiring. It’s a sea of black plastic, centred around a large touchscreen display with myriad connectivity options. At least the separate climate controls are easy to operate. There’s a set of fully digital dials, and while they don’t stretch the entire width of the instrument binnacle as they do in some high-end BMWs or Audis, it’s less noticeable than you might expect. You can use them to present the information you want right in front of you, framed by the chunky leather-wrapped steering wheel.
Equipment, options & accessories
There are three trim levels to choose from at the moment: GS Line, Anniversary Edition and Ultimate. The entry-level car starts from just over £31,000 at the time of writing, which gets you a seven-inch sat-nav system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus a seven-inch digital driver's display, climate control, 17-inch alloy wheels, LED lights, sports seats, tinted rear windows and sports pedals.
The £31,000 Anniversary Edition is based on the GS Line, so gets the same standard kit list, plus 17-inch black alloy wheels, a contrasting black roof, more black exterior details and unique ‘Corsa 40’ plaques inside. Not to mention, 'Record Red' paintwork, tartan upholstery for the sports seats and collectors’ socks that feature versions of the special tartan.
Finally, the Ultimate adds a few more luxuries like that aforementioned 10-inch central touchscreen, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel, Matrix LED headlights and a panoramic rear-view camera. But you will have to pay nearly £34,000 for the top-of-the-range model.
Infotainment, apps & sat nav
Every version gets a touchscreen sat nav, but you’ll need to upgrade to the Ultimate to swap the standard seven-inch display (above) for the glorious 10-inch version. It’s not worth it for this alone, but factoring in some of the luxuries listed above may make the jump easier to justify. The infotainment system itself is packed with features, but it can feel a bit slow to respond.
Navigating via the standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto doesn’t make any difference, although the ability to project your phone’s screen to your car’s display does add some welcome functionality. The Corsa, as with many electric cars, is available with a downloadable app that allows you to control charging times, as well as monitor battery status and remote activation of the air-conditioning system.
